Canadian Pacific

• Directed by Edwin L. Marin
• May 19, 1949 (NYC)

A surveyor for the Canadian Pacific Railroad confronts fur trappers set on stopping the building of the railroad by causing an Indian rebellion. Randolph Scott!

When watching Canadian Pacific, you will almost immediately see that certain elements of this are dated. I’m talking about dialogue such as the mention of the early 80s. They weren’t referring to the 1980s but rather to the 1880s. No one thought that far ahead though. Quite possibly it was inconceivable to them but it’s so funny. Anywho…

The music certainly enhances the scene throughout the film. Either the drama or the excitement of the railroad or the grandeur of the scenery in which the action is going to occur. It’s not just there to fill the quiet but to accentuate and tell the story.

There are moments when the footage switches between outdoor location shooting and sets for shots in the same scene. Generally immediately obvious, the film used allows it to be a smoother transition than in the Eastman Kodak process which would eventually become the industry standard.

In an effort to be edgy for the time this movie came out our hero Tom Andrews (Randolph Scott) encounters a female doctor named Dr. Edith Cabot (Jane Wyatt). Today this may be greeted with a shrug but back in the day it was considered unusual. Canadian Pacific was intended as a crowd pleaser family film obviously. Tom shoots somebody and tis but a minor flesh wound. Enough to incapacitate them but not enough to necessarily kill them.

There are two distinct viewpoints represented in this movie. Tom uses violence when necessary and Edith Cabot is peace at all costs. You could not make it more obvious on where the two stand. Canadian Pacific also contains a strong theme of progress and those who want to stop it either because they see it as a negative or they will lose some level of control. Either it will upend the social order or they are currently getting rich and that progress which will benefit everyone will hurt them. Even if you don’t see that what you get is a good adventure story about larger-than-life characters in Canada.

What’s an older movie without romance? Not only does Tom romance Edith, but he also makes a play for the more rustic Cecille (Nancy Olson) whom he was actually engaged too but pushed aside for, well, reasons when something new and more intellectual came along. His Plan B continues to hold a torch for him until the credits when he has finally decided on her AGAIN! If this were remade today I would be good with her kicking him to the curb.

I expected Tom to run off with Edith. Their relationship was the focus. Tom goes with the girl whose parents didn’t like him because he was supportive of the railroad. A potential union between Edith and Tom came off a little more naturally. They were a fit but Edith would not allow Tom room to be who he was and that was an individual of action who would use violence judiciously though not reflexively. 

I can certainly see the portrayal of the Native Americans offending modern audiences. My personal issue is that they are generic Native Americans. Important for the story but generic.  I don’t think they even get a tribe name in this. From the costuming to the actions, they are just rather disposable characters. They even greet people with “How” and are rather easily manipulated because they be ignunt. Their dialogue is minimal to the point you could have used mannequins with costumes on.

While the color process they used for this film nicely hides the transition from sets to location shooting on it does nothing to hide some of the make-up used on actors either playing Native Americans or the gentleman playing Tom’s friend and the film’s comedy relief Dynamite Dawson (J. Carrol Naish). If anything it probably accentuates it. I’m not sure how old the gentleman was that played Dynamite at the time was, but I don’t think he was old enough to be an aged prospector or whatever Dynamite was in the story. 

Dynamite is ill-fitting comic relief shoehorned into the story. Such a character wasn’t unusual. They were almost viewed as a necessity for films, and sometimes they were but not here. He doesn’t really help the hero solve the situation or do much during the climax. He just gets into some mildly racist antics.

This movie may have something to say but it doesn’t lean heavily on that. I would say 50% of its focus is on the action with the other 50% being about the story with maybe 40% of all that about the message. It ultimate aim was to entertain and not be a thoughtful piece.

Canadian Pacific is no great Western revelation, but it is a good movie. It has a little something to say and is more entertaining than not.