There are several Westerns that have dealt with the railroad's progress to the West Coast during the nineteenth century. Few center on Canada's railroad venture, however. This film opens with current footage of a Canadian Pacific train over voiceover narration about what is to unfold with the findings of a surveyor. Told in flashback, the ninety-five-minute film is directed by Edwin Marin and produced by Nat Holt. Hats off to Jack DeWitt and Kenneth Gamet for their screenplay. The unmistakable sound of small cannon shots when "65-magnum" revolvers are fired could only come from 20th Century Fox. The great Dimitri Tiomkin wrote the score. Unfortunately, it is not memorable. Expect gunfire, explosions, discouraged employees, and a provoked Indian attack. And a lot of green. In the end, justice prevails for a happy ending.
CINECOLOR
PUTS THE SIN IN FILM PROCESSING
If there is a single bazaar element concerning this film, it is the two-color processing known as Cinecolor, an alternative to Technicolor for independent producers. The majestic Canadian Rockies scenery never looked more pathetic. The color waffles back and forth between interior scenes that are reasonably accurate to a green-orange-brown outdoors, albeit with a hint of blue sky. Black and gray are nonexistent. It appears as the worst black-and-white colorization attempt until the more recent digital app conversions. For a more pleasant viewing, turn your color intensity off on your Smart TV. The second is the thirty-year age difference between the male lead and a newcomer making her film debut. This was typical during Hollywood's Golden Age, but this film may have set some sort of record. There is no attempt to suggest she is older than twenty-one. The lead's other love interest is just under forty, making her the logical match for growing old together.
The film's lead is a no-nonsense surveyor, Randolph Scott. Several of his Westerns were processed in Cinecolor, and it is a detriment to those entertaining but routine Westerns. Scott is again provided a script with a few witty and charming comebacks and quips. Totally removed from his stoic persona, particularly funny is his hilarious, scooping greeting, “Hey-looo,” to the railroad crew doctor, Jane Wyatt. They have since fallen in love while he recovers from a serious injury. Though she is on the same page romantically, her unyielding pacifist beliefs—choosing negotiation over bullets—are not their “railroad ties” that bind. She refuses to understand that evil must be eliminated, and it usually does not provide negotiation opportunities. Enter Scott's nemesis, the myopic villain, Victor Jory, whose saboteurs cause numerous construction delays and the deaths of workers, something he delights in, in true Jory fashion. Launching her film debut is Nancy Olson, Scott's first love. She accounts for herself vividly at the start of her busy “under-the-radar” career. J. Carroll Naish is a bit over the top, acting older than reality. He plays the long-time friend of Scott and the railroad's dynamite expert for clearing land.
Note: Speaking of bazaar, to facilitate Naish's escape from a few attacking Indians, he offers each "dynamite cigars." The preoccupied Indians do not see him ride off, but the explosions signal a very cruel outcome. This historical faux pas is certain to anger those unaware of hindsight. The scene would have been edited out of the script if the producer had known that absurdity does not belong in a turn-of-the-century Western.
