Northwest Passage (1940) [Warner Archive Blu-ray review]

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Northwest Passage is the tale of a college dropout who just wants to find his purpose in life. Unfortunately, that purpose is cruising into Canada to destroy Indian tribes for siding with the French. Also, did I say he was a dropout? He was expelled from Harvard and basically hanging around New Hampshire starting scuffles. Naturally, the military was willing to take him under their wing.

When your favorite historical eras go obscure

The French Indian War had one great fictional narrative about the event, but even the last film version of that is over 30 years old now. It’s this weird point in North American history that immediately precedes the American Revolution and then 200+ years of America rocking the planet’s face off. So, when the Kenneth Roberts’ novel of Northwest Passage was finally adapted, it was interesting to see even in 1940.

But, Roberts wrote the book as two parts and yet the only first part got a release. In a way, it was the Horizon of its time. The first part is mainly about the war and the second part is about the Northwest Passage. So, I get why MGM didn’t think Depression era America wanted to see a travelogue through Canada. At least this film had killer Native American attacks and rival forces that felt kinda like an old version of Mohawk.

Who were Rogers’ Rangers?

The central band in the film under Spencer Tracy’s command was called Rogers’ Rangers. This band of soldiers were real and pretty much pioneered the fundamentals of American military recon work. When the Revolutionary War kicked off, they started as Loyalists and eventually joined the fight for freedom. They aren’t as big as Ethan Allen’s outfits or the military bands of the era that are taught in school. But, they had an important part to play.

So, why didn’t we get anymore movies about them? Mainly it has to do with the real history of Robert Rogers. While the Rangers eventually defected to the American side, Robert was rejected by George Washington for being a spy. He eventually returned to the Crown and became one of England’s best agents in America. In fact, he is directly responsible for Nathan Hale’s capture and eventual execution.

That and he enjoyed his time working with Benedict Arnold and basically MGM didn’t want to be in the business of making movies about traitors from the birth of its existence into the mid 1970s.

Why didn’t we get the second book?

The second book which is really the back half of the Northwest Passage novel is more of a man vs. nature movie. That doesn’t always translate to film unless you have your heroes fighting killer animals or elements. My memories of the source novel are scant, but it’s more of hang-out tale with people complaining about how long the scouting trip is taking. Basically, MGM made the right choice by filming all of the exciting parts for this film.

Northwest Passage is a very odd book to adapt for its era. Especially when you have tap dance around what became of Rogers and why the Rangers abandoned him. The fact that they were able to edit the book and the real history down to the one moment in time Rogers was heroic is a feat that MGM should get praised for in hindsight.

The last great adventure before everyone got drafted

1940 and even most of 1941 is a weird point in American cinematic history. Basically, the world was already going to War and Hollywood was getting flooded with talent evading the horrors in Europe. That and the Depression has been raging on for 11 years now. Hollywood and California was plagued with union and related labor scandals. All the while, the average American just wanted to scrap together some change to grab a hot dog and go see a movie.

So, MGM editing down a rather large tome into an adventure movie is rather fun. Northwest Passage would have played as mainstream audience fare and stabilized as a Spencer Tracy vehicle. It’s only newer generations getting to discover the film that takes a moment to strip it down. In a way, it’s a relic of its time. An odd adventure from that window in time from Europe entering the War to America getting involved.

Let’s talk about that Warner Archive Blu-ray

Northwest Passage is the latest stunning restoration out of Warner Archive. There is something about the Technicolor process in that pre World War II era. Everything feels painted and slightly staged, but then they have location shoots intermixed that create a proper world of fantasy. Chuck Penn did a rather bang-up YouTube video highlighting how amazing the restoration was and I figured that could do more than me talking about the 1080p transfer.

That being said, the release is an embarrassment of riches. The DTS-HD 2.0 mono track is period appropriate. However, you get the original promotional feature and a trailer to round out the package. I would have loved one of those WB efforts to recreate what it was like to see the movie in its period, but this is a smaller film. That being said, I wholeheartedly recommend picking up Northwest Passage.

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