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'Northwest Passage' (Book I -- Rogers' Rangers) (1940) More at IMDbPro »

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21 out of 33 people found the following comment useful :-
A Great Film, But The Sequel Would Have Made It Sublime, 13 November 2004
Author: theowinthrop from United States

There are few films about the French and Indian War (1754 - 1763) which is surprising. Given the rising solidity of Anglo-American relations in the late 1930s into World War II more films should have been made. I can only think of this one and THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS (with Randolph Scott and Henry Wilcoxen) as the best - possibly sole - examples. But NORTHWEST PASSAGE is a marvelous example of how to make an interesting historical film. Briefly, it is 1759, and Major Robert Rogers and his famous Rangers (probably America's first example of a special forces unit) are sent into territory in the hands of an enemy Indian group. The film shows all the problems of 18th Century forest fighting, with supply problems, ambushes, and personal problems. Rogers does not have to only worry about Indian attacks (off screen we hear of the massacre of part of his men who separated for security reasons to rendezvous at a later spot), but with starvation and madness (witness Addison Richards insane ranger). But the mission is accomplished, and one step brought forward to the successful completion of the war.

But the story was not fully told, due to the expenses of filming (it was filmed mostly outside the studio). The actual title is NORTHWEST PASSAGE: PART I. Robert Young plays Langdon, a young college student (actually he looks slightly old for that role) who is skillful in drawing and drafting. So he is taken under Major Rogers' wing (Langdon and his best friend - played by Walter Brennan - were almost arrested for quasi-seditious remarks about a local British government official played by Montague Love) and go on the trek. Tracy/Rogers needs Young/Langdon as a map maker. He has plans to find the Northwest Passage with his Rangers once the war is finished. The present film ends with Langdon married and watching Rogers and his Rangers marching off on their next mission.

The sequel would have been a downer, but a brilliant one - and I suspect the subject matter of the sequel had more to do with killing the problem than the actual expense (after all, the first part was a hit film, and made back it's cost at the box office). In the sequel Rogers tries to get his exploration plans under way, only to run afoul of history: it seems the colonies and Britain are becoming less and less friendly due to the issue of taxation and British legislation like the Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts. Rogers (as he was an officer - albeit an irregular one - in the British army) is a loyalist, and Langdon and his friends are not. Gradually Rogers becomes more and more isolated due to his political stand. In the end he goes into exile, and becomes a bitter, defeated ex-hero. The Northwest Passage is not to be discovered by this remarkable man. It would be first sited by Thomas Simpson, an explorer for the Hudson Bay Company, in 1838-39.

The ill-fated Franklin Expedition (1845-49) would find the key to the passage, but perish in the course of the discovery. This would not fully become notable until Sir Robert McClure (in 1851) and Sir Leopold McClintock (in 1859) rediscovered the passage while seeking Franklin's men. Finally Roald Amundson would successfully sail through the passage on the Gjoa in 1903-1905.

The sequel, as you can see, became increasingly anti-British (the audience in America would have to be pro-American if shown in America). Therefore it would have been out of place in a period when American films were to be pro-English. That's more likely the reason that the sequel was not made with Tracy being shown going slowly to seed. An understandable reason, but it would have been Tracy's greatest part - the hero denied his just claim for glory by sheer historical chance. The completed NORTHWEST PASSAGE would have been one of the masterworks of 20th Century motion picture making.

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18 out of 29 people found the following comment useful :-
An exciting movie ..... holds up well., 3 November 1998

Author: Brian Pelton from Seattle, Wa

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.

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19 out of 31 people found the following comment useful :-
One of King Vidor's best!, 12 May 2003

Author: Ilya Mauter

Northwest Passage is based on a novel of the same name by Kenneth Roberts, in fact it is an adaptation of its first part The Roger's Rangers, the second part was also originally planned to be filmed by King Vidor, but MGM dropped the project fearing the costs involved. As a consequence only the first part of the novel was brought to the screen where passage through the northwest never actually happens but only is talked about.

The story is centred on Major Robert Rogers (Spencer Tracy) and his rangers who take a dangerous and adventurous journey through the territory controlled by the Indians and the French troops in 18th century America in order to destroy a hostile Indian village from where English settlements are constantly being attacked.

