An Exercise In Nonsense

Absolutely the worst movie.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Years ago I saw it on t.c.m.It was a good print,but,not excellent.After new version from Kino Lorber,I realize that the older print was poor.The preservationist did a good job.Half of the surviving element were in the united states,but the rest of the elements where in Germany and was restored there .The American elements were scanned to Germany ,probably via internet,since the American elements could not be sent.The one that was on t.v was based many of the surviving prints of that movie,both 16mm and.There was even an 8mm ,8 minute silent version released in the early 60's ,in black and white by castle films as well as a 16mm color sound version printed the Cinecolor way,which an excerpt of it beside the 8mm version is on the Blu-ray.It seem that the chemical restored version on Eastman color was dissatisfying.They got the black and white Cinecolor masters and recombined it and fixed it up digitally a lot better than the chemical print.There were problems in the black and white master on some of the frames,since these were dupes ,the original and negatives have been destroyed long ago.There were missing frames and tear the preservationist were able to digitally eliminate and replace.Only two problems could not be solved.There was one shot that was dark for a couple of seconds.It could not be removed.The final shot of Randolph Scott and Nancy Olsen looking at each other and then the camera ,the second color element was missing.The Cinecolor print version was of poor quality.The only solution was to print that shot in black n white,but the rest of the ending color remains intact.That wasn't bother some. The Story? Randolph had just done his last job for the railroad surveying for Robert Barat. He's going home to Marry his wildcat sweet heart,played by Nancy Olsen,in her first film role.He just got shot by Victor Jory almost,who was also interested in Nancy.He finds out that Jory is organizing the Community to turn against the expansion of the rail road cause it would ruin his own business.Randolph decides to go back ,in order to help protect it,so it will be complete.Jane Wyatt plays the female doctor ,who work for the rail road, who is against guns and tries to persuade Randolph to solve indifference without the use of violence.Jay Carroll Naish plays his side kick ,who always makes up stories.Wonderful music score by Dimitiri TIomken.Good Western.also includes black n white trailer reissue. 11/21/16

There are some reviews for the film on this board written some time ago that bemoan the poor rendition of the film along with some fuzzy sound quality. The version I caught on Turner Classics the other night seems to have rectified that problem. In fact, there's a two screen opening sequence that describes the Cine Color restoration project that transformed the picture closer to it's original quality. Even so, the color palette is heavy on the blues, greens and browns, which isn't so bad considering the filming location in Alberta, Canada, and the story's emphasis on building a railroad through the Canadian Northwest passage.In a lot of respects, the story line borrows an element from many B Westerns of the Thirties and Forties. Railroad surveyor Tom Andrews (Randolph Scott) maps out a path through rugged, mountainous terrain, but a villain opposed to the railroad incites a local Indian tribe to make trouble for the construction crew. Victor Jory puts on his outlaw clothes for this one, and attempts to maintain his trade advantage with the local fur trappers by opposing potential business interests from becoming established in the territory. I could never actually understand that argument, simply for the fact that more people arriving in an area would mean more business for everybody.Andrews pursues and is pursued by two women in the story, a mountain gal that simply adores him from the get-go (Nancy Olson), and the settlement doctor (Jane Wyatt) who helps save his life by offering a blood transfusion following an attempt on Andrews' life. That's another story altogether, in as much as Andrews survived a dynamite blast that took out a wagon he was standing right next to. The reason he wasn't killed - get this - is because he was standing too close to it!?!? Another character even mentions that if he was further off, he would certainly have gotten killed! How does that work? Well it does all work out alright for Andrews to foil the bad guys and get the rail track on the way to completion. Randolph Scott once again manages his customary frequent outfit changes, but this time without resorting to the traditional all black he's known for. As for how his romantic entanglement gets worked out, you'll have to catch the picture.The theme of this picture gets reworked in a 1952 movie also starring Randolph Scott titled "Carson City". In that one, Scott portrays an engineer ramrodding a railroad project between Virginia City and Carson City, Nevada. It too has opposing forces for the construction of a rail line, but only one gal for Scott's character to win by the end of the story, and in that one, he wasn't even trying.

As has been pointed out, this is a highly imaginative account of the building of the Canadian Pacific. Perhaps the Scott character is based on Major Albert Bowman Rogers who, Wikipedia tells us, was tasked with finding a route through the Selkirk Mountains. The CPR promised him a cheque for $5,000 and that the pass would be named in his honour. Rogers became obsessed with finding such a pass and discovered it in April 1881.I saw it some years ago on British TV and have just watched it again courtesy of a slightly fuzzy copy on YouTube. Just about the only scenes I recalled were Scott's miraculous escape from the dynamite explosion (not completely impossible, I understand), the bandage on Scott's head that shifted in the same scene, and Dynamite Dawson's escape from the Indians.The blood transfusion scene (in a moving train that was remarkably stable) was perhaps a bit ahead of its time. By the late 19th century, blood transfusion was still regarded as a risky and dubious procedure, and was largely shunned by the medical establishment.Scott, in his early fifties, again has two far young women vying for his affections, but he was still a good-looking guy.I enjoy these American "building-a-railroad" films, and this was good entertainment.

Generally, one has to read only "starring Randolph Scott" to know one is about to experience cinematic pleasure.This film is different -- only in that Scott's character, Tom Andrews, has a double romance and is tempted to give up his fists and guns.His first romance is with an intriguing character, a wild young woman who is so obviously smitten with Tom we are made happier by basking in her love.Watching Nancy Olson in that role, I marveled at the strength she gave the character, Cecille Gautier. She also gave dimension, and beauty, and made Cecille someone we had to support.As Tom gets involved with Dr. Edith Cabot, played by Jane Wyatt, who has probably never looked lovelier, we wonder which of the two women will lose.The romance, though, is a sub-plot, and the major plot is the battle to complete the railroad, a battle against the elements and seasons, and against topography -- that spectacular scenery that even today lures tourists by the millions -- and against humans, some of whom are nefarious, some of whom are merely trying to protect their traditional way of life.Besides the stars, cameo bits by such outstanding players as Earle Hodgins and Edmund Cobb and the incredibly prolific George Chandler (more than 400 roles!) make "Canadian Pacific" a great movie.John Hamilton, with more than 300 roles to his credit, was usually seen as a police officer or judge or, most famously, the irascible Perry White in the "Superman" TV series. Here he shows his actor's range playing a peace-seeking priest.The script, from a story by Jack DeWitt, and written by DeWitt and Kenneth Garnet, really fleshes out the characters, especially in the beginning with some charming dialog.The music, by Dimitri Tiomkin, is something different from him, especially at the beginning, but is, of course, great. It is, after all, by Tiomkin.The print I saw, recently televised by Turner Classic Movies, was not in great shape, and the sound had a wobble to it, but the movie was so good, the problems became very minor.