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Northwest Passage (1940 film)
Encyclopedia
Northwest Passage is a 1940
film in Technicolor
, starring Spencer Tracy
, Robert Young
, Walter Brennan
, Ruth Hussey
, and others. It is based on a novel
by Kenneth Roberts titled Northwest Passage
(1937).
It is set in the mid 18th century during the French and Indian War
(as the Seven Years' War
in North America
is usually known in the US). It gives an account of an attack by Rogers' Rangers
on Saint Francis (the current Saint-François-du-Lac, Quebec
), a settlement of the Abenakis, an American Indian
tribe. The purpose of the raid is to avenge the many attacks on British settlers and deter further attacks.
The title is something of a misnomer, since this film is a truncated version of the original story, and only at the end do we find that Rogers
and his men are about to go on a search for the Northwest Passage
.
) in Portsmouth, New Hampshire
. The son of a cordage (rope
)- maker and ship rigger, he returns from Harvard University
after being expelled for complaining about college food and drawing an unflattering picture of the President of Harvard College. Though disappointed, Langdon's family greets him with love, as does Elizabeth Browne (Ruth Hussey
), the daughter of a noted clergyman. Elizabeth's father (Louis Hector) is less welcoming, however, and denigrates Langdon's aspirations to becoming a painter
. That evening, while drinking in the local tavern with friend Sam Livermore (Lester Matthews
), Langdon makes indiscreet remarks disparaging Wiseman Clagett (Montagu Love
), the king's attorney, and the Indian agent, Sir William Johnson
, unaware that Clagett is sitting in the next room with another official. Facing arrest for his comments, Langdon fights the two men with the help of "Hunk" Marriner (Walter Brennan
), a local woodsman and friend, before they both escape into the woods.
As they flee westward, Langdon and Marriner stop in a backwoods tavern for something to drink. There they meet a man in a green uniform who treats them to a drink called "Flip" which is similar to hot buttered rum, after they help him with a drunk American Indian
. After a night of drinking, the two men wake up at Fort Crown Point
, where they are told that the man they had met was Major Rogers
(Spencer Tracy
), the commander of Rogers' Rangers
. Needing Langdon's mapmaking skills, Roberts recruits the two men for his latest expedition, one to destroy the hostile Abenakis tribe and their town of St. Francis
far to the north.
Setting out at dusk, Rogers' force rows north using whale boats on Lake Champlain
. Traveling by night, they successfully evade river patrols by French
forces but are forced to send several soldiers back to the fort after a confrontation with Mohawk
scouts who were dismissed by Rogers. During the confrontation, a powder keg explodes which injures some of his force. However, Rogers not only sends back the injured to Crown Point, but the disloyal Mohawks provided him by Sir William Johnson (Frederick Worlock), and a number of his men who didn't obey orders to avoid a confrontation with the Mohawks. Although his force is depleted, the rangers move onto their objective. Concealing their boats for a much later return, the force marches northward through swampland, avoiding dry land wherever possible to conceal their movements. When informed by his Stockbridge Indian scouts left to watch over the boats that the French have captured their boats and extra supplies, Rogers revises his plan and sends an injured officer back to Fort Crown Point requesting the British to send supplies to old Fort Wentworth
, where the returning rangers will meet them.
After making a human chain to cross an unbridged river, the rangers reach St. Francis. The force succeeds in their attack, setting fire to the dwellings and cutting the Abenakis off from retreat. When the battle is over, however, the rangers find only a few baskets of parched corn with which to replenish their dwindling provisions. Worse, as Marriner is searching the destroyed village, he comes across a prostrate Langdon suffering from a bullet wound in his abdomen. Facing hostile forces and a long march with only meager supplies, the rangers set out on their course to Wentworth, trying to evade the French and Indians pursuing them. Their initial objective is Lake Memphremagog
, with the injured Langdon bringing up the rear.
Ten days later, Rogers' men reach the hills just above Lake Memphremagog, where they hope to find food by stopping to hunt and fish. Encountering signs of French activity, Rogers prefers to press on to Fort Wentworth a hundred miles distant, but the men vote to split up into four parties and fan out in search of game
to eat. Game proves scare, though; worse, two of the detachments are ambushed by the French and most of the men killed.