Right in the beginning the rangers are joined by right out of Harvard idealistic young cartographer Langdon Towne (Robert Young) who is dreaming of becoming a great painter `like Velasquez or Rubens' and is enthusiastic about the journey because of possibility it offers to paint portraits of Indians and landscapes in contrast with the other rangers who are mainly driven by yearning of revenge for relatives murdered during Indian raids.

Northwest Passage is possibly the best and the most visually impressive King Vidor's adventure film. Breathtakingly beautiful landscapes shown here certainly stand out as the most wonderful even among King Vidor's work who was well known for beautiful Technicolor exteriors in his movies. A beautiful film, definitely worth watching. 8/10

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11 out of 18 people found the following comment useful :-
Rugged Film About Some Rugged Men, 25 September 2006

Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

Kenneth Roberts was a distinguished novelist who wrote many fine fictional works about colonial and revolutionary America. Probably his biggest seller was Northwest Passage a fictionalization of the exploits of Roger's Rangers during the French and Indian War.

His books sold well at the time and we have to remember that in viewing Northwest Passage we are seeing a fictional story rather than the real story of Roger's Rangers. At that we are only seeing part of that book, nothing at all about a search for a land route across North America.

The historical significance of the Rangers is that Robert Rogers had an idea that one should be living and thinking like the American Indian in order to fight him. His ideas about specialized units who could meet the enemy on his own terms in colonial America have been followed right down to the Green Berets in Vietnam. His is a distinguished contribution in military history.

To do that and lead such a group you have to be one charismatic leader. And in Spencer Tracy, Rogers has the best kind of interpreter.

This was Tracy's first color feature for MGM and Louis B. Mayer spared no expense for this film. No back lot backwoods here, the company went on location to the Payette River in Idaho for the outdoor scenes depicting colonial era New York State. No stunt doubles here either, that's Tracy, Walter Brennan, Robert Young and the rest of the company waist deep in those rapids forming that human chain. Some of the stars nearly drowned making this film.

One aspect of this film is rarely discussed and that was the politics surrounding the Indians. Please note that while Tracy is burning the Abinagi village, he has some friendly Mohawks with him. When the British and French went to war in this theater of the Seven Years War, the various Indian tribes chose up sides, trying to figure which group of whites would give them the better deal. The Mohawks are part of the Iroquois Confederation and they aligned themselves with Great Britain. Various other tribes allied with with French. Both were supplied with the white man's weapons of war and both fought on each side. And neither got a really great deal in the end.

Northwest Passage is definitely not for the politically correct of the day. Tracy is leading a savage reprisal against the Abinagi, he burns the town, kills all the males of fighting age, steals their meager food supplies to feed his men who are hungry themselves. Tracy makes it clear this is reprisal for raids against the British colonists. Prominently displayed for the camera just before the shooting start is that large exhibit of settler's scalps in the village.

Of course the real story is the retreat back, fleeing a much larger force of French in the area. The men are starving as they reach the rendezvous point which is an abandoned fort. Tracy races ahead of the men who've been promised a feast when they get there and as he makes it there he realizes the supplies haven't come. He starts to break down, but as he hears his men behind him, he regains control of himself and starts issuing the orders necessary for their survival. It's all done in a few minutes without dialog and its own of Spencer Tracy's greatest film moments.

Northwest Passage will not find too much favor with a lot of today's audience. But taken for what it is worth, it is a story about brave men and their struggle for survival in the colonial wilderness.

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5 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Clearly a movie of it's time - - - - - but still worth a watch !, 13 October 2006

Author: Graham Watson from Gibraltar

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Northwest passage is one of those films that your parents probably watched when they were growing up. Despite having seen it or parts of it many times over the years its still very entertaining. Like other classics of it's times, DODGE CITY, ROBIN HOOD etc that has been given the Technicolor Hollywood treatment of the late 1930's, for what ever reason Northwest passage stands out as being the best. Watching it in 2006 almost 60 years after it was made on a digital plasma wide-screen one can really appreciate the efforts that went into filming this back in the 1930's as well as the work gone into keeping it restored.

As for the movie, some of the rangers looked to be a bit long in the tooth to be credible rangers, a bit old, scrawny and tired looking but perhaps it only enhanced the disheveled appearance that you might expect after such a long treks. Ironically, it's the tension throughout the movie keeps you on your toes because it's really not that violent. There is one major battle and that's it, for a move that is well over two hours long it's not really that much, but it's worth watching it for the cinema photography, the atmosphere as well as the scenery alone. However, if that's not going to keep your attention you'll find Spencer Tracy at his finest. Although Robert Young and Walter Brennan are fine in support, Tracy just steals the show as the enthusiastic tough as nails ranger ready to conquer North America.

