Northwest Passage (1940)

Synopsis: A richly textured, beautifully shot adventure tale from MGM, which bears the subtitle Book One: Rogers' Rangers, creating the impression that a second film to complete the tale was on the way, but a sequel never actually materialised.

No matter: this is pretty sturdy stuff on its own, featuring a rugged Spencer Tracy as Robert Rogers himself, setting out to find the passage of the title. Director King Vidor spares nothing, with the river sequences particularly well-filmed, and there's a genuinely epic feel to the whole endeavour.

The ending (shot by uncredited director Jack Conway) certainly leaves you wanting more, but all that followed was a feeble TV series in the late 1950s.

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Cast: Spencer Tracy, Robert Young
Runtime: 125 min (full length version)