After persevering through harsh conditions, Rogers and the remaining fifty men finally reach the fort, only to find it unoccupied and in a state of disrepair. The hoped-for British relief column has not arrived. Though personally despairing, Rogers attempts to rally the men, who are on the verge of collapse. As Rogers attempts to perk up their flagging spirits with a prayer, they hear the fifes
and drums of approaching British boats with the supplies. Reporting that the Abenakis are destroyed, the British do Rogers' men the honor of presenting their firearms and shouting "Huzzah". After returning to Portsmouth, Langdon reunites with Elizabeth while Rogers' Rangers are given a new mission: to find the Northwest Passage
. Roger's fires them up with a brief speech telling them of all the wonders they will see while they march towards the first point of embarkation, a little fort called "Detroit." He passes by Langdon and Elizabeth to say goodbye where Elizabeth informs him that she and Langdon are headed for London where she is hopeful he will learn to become a great painter. Rogers bids them farewell and marches down the road and off into the sunset.
, near Payette Lake
and the city of McCall
.
s has in recent years been criticized as racist
, even by the standards of Hollywood
at the time. This treatment, however, mirrors the section of the book set during the French and Indian War, which was highly regarded for its historical research and accuracy.
.
Director King Vidor
then attempted to make a sequel to the film in which Rogers' Rangers find the Northwest Passage, although Roberts refused to cooperate with the project. But filming never began, because MGM ultimately refused to "greenlight" it.
MGM produced a 1958-1959 American television series Northwest Passage
starring Keith Larsen
as Robert Rogers, with Buddy Ebsen
costarring as "Hunk" Marriner. It aired on NBC
.
1940 in film
The year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney classics Pinocchio and Fantasia.-Events:*February 7 - Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio is released....
film in Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
, starring Spencer Tracy
Spencer Tracy
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...
, Robert Young
Robert Young (actor)
Robert George Young was an American television, film, and radio actor, best known for his leading roles as Jim Anderson, the father of Father Knows Best and as physician Marcus Welby in Marcus Welby, M.D. .-Early life:Born in Chicago, Illinois, Young was the son of an Irish immigrant father...
, Walter Brennan
Walter Brennan
Walter Brennan was an American actor. Brennan won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor on three separate occasions, which is currently the record for most wins.-Early life:...
, Ruth Hussey
Ruth Hussey
Ruth Carol Hussey was an American actress best known for her Academy Award-nominated role as photographer Elizabeth Imbrie in The Philadelphia Story.-Early life:...
, and others. It is based on a novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by Kenneth Roberts titled Northwest Passage
Northwest Passage (novel)
Northwest Passage is a historical novel by Kenneth Roberts, published in 1937. Told through the eyes of primary character Langdon Towne, much of this novel centers around the exploits and character of Robert Rogers, the leader of Rogers' Rangers, who were a colonial force fighting with the British...
(1937).
It is set in the mid 18th century during the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
(as the Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
is usually known in the US). It gives an account of an attack by Rogers' Rangers
Rogers' Rangers
Rogers' Rangers was an independent company of colonial militia, attached to the British Army during the Seven Years War . The unit was informally trained by Major Robert Rogers as a rapidly deployable light infantry force tasked with reconnaissance and conducting special operations against distant...
on Saint Francis (the current Saint-François-du-Lac, Quebec
Saint-François-du-Lac, Quebec
Saint-François-du-Lac is a community in the Nicolet-Yamaska Regional County Municipality of Quebec, Canada. The population as of the Canada 2006 Census was 2,002...
), a settlement of the Abenakis, an American Indian
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
tribe. The purpose of the raid is to avenge the many attacks on British settlers and deter further attacks.
The title is something of a misnomer, since this film is a truncated version of the original story, and only at the end do we find that Rogers
Robert Rogers (soldier)
Robert Rogers was an American colonial frontiersman. Rogers served in the British army during both the French and Indian War and the American Revolution...
and his men are about to go on a search for the Northwest Passage
Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...
.
Plot
The film opens in the year 1759 with the arrival of Langdon Towne (Robert YoungRobert Young (actor)
Robert George Young was an American television, film, and radio actor, best known for his leading roles as Jim Anderson, the father of Father Knows Best and as physician Marcus Welby in Marcus Welby, M.D. .-Early life:Born in Chicago, Illinois, Young was the son of an Irish immigrant father...
) in Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire in the United States. It is the largest city but only the fourth-largest community in the county, with a population of 21,233 at the 2010 census...
. The son of a cordage (rope
Rope
A rope is a length of fibres, twisted or braided together to improve strength for pulling and connecting. It has tensile strength but is too flexible to provide compressive strength...