I say conquer, he's not a raving maniac that is just out to kill, he'll fight if he has too, but its' discovering routs and new territory that's important to him. He commands respect not through fear but through admiration. There is nothing he asks his men to do that he is not prepared to do himself. If it's not going without food, or hauling a boat over a mountain he's the first link in a human chain trying to cross a swollen river riddled with rapids. He shows no fear but he's not reckless and is not looking to kill the enemy just for the sake of it. Discipline is important but the safety of the expedition as a whole is paramount, he wont slow down his troop and endanger it by carrying a wounded man.(Interesting thought, no medivac helicopter ready to swoop in and take out a casualty).

He has courage demands loyalty but is prepared to listen to his junior officers when they want to split up despite his reservations(which apparently they are entitled to do)he acquiesces. He rallied his command to go on at every opportunity and encourages them when in doubt with resolve as well as humor. He certainly understands his responsibility as leader. At the end of the movie when he is addressing the new expedition he delivers it with humor that clearly motivates the men into relishing the challenge, I was almost sorry I couldn't go along as well! (Note:one of these days I'll have to try drinking rum and hot water with brown sugar and butter added!)

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19 out of 35 people found the following comment useful :-
They Don't Make Them Like This Anymore, 4 November 2003

Author: Theo Robertson from Isle Of Bute, Scotland

Apologies for the clichéd summary above but this is a great adventure from the good old days of Hollywood . The story is very simple : Map maker Langdon Towne finds himself in a spot of bother and in a slightly unlikely turn of events is drafted into Rogers rangers who are on a mission to attack a hostile red skin stronghold . Hardly a radical plot but director King Vidor and screenwriter Talbot Jennings craft a very good film that only Hollywood in its hay day could produce .

It's not only a great adventure but a technically brilliant film for its time. Check out the wonderful cinematography where the primary colours are at the fore , rather similar to the colours used in GONE WITH THE WIND and THE WIZARD OF OZ . Make up your own mind how successful the colouring is but I found it absolutely beautiful . There's also a show stopping scene where the camera follows the line of sight of a ranger taking aim at a red skin . Wonderful cinematography

There are one or two flaws though . One is that not only are some of the characters too old to be elite fighting men but they seem too old to still be alive . Honestly how old did people live to in the mid 18th century ? The rangers themselves are written as being a good bunch o blokes but I found them just a little too good to be true while no doubt the thought police will complain about the native Americans being portrayed as a bunch of blood thirsty savages , but this was made before revisionary westerns like the overrated DANCES WITH WOLVES and before Marlon Brando sent native Americans to collect Oscars , but at least King Vidor has cast real natives in the part of Indians and hasn't dressed up a bunch of white guys pretending to be injuns

Good Hollywood movie featuring the rangers . Probably brought more recruits to the regiment than SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and BLACK HAWK DOWN put together

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6 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
Well, it's well photographed, but ....., 20 November 2007
Author: dpingr1 from United States

Northwest Passage is one of the few films about the Seven Years' War that isn't based on a James Fenimore Cooper novel, and in that sense, it's a welcome lesson in how that important period has come to be mythologized in popular culture. I've never read the Roberts books, so I can't comment on how faithful the film is to its source material. I can only make a few comments on how movies have their own sensibilities and cultural rules. Like most films, this one tells us more about the era in which it was made than the time period in which the film's events take place. It's certainly an exciting story, but it has a number of cringeworthy elements (and they would have elicited just as many cringes back in the 1930s, I assure you.)Here's a few comments:

Jeffrey Amherst and Sir William Johnson: As anyone who has read any of the fine studies of this era can attest (I recommend the works of James Axtell, Gregory Evans Dowd, Daniel Usner, Daniel Richter, Richard White, and many others as fine introductions to Indian-White relations in the 17th and 18th centuries), this film takes a rather interesting view of these historical figures. Amherst is here depicted as the realistic good guy, who is in tune with Rogers's vicious sentiments. Johnson, on the other hand, is seen as part of the problem because of his private relationships with several Indian groups, especially the Mohawks. Johnson's Mohawk allies are here shown as lazy, duplicitous, suspicious interlopers. In fact, Johnson and his many Indian allies throughout Iroquoia and the Ohio country were indispensable to the British victory in the Seven Years' War, while Amherst, a capable officer but a virulent anti-native racist, instituted policies that helped start the 1763-64 Indian uprising ("Pontiac's War") and actually approved using germ warfare on Indians near Fort Pitt (he approved a plan to give them smallpox-infected blankets.)

