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

User Rating:

7.1/10   

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:

Ranger | Fort | Military | Soldier | Battle

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
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 (USA) (short title)

Runtime:

126 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Norway:16 | USA:Approved (PCA #5725) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Finland:S | Sweden:15 | USA:Not Rated (video rating)

Filming Locations:

Cascade Mountains, Oregon, USA

Company:

Loew's

Trivia:

W.S. Van Dyke was assigned to direct the movie before King Vidor, and scouted locations throughout the American West in 1938. About 60,000 feet of background shots had been completed in Idaho before Van Dyke was taken off the picture because of a scheduling conflict and replaced by Vidor; Jack Conway eventually shot some additional scenes as well.

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 Frontier Rangers (1959)

Soundtrack:

America, My Country Tis of Thee

Why a sequel was never made

If you read the following thread of comments you will find much speculation as to why a sequel was not made of the movie, Northwest Passage. It's a great book, historically quite accurate so much so that the first edition actually includes Rogers' Orders to attack the Abanaki village on the St. Francois (Saint Francis) river. The sequel would have been an acting tour-de-force for Spencer Tracy as it would have chronicled the deterioration of a great man, mostly through his constantly being distracted from organizing an expedition to discover the fabled Northwest Passage.

Why no sequel was made is explained by Spencer Tracy in his memoirs. He spends a few paragraphs relating how difficult a shoot it was, on location in northeastern Washington State. Tracy spent days and days partially submerged in half freezing water; battling insects and discomfort reminiscent of Rogers own trek before and after the sack of St. Francis. The director, King Vidor, was a harsh task master. That is obvious from the tremendous movie that resulted of the hard labor conditions of its making. However, during the production Tracy came to loath Vidor and swore he would never work with that director again. And, he never did. Hence, no Northwest Passage Part II was ever made.