)- maker and ship rigger, he returns from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
after being expelled for complaining about college food and drawing an unflattering picture of the President of Harvard College. Though disappointed, Langdon's family greets him with love, as does Elizabeth Browne (Ruth Hussey
Ruth Hussey
Ruth Carol Hussey was an American actress best known for her Academy Award-nominated role as photographer Elizabeth Imbrie in The Philadelphia Story.-Early life:...
), the daughter of a noted clergyman. Elizabeth's father (Louis Hector) is less welcoming, however, and denigrates Langdon's aspirations to becoming a painter
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
. That evening, while drinking in the local tavern with friend Sam Livermore (Lester Matthews
Lester Matthews
Lester Matthews was an English actor born in Nottingham, England, UK. In his career, he made more than 180 appearances in film and on television. He was on occasion erroneously credited as Lester Mathews and especially in later years was sometimes known as Les Matthews. He died on the 6 June 1975...
), Langdon makes indiscreet remarks disparaging Wiseman Clagett (Montagu Love
Montagu Love
Montagu Love , also known as Montague Love, was an English screen, stage and vaudeville actor.Born Harry Montague Love in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, and educated in Great Britain, Love began his career as an artist and military correspondent. His first important job was as a London newspaper...
), the king's attorney, and the Indian agent, Sir William Johnson
Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet
Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet was an Anglo-Irish official of the British Empire. As a young man, Johnson came to the Province of New York to manage an estate purchased by his uncle, Admiral Peter Warren, which was located amidst the Mohawk, one of the Six Nations of the Iroquois League...
, unaware that Clagett is sitting in the next room with another official. Facing arrest for his comments, Langdon fights the two men with the help of "Hunk" Marriner (Walter Brennan
Walter Brennan
Walter Brennan was an American actor. Brennan won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor on three separate occasions, which is currently the record for most wins.-Early life:...
), a local woodsman and friend, before they both escape into the woods.
As they flee westward, Langdon and Marriner stop in a backwoods tavern for something to drink. There they meet a man in a green uniform who treats them to a drink called "Flip" which is similar to hot buttered rum, after they help him with a drunk American Indian
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
. After a night of drinking, the two men wake up at Fort Crown Point
Fort Crown Point
Crown Point, was a British fort built by the combined efforts of both British and Provincial troops in North America in 1759 at narrows on Lake Champlain on the border between modern New York State and Vermont...
, where they are told that the man they had met was Major Rogers
Robert Rogers (soldier)
Robert Rogers was an American colonial frontiersman. Rogers served in the British army during both the French and Indian War and the American Revolution...
(Spencer Tracy
Spencer Tracy
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...
), the commander of Rogers' Rangers
Rogers' Rangers
Rogers' Rangers was an independent company of colonial militia, attached to the British Army during the Seven Years War . The unit was informally trained by Major Robert Rogers as a rapidly deployable light infantry force tasked with reconnaissance and conducting special operations against distant...
. Needing Langdon's mapmaking skills, Roberts recruits the two men for his latest expedition, one to destroy the hostile Abenakis tribe and their town of St. Francis
Saint-François-du-Lac, Quebec
Saint-François-du-Lac is a community in the Nicolet-Yamaska Regional County Municipality of Quebec, Canada. The population as of the Canada 2006 Census was 2,002...
far to the north.
Setting out at dusk, Rogers' force rows north using whale boats on Lake Champlain
Lake Champlain
Lake Champlain is a natural, freshwater lake in North America, located mainly within the borders of the United States but partially situated across the Canada—United States border in the Canadian province of Quebec.The New York portion of the Champlain Valley includes the eastern portions of...
. Traveling by night, they successfully evade river patrols by French
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
forces but are forced to send several soldiers back to the fort after a confrontation with Mohawk
Mohawk nation
Mohawk are the most easterly tribe of the Iroquois confederation. They call themselves Kanien'gehaga, people of the place of the flint...
scouts who were dismissed by Rogers. During the confrontation, a powder keg explodes which injures some of his force. However, Rogers not only sends back the injured to Crown Point, but the disloyal Mohawks provided him by Sir William Johnson (Frederick Worlock), and a number of his men who didn't obey orders to avoid a confrontation with the Mohawks. Although his force is depleted, the rangers move onto their objective. Concealing their boats for a much later return, the force marches northward through swampland, avoiding dry land wherever possible to conceal their movements. When informed by his Stockbridge Indian scouts left to watch over the boats that the French have captured their boats and extra supplies, Rogers revises his plan and sends an injured officer back to Fort Crown Point requesting the British to send supplies to old Fort Wentworth
Fort Wentworth
Fort Wentworth was built by order of Benning Wentworth in 1755. The fort was built at the junction of the Upper Ammonoosuc River and Connecticut River, in Northumberland, New Hampshire, by soldiers of Colonel Joseph Blanchard's New Hampshire Provincial Regiment including Robert Rogers. In 1759,...