Uniforms: If you squint, Roger's Rangers look like they should be in the Confederate Army. This may be a Technicolor issue. In fact, Roger's men often dressed as Indians and other backcountry residents did. It is the demands of movie convention that put them all in blue buckskin uniforms -- just as Japanese and German soldiers always wore particular shapes of helmets, so you can tell them apart from the other guys. Even the Mohawk and Abenaki Indians wear similar "uniforms," i.e. matching loincloths. The Indians in this movie look like they belong in the Southwest or the plains -- not in the Eastern Woodlands, especially late in the year.

Rogers himself: Well, his anti-Indian rants probably do illustrate something of the man himself. It should be noted that Rogers's sensationalized exploits made him a problematic celebrity during his life. He was always distrusted by his British superiors, who nevertheless bowed to public acclaim and gave him important positions after the war, including a brief command of Fort Detroit, and his disastrous tenure commanding Fort Michilimackinac after the Indian uprising. Like many outpost commanders, Rogers let his personal greed take over in the relative freedom of the pays d'en haut, and ended up being arrested and returned to Niagara in irons. Amherst gave him guarded trust, but Amherst's successor, Thomas Gage, and Indian Supervisor William Johnson, considered him a villain. As for the native Americans, everyone knew about Rogers's Indian killing, and he had few Indian friends and many enemies. Everywhere Rogers went became a tense place of interaction between Indians and Europeans.

Indian issues: Well, it's true that Indians, Abenakis and others, used brutal tactics in war. But this movie, like other movies such as Drums Along the Mohawk, definitely take the settlers' side in their confrontations with native Americans. In one scene, Rogers tells his men how the Abenakis should be killed for brutally hatcheting innocent settlers, who were just trying to make lives for themselves and weren't bothering anyone. It should be noted that settlers were often a great bother to Indians, just by their presence alone. Indians who lived in transitional regions resented the encroachments of white settlers more than anything else, including the presence of forts and soldiers. Settlers used land for farming, which was an exclusive operation. Unlike the skin trade, which used native residents as partners, farmers viewed Indians as being in the way. All Eastern Indians knew that farming was the one operation that turned Indian country into European territory exclusively, and did everything they could to oppose it. And as far as relative levels of brutality go, backcountry settlers and soldiers were capable of all the worst kinds of viciousness. Reference the Gnadenhutten Massacre during the Revolutionary War if you want to read about some really vicious behavior by America militiamen.

This movie is a great mirror on its time. Americans looked to their settler past, mythical or otherwise, whenever they wished to differentiate their national identity from the "bad old" Europeans, or the brutal state of nature. The rugged, idealistic frontier settler, hacking a life out of the wilderness but imbued with democratic virtue, was a popular model for Depression-riddled Americans who felt that their agency and power was slipping away. People today might like these movies for the same reasons!

As for me, I think the film is well-acted and filmed, and somewhat exciting, but too laughable to take very seriously. That is, it's laughable when it is not deplorable. This is the most virulent anti-Indian movie I know, worse even than most westerns. Some of the comments here label this as a "family" film. The hero of this film repeatedly labels all Indians as brutes, thieves, and cowards. I wouldn't let any child see this movie.

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10 out of 18 people found the following comment useful :-
Why a sequel was never made, 3 January 2005

Author: (fortdearborn1@yahoo.com) from United States

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.

