Canadian Pacific

Many actors owe their careers to Randolph Scott, debuting in one of his westerns and then rising to stardom in the years to come. Lee Marvin, James Coburn, and Mariette Hartley are all included in that group. If you want to see Nancy Olson's "introducing" credit, rent Canadian Pacific. The very next year, she snagged an Oscar nomination for Sunset Blvd. Not bad!

This isn't the best Randolph Scott movie out there, so if you want to watch his really classic westerns, check out the ones he made with his own production company: Scott-Brown Productions. (Those were almost always in Technicolor, which is a bonus.) One feature of this movie that I really enjoyed was the love triangle. At the start of the movie, he's totally in love with Nancy Olson, a girl from the country. Her hair flows free, her love is sweet, and she accepts him the way he is. Her only bone of contention is that he works too much and makes her wait to get married. Then, as the movie continues and focuses more on the less-interesting advent of the Canadian Pacific railway line, Scottie is introduced to a female doctor, Jane Wyatt. Jane is structured and makes him earn her respect and affection. But she's extremely anti-violence and doesn't accept him the way he is. Which will he pick?

If you're really interested in trains, you might like this one better than I did. I would have preferred the whole movie to be Scottie smooching his two girlfriends. Wouldn't that have been fun?

Okay. I read all 18 user reviews on IMDb before watching this film and gathered it didn't have much of a fan club should I say! However I am quite early in my Randolph Scott journey so still decided to give it a try.

The story very briefly is the construction of the Canadian Pacific railway in the late 1800's linking provinces of Canada blocked off geographically by great mountain ranges and being dogged by local opposition in the form of native Indians and some white locals.

The film also provides a very basic grasp, some may say inaccurate grasp of the political divide amongst the Canadian provinces etc. But all that is for other resources.

Randolph Scott plays a surveyor (Tom Andrews) for the railway construction company as being a sort of heavy troubleshooter it appears however his work is being distracted by a love triangle with two female characters, his girlfriend (Nancy Olsen) and a female doctor who at one stage saves his life played by Jane Wyatt. The Dr. Is very anti-violence it appears and her influence has an affect on Andrews work practices. Again all this information is available elsewhere.

Now one element of the film I found fascinating was its restoration work. It was filmed in 1949 using an outdated basic colour system called Cinecolor which provided a challenge to the film's restoration and does still show up as a very reddy colour palette?

A good music score is provided by famed musical composer Dimitri Tiomkin.

Okay the film may have some historical inaccuracies with regard to Canadian history. I mean there are no Chinese workers etc. However it is still an enjoyable film. It's location of Canada is a far cry from the usual southern United States locales of 'Western' genre films. I would call it a semi-Western!

Randolph Scott drives the railroad through the Rocky mountains, fighting off Indians and trappers every inch of the way, as well as juggling two women - wildcat Nancy Olsen and pacifist doctor Jane Wyatt. Victor Jory is his usual villainous self, trying to stop the railroad, and almost kills Scott in an explosive sequence.

Love railroad westerns, and though its tendency for melodrama can over shadow the plot, it's an entertaining saga of building a railroad. Yes, it's not historically accurate, but was never meant to be. It's just good entertainment with great scenery and some good action - the finale is rip roaring. An outdoor adventure they sadly don't make anymore.

Canadian Pacific had some major pluses with Randolph Scott at his best, great directing by Edwin L. Marin, a wonderful music score by Dimitri Tiomkin and beautifully filmed on location in the Canadian Rockies. J. Carrol Naish (Dynamite Dawson) was terrific as the storytelling sidekick. Jane Wyatt (Dr. Edith Cabot) in one of her best roles as the woman who tried to change the hardened Scott. Victor Jory, who never disappoints was solid as the villain trying to stop the railroad with his top henchman Cagle (Don Haggerty). However, I think the top performance was Nancy Olson (Cecille Gautier). Olson played the woman caught between many forces. She was in the middle of a war between her people and the railroad men, Scott and his relationship with Wyatt and the love interest of Jory. Other great parts were by Robert Barrat (Cornelius Van Horne), John Parrish (Mr. Gautier), Mary Kent (Mrs. Gautier) and John Hamilton (Pere Lacomb). If that wasn't enough there were great cameos by Earle Hodgins, Edmund Cobb, Lassie's George Chandler and rough-and-tumble Dick Wessel.

In the opening of the film there is a scene of a modern steam-powered freight train leaving Calgary, and there the accuracy comes to an end. This film is supposed to be based on the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway, but it's pure Hollywood hokum. Nobody did their homework. There is the usual shoot-outs, gun battles, renegade Indians, "bad guys," sabotage, and the "romantic angle." None of these things happened during the building of the Canadian Pacific; the ever-present Mounties saw to it. In defense of the film it is a typical out-of-the-file story. Not good, but not that bad either. Randolph Scott is good (Randolph Scott was always good!) If you're looking for a Saturday-afternoon-matinée Western, this one will do. If you're looking for an accurate story of the building of the Canadian Pacific, forget it.