, where the returning rangers will meet them.
After making a human chain to cross an unbridged river, the rangers reach St. Francis. The force succeeds in their attack, setting fire to the dwellings and cutting the Abenakis off from retreat. When the battle is over, however, the rangers find only a few baskets of parched corn with which to replenish their dwindling provisions. Worse, as Marriner is searching the destroyed village, he comes across a prostrate Langdon suffering from a bullet wound in his abdomen. Facing hostile forces and a long march with only meager supplies, the rangers set out on their course to Wentworth, trying to evade the French and Indians pursuing them. Their initial objective is Lake Memphremagog
Lake Memphremagog
Lake Memphremagog is a fresh water glacial lake located between Newport, Vermont, United States and Magog, Quebec, Canada. The lake is long with 73 percent of the lake's surface area in Quebec, where it drains into the Magog River. However, three-quarters of its watershed, , is in Vermont. The...
, with the injured Langdon bringing up the rear.
Ten days later, Rogers' men reach the hills just above Lake Memphremagog, where they hope to find food by stopping to hunt and fish. Encountering signs of French activity, Rogers prefers to press on to Fort Wentworth a hundred miles distant, but the men vote to split up into four parties and fan out in search of game
Game (food)
Game is any animal hunted for food or not normally domesticated. Game animals are also hunted for sport.The type and range of animals hunted for food varies in different parts of the world. This will be influenced by climate, animal diversity, local taste and locally accepted view about what can or...
to eat. Game proves scare, though; worse, two of the detachments are ambushed by the French and most of the men killed.
After persevering through harsh conditions, Rogers and the remaining fifty men finally reach the fort, only to find it unoccupied and in a state of disrepair. The hoped-for British relief column has not arrived. Though personally despairing, Rogers attempts to rally the men, who are on the verge of collapse. As Rogers attempts to perk up their flagging spirits with a prayer, they hear the fifes
Fife (musical instrument)
A fife is a small, high-pitched, transverse flute that is similar to the piccolo, but louder and shriller due to its narrower bore. The fife originated in medieval Europe and is often used in military and marching bands. Someone who plays the fife is called a fifer...
and drums of approaching British boats with the supplies. Reporting that the Abenakis are destroyed, the British do Rogers' men the honor of presenting their firearms and shouting "Huzzah". After returning to Portsmouth, Langdon reunites with Elizabeth while Rogers' Rangers are given a new mission: to find the Northwest Passage
Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...
. Roger's fires them up with a brief speech telling them of all the wonders they will see while they march towards the first point of embarkation, a little fort called "Detroit." He passes by Langdon and Elizabeth to say goodbye where Elizabeth informs him that she and Langdon are headed for London where she is hopeful he will learn to become a great painter. Rogers bids them farewell and marches down the road and off into the sunset.
Principal cast
- Spencer TracySpencer TracySpencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...
as Major Rogers - Robert YoungRobert Young (actor)Robert George Young was an American television, film, and radio actor, best known for his leading roles as Jim Anderson, the father of Father Knows Best and as physician Marcus Welby in Marcus Welby, M.D. .-Early life:Born in Chicago, Illinois, Young was the son of an Irish immigrant father...
as Langdon Towne - Walter BrennanWalter BrennanWalter Brennan was an American actor. Brennan won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor on three separate occasions, which is currently the record for most wins.-Early life:...
as "Hunk" Marriner - Ruth HusseyRuth HusseyRuth Carol Hussey was an American actress best known for her Academy Award-nominated role as photographer Elizabeth Imbrie in The Philadelphia Story.-Early life:...
as Elizabeth Browne - Nat PendletonNat PendletonNathaniel Greene "Nat" Pendleton was an American Olympic wrestler and film actor.-Early life:Pendleton was born in Davenport, Iowa to Adelaide E. and Nathaniel G. Pendleton. He studied at Columbia University where he began his wrestling career. He was twice Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling...
as "Cap" Huff - Louis Hector as Reverend Browne
- Robert BarratRobert BarratRobert Harriot Barrat was an American stage, motion picture, and television character actor.-Career:Born in New York, Barrat's theatrical debut was in a stock company in Springfield, Massachusetts...
as Humphrey Towne - Lumsden HareLumsden HareLumsden Hare was an Irish born film and theatre actor. He was also a theatre director and theatrical producer....
