Northwest Passage

source: Northwest Passage

Trailer—'Northwest Passage' (Book I -- Rogers' Rangers)

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

It is great when you find an old movie that you have never seen before, and I have seen many. This epic is one of broad scope and adventure, well balanced with good and evil aspects. A film of this quality could NEVER be made today and not maintain an unprejudiced view. Bravo!

Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn's famed "baked potato", was unfortunately cast in a period piece of the 1700s in Northwest Passage. It just didn't work, and not just because he looked ridiculous in his queued wig. His shouting, angry expressions, and grumpy, contemporary persona was completely out of place. Spence is a recruiter and commander of Rogers' Rangers during the French and Indian War, and Robert Young, Walter Brennan, Nat Pendleton, and Robert Barrat are some of the more featured soldiers in his group. They march and search and starve and fight and get irritable, and then they do it all over again. Every once in a while, they get so discouraged they refuse to go on, forcing Spence to give an inspiring, rousing speech, and forcing me to fast forward a few minutes until he stopped talking. I just couldn't get through this 1700s epic with a running time of more than two hours. Thank goodness for the fast-forward button on the remote. You're welcome to try it, but viewer beware.

Spencer Tracy, fellow actors and crew must have endured a lot of hardships to create this realistic look at true-life explorer Major Robert Rogers, intrepid leader of an expedition during the French and Indian War. For 12 weeks of filming, they trudged through muddy swamps, crossed mountains and rapids and worked in bitter cold. The end result is a vigorous adventure epic with some of the best early Technicolor photography under King Vidor's direction. Using only the first part of the Rangers story, all of the players do excellent jobs--Robert Young, Ruth Hussey and particularly Walter Brennan in a chilling supporting role. As for Tracy, his courage and stamina are completely believable--a fine actor. One of the best adventure films of all time.

This is one of Robert Young's best films and having Spencer Tracy and Walter Brennan (both who have won something like a zillion Oscars among them) along for support doesn't seem to hurt. The film is about the French-Indian War and in particular a group of Colonial volunteers who fight just like Indians. For some odd reason, this group chose not to wear bright red uniforms and march in straight columns while beating on drums to encourage the Indians to massacre them (like the Brits). And, based on what we see in this film, it looks as if this group of tough guys nearly won the war for the British! Well, while this isn't exactly true (for further information, Google the phrase "battle of Quebec"), this is a rousing and well-made flick that is sure to please.