An acceptable and passable Western with adequate interpretations, spectacular exteriors and solid sets .After finding a vital pass through the Canadian Rockies for the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway, Tom Andrews (Randolph Scott) tells his boss Cornelius Van Horne (Roger Barrat) that he is resigning to marry the girl he loves, Cecille Gautier (Nancy Olsen who still lives). But thing go wrong when Tom become attracted to the new female doctor, Edith Cabot (Jane Wyatt), who's arrived with the hospital car. The surveyor for the Canadian Pacific Railroad must fight Indians, settlers and fur trappers who oppose the building of the railroad by stirring up a rebellion. Men and women untamed as the savage wilderness ...with bare hands they fought off wild Indians, and conquered a continent! . It's Terrific !. A Land to be Conquered...A Love to be Won!. The blazing saga of untamed men and a savage wilderness!
Passable western with good cast in in which starring Randolph Scott fights in hopes a better life and stifle conflicts, while builds the railway, but encounter problems instead. It is a medium budget movie with thrills, noisy action, shootouts, as well as fine players, nice production design and pleasing results. It is still a routine entry in Western genre, set when railway expanded in Canada in which Scott plays a construction boss working on laying the Canadian Pacific Railroad across Western Canada and through the Rocky Mountains to British Columbia to find a pass through the Rockies. A tired old western plot about bad hats out to stop the building of the railroad, is given a lift by the good interpretations in this action adventure. The picture is well starred by Randolph Scott. He was a prolific actor in Western, his career is divided in films directed by Budd Boetticher in Seven men from now, The tall T, Decision at sundown, Buchanan rides alone, Comanche station, Westbound. Henry Hathaway as : Heritage of the desert, Wild horse, Sunset Pass, Man of the Forest. Ray Enright directed him in : The spoilers, Trail street, Alburquerque, Coroner creek, Return of the bad men. Andre De Toth directed him in Men in the saddle, Carson city, The stranger wore a gun, Riding shotgun, The bounty hunter. Finally, his main testament, Ride the high country along with Joel MacCrea directed by Sam Peckinpah. Enjoyable performances especially those of Nancy Olsen, spirited in her screen debut as a French-Canadian tomboy and Jane Wyatt as an intrepid frontier doctor. It's hard to believe that craggy old could be fancied by both of these feisty young females, but Hollywood Westerns do tend to ignore usual conventions. A bit on the long side, but that allows room for snarling Victor Jory to properly etch one of his rasping-voiced nasties, along with brief appearances from other illustrious secondaries such as: Robert Barrat , Walter Sande, Don Haggerty, Dick Wessel, John Hamilton and J. Carrol Naish in the very expendable comic relief.
Nicely filmed in a fading Cinecolor by Fred Jackson, partly on location in the Canadian Rockies, although the colour falls down when it leaves the countriside and there are prints in black and white. Evocative and thrilling musical score by the classic composer Dimitri Tiomkin. Well produced by Nat Holt, the motion picture was professionally directed by Edwin L Marin. He directed in sure visual style and he made all kinds of genres, especially Westerns. As he shot various Westerns as Tall in the saddle with John Wayne and Ella Raines, Canadian Pacific, Fighting man of the Plains, Colt 45, Raton pass, The Younger Brothers . Randolph Scott starred his last Westerns until his early death at 53, such as: The Cariboo trail, Sugarfoot, and Fort Worth. Rating: 5.5/10. Decent Western for Randolph Scott enthusiasts.
