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

Director:

King Vidor
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Writers:

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

Savage | Native American Attack | Native American Captive | 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
Lester Matthews	...	Sam Livermore
Truman Bradley	...	Captain Ogden
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Arthur Aylesworth	...	Innkeeper Flint (uncredited)
Rand Brooks	...	Eben Towne (uncredited)
Don Castle	...	Richard Towne (uncredited)
Richard Cramer	...	Sheriff Packer (uncredited)
Warren Douglas	...	(uncredited)
George Eldredge	...	McMullen (uncredited)
Verna Felton	...	Mrs. Towne (uncredited)
Edward Gargan	...	Capt. Butterfield (uncredited)
Gibson Gowland	...	MacPherson (uncredited)
Denis Green	...	Capt. Williams (uncredited)
Tony Guerrero	...	Capt. Jacobs (uncredited)
Frank Hagney	...	Capt. Grant (uncredited)
Gwendolyn Logan	...	Mrs. Browne (uncredited)
Tom London	...	Ranger (uncredited)
George Lynn	...	Joe Turner (uncredited)
Helen MacKellar	...	Sarah Hadden (uncredited)
Addie McPhail	...	Jane Browne (uncredited)
John Merton	...	Lt. Dunbar (uncredited)
Ferdinand Munier	...	Stoodley, Tavern Keeper (uncredited)
Ted Oliver	...	Farrington (uncredited)
Eddie Parker	...	Ranger (uncredited)
Andrew Pena	...	Konkapot (uncredited)
Lawrence Porter	...	Billy (Indian boy) (uncredited)
Kent Rogers	...	Odiorne Towne (uncredited)
Robert St. Angelo	...	Solomon (uncredited)
Ray Teal	...	Bradley McNeil (uncredited)
Harry Wilson	...	Ranger (uncredited)
Hank Worden	...	Ranger tying oars (uncredited)
Frederick Worlock	...	Sir William Johnson (uncredited)

Directed by
King Vidor
W.S. Van Dyke		(background shots) (uncredited)

Writing credits
Laurence Stallings		(screenplay) and
Talbot Jennings		(screenplay)
Kenneth Roberts		(novel "Northwest Passage, Book I, 'Rogers' Rangers'")
Sidney Howard		uncredited and
Robert E. Sherwood		uncredited and
King Vidor		uncredited

Produced by
Hunt Stromberg	....	producer

Original Music by
Herbert Stothart

Cinematography by
William V. Skall		(director of photography)
Sidney Wagner		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Conrad A. Nervig

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons

Set Decoration by
Edwin B. Willis

Makeup Department
Jack Dawn	....	makeup designer

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Robert A. Golden	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Malcolm Brown	....	associate art director

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording director

Stunts
Jack Montgomery	....	stunts (uncredited)
Gil Perkins	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Andrew J. McIntyre	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Henri Jaffa	....	associate color director: Technicolor

Music Department
Daniele Amfitheatrof	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)
William Axt	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)
Murray Cutter	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Paul Marquardt	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Charles Maxwell	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Leonid Raab	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Natalie Kalmus	....	color advisor: Technicolor

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1940) (USA) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1956) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (????) (USA) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Northwest Passage (USA) (short 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:

Spin off "Northwest Passage" (1958)

An exciting movie ..... holds up well.

Northwest Passage was produced in one of the golden years of the golden era of Hollywood....1939-1940., and contains all of the best of what MGM had to offer. Based on the Kenneth Roberts novel of the same name, Northwest Passage covers "Part I - Roger's Rangers" of that epic work. Set in Colonial American during the French and Indian Wars, it recalls the true exploits of a group of Rangers sent up into the French-Canadian woods to wipe-out a village of enemy-aiding warriors..... and especially the agonizing hardships on the trip home as they are pursued by the French. The scope of this movie has always impressed me, from the coziness of the firelight of a Studley's Tavern, the richness of The Reverend Brown's palor, the solid construction of Crown Point, and the beauty of the forest.

The Cast is top-notch headed by Spencer Tracy as Major Rogers. Robert Young, Walter Brennen, Ruth Hussey, and others help to make this a real treat to watch. The technicolor is of the fine old process, and we see hues and tones that are not visible in today's movies. Also, the musical score is compelling. This movie is absorbing, and when watched without interruption, the viewer gets swept along as though part of the story.