'Northwest Passage' (Book I -- Rogers' Rangers) (1940)

Director:

King Vidor

Writers:

Laurence Stallings (screenplay) and
Talbot Jennings (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

23 February 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | History | Western

Tagline:

The Big Picture that was made in our own Pacific Northwest

Plot:

Langdon Towne and Hunk Marriner join Major Rogers' Rangers as they wipe out an Indian village. They set out for Fort Wentworth...

Plot Keywords:

Native American Attack | Native American Captive | Savage | 1750s | Abenaki

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Spencer Tracy	...	Major Rogers
Robert Young	...	Langdon Towne
Walter Brennan	...	'Hunk' Marriner
Ruth Hussey	...	Elizabeth Browne
Nat Pendleton	...	'Cap' Huff
Louis Hector	...	Reverend Browne
Robert Barrat	...	Humphrey Towne
Lumsden Hare	...	Lord Amherst
Donald MacBride	...	Sergeant McNott (as Donald Mc Bride)
Isabel Jewell	...	Jennie Coit
Douglas Walton	...	Lieutenant Avery
Addison Richards	...	Lieutenant Crofton
Hugh Sothern	...	Jesse Beacham
Regis Toomey	...	Webster
Montagu Love	...	Wiseman Clagett

Also Known As:

Northwest Passage: Book One - Rogers' Rangers (USA) (long title)

Runtime:

125 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Norway:16 | Finland:S | Sweden:15 | USA:Not Rated (video rating)

Filming Locations:

Cascade Mountains, Oregon, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

The most demanding scene for the actors involved the filming of the "human chain" employed by the Rangers to cross a treacherous river. The actors themselves had to do the shots without the benefit of stunt doubles. The sequence was begun at Payette Lake in Idaho but had to be completed in the studio tank because the lake was far too dangerous. For Spencer Tracy, who once complained that the physical labors required of actors "wouldn't tax an embryo," it was his most difficult shoot to that point, surpassing even the taxing ocean scenes of his Oscar-winning Captains Courageous (1937).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: During the attack on St. Francis, some of the bayonets on the Ranger's rifles can be seen wobbling, indicating they are made of rubber.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Title Card: This is a story of our early America... of the century of conflict with the French and Indians... when necessity made simple men, unknown to history, into giants in daring and endurance. It begins in Portsmouth New Hampshire, in 1759...

Movie Connections:

Remade as Mission of Danger (1959)

Pacific Northwest Indian Wipe Out

Spencer Tracy (as Major Rogers) gets Robert Young (as Langdon) and Walter Brennan (as Hunk) drunk, so they'll become members of his Colonial American Rangers, and head for the "Northwest Passage" of the title. Along the way, they kill many Indians (Native Americans).

The photography is the film's main attraction. This must have seemed like a grand classic when released in 1940; however, the epic quality has been equaled many times, and this film doesn't have enough other qualities to maintain classic status. Mr. Young's painting and Mr. Brennan's teeth are not characterization traits to last through the ages. Mr. Tracy performs well, as usual; however, his Rangers look a little old, as a whole, to be making this journey.

The most exciting scenes are when the Rangers burn an Indian village, and wipe out its inhabitants. Watch for it in the middle of the film, not the end. Be warned, though -- it's a visceral slaughter. Addison Richards (as Ranger Crofton) is particularly sadistic; later, he gets his turn.