To me, this movie is perfection.

Sadly Over-hyped

good back-story, and good acting

Admirable film.

I loved Susan Hayward in Dana Andrews in My Foolish Heart, so when I learned they had made another film together, I was very excited to see it. Unfortunately, Canyon Passage was so boring I ended up doing a crossword at the same time. First off, Susan is engaged to Dana's friend Brian Donlevy, and Dana has a burgeoning relationship with Patricia Roc. While the two leads are friendly and comfortable together, it's clear there's to be no hanky-panky going on while they're both involved with other people. Where's the fun in that? The film takes place in 1850s Oregon, but it's not a typical western. Yes, there are barroom brawls, hoedowns, and a general fear and dislike of Indians. But it doesn't feel like a western because the scenery is so different. Gone are the dusty dirt roads and tiny town with the one general goods store across from the one saloon. In its place are lush greens, blues, and browns in the surrounding mountains, trees, and valleys. In this aspect, it's great to watch, but it's far from my favorite western. For true fans of this genre, you could do worse than to rent this one, but it has the tendency to feel a little sluggish.

At the time this film was made, Alexander Golitzen was Universal's supervising art director. He had worked closely with Walter Wanger on Arabian Nights. Here we find him billed as associate producer and although he is not credited for art direction, it is obvious that this sphere was closely supervised by him. The sets are not only lavish, they also contrive to look frontier realistic, yet are artistic and dazzle the eye at the same time. Outdoors Oregon is beautifully captured in the Technicolor photography of Eddie Cronjager.The story is a little weak and is predictably conventional, but it incorporates enough action to satisfy the fans and it is earnestly enough acted. Ward Bond is particularly good as the villain of the piece, while Hoagy Carmichael gets to sing snatches of three or four songs including "Ole Buttermilk Sky" which was nominated for an Academy Award (unaccountably - it's a catchy song but we only get to hear four bars of it - and those right at the conclusion while people are stampeding towards the popcorn concession).The credit titles read "Introducing Patricia Roc", although surely she needed no introduction at this stage of her career with starring roles in maybe a dozen or more British films behind her. However, this turned out to be her only Hollywood film, which is not surprising - she doesn't really fit in here and it is hard to credit such an obvious glamor-puss as a frontier woman - Susan Hayward maybe, but Patricia Roc definitely no. Miss Hayward is effective and makes the most of her role, even though her fans will be upset that she is often not very flatteringly photographed. Tourneur's direction has style and pace.OTHER VIEWS: RKO, with whom I had a contract, lent me to Universal for Canyon Passage, which had the biggest budget I had worked with to that date. The music and songs by Hoagy Carmichael were especially remarkable. One of them, "Ole Buttermilk Sky", was nominated for Best Song, but lost out to Harry Warren and Johnny Mercer's "On the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe". - Jacques Tourneur.

This film opens in Portland, Oregon in the 1850s; businessman Logan Stewart rides into town and withdraws some of his gold from storage; he runs a freight business and wants to expand; ultimately he hopes to bring the stage coach to the growing town. Somebody obviously knows he has gold on him as he is attacked in his room during the night; the assailant gets away but Logan has an idea who it could be; Honey Bragg; a man Logan suspects murdered a couple of miners a few days before. The next morning he leaves town with Lucy, the fiancée of his friend George. They are heading to Jacksonville where George runs the gold store... in effect the town bank. For some time after this nothing much happens; we see the townsfolk coming together to build a house for a couple of newly wed farmers; there is a tense but peaceful meeting with the local Indians and we learn that George likes to gamble rather more than he should. The action kicks off later when a man is murdered shortly after returning to town; George is the chief suspect as it is believed that he had been helping himself to peoples gold. Logan points out that the evidence is circumstantial and their 'trial' isn't legal but it is clear that they intend to hang George at nightfall; when he sees a chance Logan helps his friend escape. Bragg meanwhile has killed again; this time an Indian woman... the rest of the tribe are now on the warpath and many people will die before peace returns to Jacksonville.Given its age I had expected this film to be in black and white but it was in glorious Technicolor... just what the glorious Oregon setting required! The opening half of the film may have been fairly action free but it did a fine job of introducing us to the characters and giving us a glimpse in to the lives of people living far away from 'civilisation'... they may have been in the United States but if something needed doing they had to do it themselves; that included defending themselves when things got dangerous. By the time the action started I had grown to care about the characters. The action when it came was more shocking than I'd expected; among those we see killed are women and children we have been introduced to earlier on. The characters aren't all what one would expect in a western of this era; this is especially true of George who puts his gambling addiction ahead of his fiancée and is almost certainly guilty of the murder he was accused of. The acting was solid with Dana Andrews doing a good job as Logan and Brian Donlevy being equally good as his friend George. Director Jacques Tourneur did a fine job; perhaps it is because he was French rather than American that this feels so different from other westerns of that era I've seen. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to fans of the genre.

There was one reason I decided to watch this film…Dana Andrews. He was a wonderful actor despite being a relatively unknown actor today. His easy-going manner and natural way of acting make him one of my favorites. As it was a western (not even close to my favorite genre), I doubt if I would have watched it otherwise. The film also stars Brian Donlevy and Susan Hayward. Despite Donevy being cast as Andrews' friend, I automatically assumed Donlevy was evil. After all, he often played shifty and larcenous sorts—and rarely anyone heroic. You'll have to watch the film to see if this is again the case. An odd supporting character was played by a mandolin-playing wondering minstrel . Not only was this sort of person odd to see in a western, but it was played by Hoagy Carmichael—a guy you'd usually expect to see playing a piano in a jazz or nightclub. His outfit was a hoot, as he was dressed almost exactly like W.C. Fields in "My Little Chickadee" (or, conversely, the TV pitchman, W. C. Fritos). Also, in a very small role is a young Lloyd Bridges before he became a star.The film finds Andrews escorting Hayward to her fiancé, Donlevy, into the wilderness. However, given the chemistry between Andrews and Hayward, it sure seems as if they are destined to become a couple—even when Andrews becomes engaged to another lady.As for the plot, it's not just another western with the typically clichéd plot. No, it's quite different—and rather hard to explain—suffice to say that most of the usual themes you'd expect in such a film are oddly absent. I liked this, as most westerns are simply variations on one about a half dozen different themes. Good acting, a different story and a gorgeous location shoot in Technicolor make this one worth seeing.By the way, Andrews has a fight with huge Ward Bond in the film. In true leading man fashion, he wins—though in real life, Bond would have destroyed Andrews—as Bond was a burly ex-college football star and outweighed Andrews considerably. Also, at least according to this movie, American-Indian women wore bikinis when they went swimming!By the way, Andy Devine's sons in the film were his actual kids in real life!