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
"Northwest Passage" is major Hollywood epic, 21 November 2008
Author: (chuck-reilly) from Los Angeles

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

The 1940 film "Northwest Passage" (sub-titled "Book One: Rogers' Rangers") is a major work and was a resounding success in its day. The story, taken from the historical novel of the same name by Kenneth Roberts, concerns the real-life exploits of British Major Robert Rogers, the original founder of what would become the U.S. Army Rangers. Although the title alludes to a far off expedition, this film concentrates on Rogers leading his men against the Abenaki Indians and their French masters during the early years of the French and Indian War (1750s). Spencer Tracy portrays Rogers as near super-human, driving his men to expectations and accomplishments far beyond the norm. Along for the ride are two new recruits, Robert Young as Langdon Towne and a very youthful Walter Brennan as Hunk Marriner. There's no Political Correctness to be found in this movie. The Indians are evil savages who have killed defenseless settlers and Rogers and his men are out for revenge. They massacre nearly an entire Abenaki village on the Canadian border and then make a run for it through the treacherous wilderness with the enemy hot on their tail. Not all of the Rangers make it back to safety and the film does its utmost to convey the dangers they encounter and the miserable and horrific end to many of the men. One group of Rangers who stray from the rest are ambushed and butchered by the French and Indians who literally "play ball with their heads."

Iconic film director King Vidor does tremendous work here with his cinematographer and the talented cast. "Northwest Passage" was filmed in Technicolor and the location shots (mostly in Idaho) are considered some of the greatest of this era. Spencer Tracy, as usual, carries much of the load but he's helped immensely by Robert Young and his sidekick Walter Brennan. Those two gentlemen are a fine contrast to Tracy's rough-hewed Rogers and they give the film some much-needed balance. In one scene, Young is severely wounded but Tracy inspires him to regain his feet after chiding him about the girl he left behind (Ruth Hussey). There are also some grim reminders of the brutality of war sprinkled throughout this film. One Ranger goes stark raving mad, cutting off the head of an Indian and carrying it around like a hidden souvenir. He later gets hungry and begins to nibble away on it, handing out tidbits to his unsuspecting fellow soldiers. It's those kinds of scenes that give this film its well-deserved reputation for realism and kept it relevant for modern audiences. Unfortunately, "Book Two" which would have dealt with Rogers' ill-fated mission to discover the Northwest Passage and his subsequent fall from grace, was never filmed. The real Major Rogers died in the Fleet Prison for debtors in London at the age of 64.

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3 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
"That man will never die", 20 August 2007

Author: keesha45 from United States

I saw this during the Spencer Tracy tribute on Aug. 18 on Turner Classic Movies. Ironically, that date is the birthdate of Meriwether Lewis (1774.) Much of the action in this film mirrors the toils and turmoils of the Lewis and Clark Expedition which occurred less than 50 years from the time of this story. When you see the men malnourished, facing difficult portages, battling mosquitoes and having to wade through cold water for long stretches, fearing Indian attacks constantly, you have some ideas of the challenges facing the Corps of Discovery. Their co-leader, Lewis (Actually, he officially outranked Clark during their trip, because Clark's orders promoting him to captain equal to Lewis didn't arrive before their departure) had a career that had much in common with Maj. Rogers. Like Rogers, he was a brilliant leader and his men followed him loyally to the end. Both men toiled along with the men and consulted their junior officers and men before making difficult life-or-death decisions. Both were hailed as great heroes by the public and government they represented after their marvelous feats of derring-do, but both came to bad ends. Rogers sided with the British during the Revolutionary War and his Rangers eventually became a Canadian outfit and he never was able to achieve his mission of finding the Northwest Passage, although as Tracy says in the film, he may have had little faith in there actually being such a water route. Lewis also never saw his extensive journals of his expedition come to be published, dying mysteriously in a Tennessee travelers' inn a few years after arriving home from that epic trip, which was charged with also trying to find the elusive Passage. Langdon's summary quote about Rogers could also apply to Lewis, as American adventurers since then carry his spirit of discovery with them, even into outer space. This film has always been one of my favorites. As a lover of westerns, I can enjoy many of the familiar elements: an arduous journey over breathtakingly beautiful but perilous land and water, battles with Indians, men and women of unflinching courage. I'm lucky enough to live in a part of the northwestern U.S. where some of the film footage was shot, which was only a little more than a hundred miles from the same part of Idaho which had proved so difficult to the Lewis and Clark expedition. In fact, this film and COME AND GET IT (1936), also featuring Walter Brennan in his first Oscar-winning role, were the first two films made in this part of the Northwest (specifically, northern Idaho) to achieve Academy Award nominations and NORTHWEST PASSAGE had some great photography which was so honored. If you've never traveled to the Northwest, I urge you to do so. And I urge you to see NORTHWEST PASSAGE. In either case, you'll enjoy the trip. Dale Roloff

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