'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:

Kenneth Roberts, the author of the best selling 1936 novel on which the film is based, described Rogers Rangers as wearing "green buckskin" clothing. The initial attempts MGM's costume department made at dying the buckskin Ranger uniforms made them come out a bright Kelly green. They were subsequently re-dyed to attain the forest green color seen in the finished film. The uniforms were occasionally "touched up" while being worn, with the actors wearing protective bags on their heads, with paint spray guns - as seen in "Northward, Ho!" a period short subject documentary on the making of the film.

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)

Soundtrack:

The British Grenadiers

Hollywood Imitates Life

Roger's Rangers became the inspiration for the formation of the modern Army's Rangers units.

Revived in World War II to accomplish missions that no one in their right-mind would even consider, they lead the way in numerous extremely hazardous operations. Probably the most famous was the assault up the sheer cliff faces of Pont du Hoc during the invasion of Festung Europe on June 6th 1944. They took 50% casualties in that operation.

This movie, NORTHWEST PASSAGE, depicts the ill-fated operation by the first American Rangers. It demonstrates their ingenuity, determination and fortitude in the face of every possible adversity one can expect in time of war.

I went through the Army's Ranger Course in 1980. It was a demanding year of my life and I have to admit, after seeing this movie, quite by accident several years later, I was reminded of everything that the training regime put me through. I was especially impressed with how Roger's men had to suffer from the deprivations of no logistical support to provide subsistence. I swear....it was a sorry water moccasin (snake) that crossed my patrol's path in Florida. You'd hear the word, whispered, "Snake." Followed immediately by the sound of several machetes being pulled from sheaths and a short 'splash'.

When we finished the last operation, the night assault on Santa Rosa Island, we were as jubilant as Roger's men were when they were 'relieved' by the British column. And we celebrated, about the same way....FOOOOOoooOD!