Northwest Passage (1940) | |
| Director(s) | King Vidor, Jack Conway (uncredited), W.S. Van Dyke (uncredited) |
| Producer(s) | Hunt Stromberg |
| Top Genres | Adventure, Drama, Historical, Romance, War, Western |
| Top Topics | |
Featured Cast:
Northwest Passage Overview:
Northwest Passage (1940) was a Adventure - Drama Film directed by W.S. Van Dyke and Jack Conway and produced by Hunt Stromberg.
Academy Awards 1940 --- Ceremony Number 13 (source: AMPAS)
| Award | Recipient | Result |
| Best Cinematography | Sidney Wagner, William V. Skall | Nominated |
BlogHub Articles:
NORTHWEST PASSAGE On Blu-ray From Warner Archive
By Dan Day, Jr. on Mar 29, 2025 From The Hitless Wonder Movie BlogWarner Archive once again presents a magnificent restoration of a classic Technicolor Hollywood film with their Blu-ray release of MGM's NORTHWEST PASSAGE (1940). NORTHWEST PASSAGE is one of the great historical epics of the pre-World War II sound era, and it is one of the very few films concerning ... Read full article
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Quotes from
Cap Huff:
[to Langton] If you're tryin' to drink yourself outta lovesickness, why don't you switch to rum? We've got some rum that'll burn the knots out of a pine plank.
Langdon Towne: [Drunkenly] Bring 'em me.
Langdon Towne: [Slapping at mosquitoes as they walk through wetlands] Mosquitoes don't bite you, do they?
Hunk Marriner: Nope.
Langdon Towne: You put something on that keeps them off?
Hunk Marriner: Rancid bear grease. They hate the stink worse than I do.
Langdon Towne: [Smelling some of the bear grease that Hunk offers him] thanks. I'll take the mosquitoes.
[last lines]
Elizabeth Browne: [standing alongside Langdon Towne as Major Robert Rogers and his rangers march into the distance] Is there, Langdon? Is there a Northwest Passage?
Langdon Towne: Who knows.
[pause]
Langdon Towne: It's every man's dream to find a short route to his heart's desire. If the major dreams long enough, he'll find it.
Elizabeth Browne: Will we hear from him?
Langdon Towne: Hear from him?
[pause]
Langdon Towne: Every time we look across the river we'll hear his voice calling us through the wind. He'll be within us, Elizabeth - wherever we are or he may be - for that man will never die.
read more quotes from Northwest Passage...
Langdon Towne: [Drunkenly] Bring 'em me.
Langdon Towne: [Slapping at mosquitoes as they walk through wetlands] Mosquitoes don't bite you, do they?
Hunk Marriner: Nope.
Langdon Towne: You put something on that keeps them off?
Hunk Marriner: Rancid bear grease. They hate the stink worse than I do.
Langdon Towne: [Smelling some of the bear grease that Hunk offers him] thanks. I'll take the mosquitoes.
[last lines]
Elizabeth Browne: [standing alongside Langdon Towne as Major Robert Rogers and his rangers march into the distance] Is there, Langdon? Is there a Northwest Passage?
Langdon Towne: Who knows.
[pause]
Langdon Towne: It's every man's dream to find a short route to his heart's desire. If the major dreams long enough, he'll find it.
Elizabeth Browne: Will we hear from him?
Langdon Towne: Hear from him?
[pause]
Langdon Towne: Every time we look across the river we'll hear his voice calling us through the wind. He'll be within us, Elizabeth - wherever we are or he may be - for that man will never die.
read more quotes from Northwest Passage...
Facts about
Kenneth Roberts, the author of the best-selling 1936 novel on which the film is based, described Rogers Rangers as wearing "green buckskin" clothing. The initial attempts made at dyeing the buckskin uniforms made them a bright Kelly green. They were subsequently re-dyed to attain the forest green color seen in the finished film. The uniforms were occasionally "touched up" with paint spray guns, while being worn, with the actors wearing protective bags on their heads - as seen in Northward, Ho!, a period making of.
W.S. Van Dyke was assigned to direct the movie before King Vidor, and scouted locations throughout the American West in 1938. About 60,000 feet of background shots had been completed in Idaho before Van Dyke was taken off the picture because of a scheduling conflict and replaced by Vidor; Jack Conway eventually shot some additional scenes as well.
The Bible passage that Rogers quotes "The voice of him who crieth in the wilderness... " is from Isaiah 40:3.
read more facts about Northwest Passage...
W.S. Van Dyke was assigned to direct the movie before King Vidor, and scouted locations throughout the American West in 1938. About 60,000 feet of background shots had been completed in Idaho before Van Dyke was taken off the picture because of a scheduling conflict and replaced by Vidor; Jack Conway eventually shot some additional scenes as well.
The Bible passage that Rogers quotes "The voice of him who crieth in the wilderness... " is from Isaiah 40:3.
read more facts about Northwest Passage...