as Lord Amherst - Donald MacBrideDonald MacBrideDonald MacBride was an American character actor on stage, in films and on TV who launched his career as a teenage singer in vaudeville and went on to be an actor on Broadway. He appeared in nearly 140 films between 1914 and 1955...
as Sergeant McNott - Isabel JewellIsabel JewellIsabel Jewell was an American actress most active in the 1930s and early 1940s.-Early life and career:...
as Jennie Coit - Douglas Walton as Lieutenant Avery
- Addison RichardsAddison RichardsAddison Richards was an American film actor. He appeared in over 300 films between 1933 and 1964. He died from a heart attack...
as Lieutenant Crofton - Hugh Sothern as Jesse Beacham
- Regis ToomeyRegis ToomeyJohn Regis Toomey was an American film and television actor.-Early life:Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he was one of four children of Francis X. and Mary Ellen Toomey and attended Peabody High School...
as Webster - Montagu LoveMontagu LoveMontagu Love , also known as Montague Love, was an English screen, stage and vaudeville actor.Born Harry Montague Love in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, and educated in Great Britain, Love began his career as an artist and military correspondent. His first important job was as a London newspaper...
as Wiseman Clagett - Lester MatthewsLester MatthewsLester Matthews was an English actor born in Nottingham, England, UK. In his career, he made more than 180 appearances in film and on television. He was on occasion erroneously credited as Lester Mathews and especially in later years was sometimes known as Les Matthews. He died on the 6 June 1975...
as Sam Livermore - Truman BradleyTruman Bradley (actor)Truman Bradley was an actor and narrator in radio, television and film.Bradley began his career in the 1930s as a radio broadcaster. With a voice well-suited for that medium, his career evolved into voice acting and narration. He was the host of the 1950s TV series Science Fiction Theater...
as Captain Ogden
Filming location
The movie was filmed in central IdahoIdaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
, near Payette Lake
Payette
Payette is the name of a town, county, river system, three lakes, mountain, and a national forest in the U.S. state of Idaho.They are named for Francois Payette *Payette, Idaho*Payette County, Idaho...
and the city of McCall
McCall, Idaho
McCall is a resort town on the western edge of Valley County, Idaho, United States. Named after its founder, Tom McCall, it is situated on the southern shore of Payette Lake, near the center of the Payette National Forest...
.
Depiction of American Indians
The film's depiction of American IndianNative Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
s has in recent years been criticized as racist
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
, even by the standards of Hollywood
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
at the time. This treatment, however, mirrors the section of the book set during the French and Indian War, which was highly regarded for its historical research and accuracy.
Awards and honors
The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Cinematography (Color) in 1941, but lost the award to The Thief of BagdadThe Thief of Bagdad (1940 film)
The Thief of Bagdad is a 1940 British fantasy film produced by Alexander Korda, and directed by Michael Powell, Ludwig Berger, and Tim Whelan, with contributions by Korda's brothers Vincent and Zoltán, and William Cameron Menzies...
.
Sequels and related projects
According to one source, the script was revised by as many as 12 other writers, in addition to the two credited. Author Kenneth Roberts served as a co-writer on a second draft of a proposed script for the movie, one that covered the entire novel, not just the first book of it. However, executives at MGM scuttled the revision and instead used the first draft of the script, which covered only the first book, as the basis for the finished film. This is why the film Northwest Passage was subtitled Book One: Rogers Rangers.Director King Vidor
King Vidor
King Wallis Vidor was an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter whose career spanned nearly seven decades...
then attempted to make a sequel to the film in which Rogers' Rangers find the Northwest Passage, although Roberts refused to cooperate with the project. But filming never began, because MGM ultimately refused to "greenlight" it.
MGM produced a 1958-1959 American television series Northwest Passage
Northwest Passage (TV series)
Northwest Passage is a 26-episode half-hour adventure television series produced by Metro Goldwyn Mayer about Major Robert Rogers during the time of the French and Indian War . The show derived its title and the main characters Rogers, Towne, and Marriner from the 1937 novel of the same name by...
starring Keith Larsen
Keith Larsen
Keith Larsen was an American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer who starred in three short-lived television series between 1955 and 1961.-Background:...
as Robert Rogers, with Buddy Ebsen
Buddy Ebsen
Buddy Ebsen was an American character actor and dancer. A performer for seven decades, he had starring roles as Jed Clampett in the long-running television series The Beverly Hillbillies and as the title character in the 1970s detective series Barnaby Jones, and played Barnaby Jones in the movie...
costarring as "Hunk" Marriner. It aired on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
.