Northwest Passage (1940)
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100% of critics liked it
(6 reviews) -
73% of users liked it
(523 ratings)
Kenneth Roberts' fact-based novel Northwest Passage would seem too raw and explicit a book to be considered for an MGM film adaptation-much less one in Technicolor. Amazingly, MGM retained many of the grim episodes from the Roberts' novel, though - thanks to the Hays Code - most are… More Kenneth Roberts' fact-based novel Northwest Passage would seem too raw and explicit a book to be considered for an MGM film adaptation-much less one in Technicolor. Amazingly, MGM retained many of the grim episodes from the Roberts' novel, though - thanks to the Hays Code - most are discussed rather than shown. The film is set in 1759, when the headstrong and gifted young artist Langdon Towne (Robert Young) is expelled from Harvard much to the chagrin of his parents and his fiancee, Elizabeth Browne (Ruth Hussey). Towne and his tough-as-nails sidekick, Hunk Marriner (Walter Brennan) get soused one night in a pub and - while intoxicated - viciously insult Elizabeth's father, Rev. Browne (Louis Hector). The two men are nearly arraigned for the incident, but escape just in time and ultimately wind up at the camp of famed Indian hunter Major Robert Rogers (Spencer Tracy). Rogers then invites Towne to join his troupe as a cartographer, and suggests that Marriner tag along. Together, the hundreds of Indian fighters under Rogers's aegis team up and chart their way through the wilderness, headed straight for St. Francis, the base of the French-supported Abenaki tribe, notorious for bloodily wiping out British-controlled colonies, after which they will forge the titular 'northwest passage' to the Pacific. Along the route, the boys counter such obstacles as traitorous Native American guides and exploding gunpowder. Metro Goldwyn-Mayer originally slated this production for Tracy, Wallace Beery, Robert Taylor and Franchot Tone, but only Tracy signed on; the studio reeled in Brennan and Young as last-minute additions, to support Tracy's lead. Northwest Passage marked Vidor's first Technicolor film. William V. Skall and Sidney Wagner received Oscar nominations for their outstanding cinematographic work on the film. Nineteen years after its premiere, Northwest Passage later became an NBC TV series between 1959-60, starring Keith Larsen in the Tracy role, Buddy "Jed Clampett" Ebsen in the Brennan role, and Don Burnett in the Young role. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- King Vidor
- Written By
- Laurence Stallings, Talbot Jennings
- Genres
- Western, Drama, Action & Adventure, Classics
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Feb 23, 1940 Wide
Critic Reviews
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Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
A rousing adventure story of epic proportions.
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Steve Crum, Video-Reviewmaster.com
Surprisingly gritty, realistic MGM version of early pioneers led by Spencer Tracy's Rogers.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
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Cast
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Spencer Tracy
as Maj. Robert Rogers
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Robert Young
as Langdon Towne
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Walter Brennan
as Hunk Marriner
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Ruth Hussey
as Elizabeth Browne
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Nat Pendleton
as Capt. Huff
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Louis Hector
as Rev. Browne
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Robert H. Barrat
as Humphrey Towne
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Lumsden Hare
as Lord Amherst
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Isabel Jewell
as Jennie Coit
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Douglas Walton
as Lt. Avery
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Addison Richards
as Lt. Crofton
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Hugh Sothern
as Jesse Beacham
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Regis Toomey
as Webster
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Montagu Love
as Wiseman Clagett
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Lester Matthews
as Sam Livermore
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Truman Bradley
as Capt. Ogden
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Arthur Ayleswofth
as Flint Innkeeper
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Don Castle
as Richard Towne
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Rychard Cramer
as Sheriff Packer
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George Eldredge
as McMullen
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Verna Felton
as Mrs. Towne
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Edward Gargan
as Capt. Butterfield
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Gibson Gowland
as MacPherson
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Denis Green
as Capt. Williams
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Frank S. Hagney
as Capt. Grant
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Gwendolen Logan
as Mrs. Browne
- Tom London
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Peter George Lynn
as Turner
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Donald MacBride
as Sgt. McNott
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Helen MacKellar
as Sarah Hadden
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Addie McPhail
as Jane Browne
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John Merton
as Lt. Dunbar
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Ferdinand Munier
as Stoodley
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Ted Oliver
as Farrington
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Eddie Parker
as Ranger
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Robert St. Angelo
as Solomon
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Ray Teal
as Bradley McNeil
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Hank Worden
as Ranger
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Frederic Worlock
as Sir William Johnson
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Kent Rogers
as Odiorne Towne
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Rand Brooks
as Eben Towne
