Canyon Passage

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Canyon Passage
Canyon Passge 1946 poster.jpg
US theatrical poster
Directed byJacques Tourneur
Written byErnest Pascal
Ernest Haycox (novel)
Produced byWalter Wanger
StarringDana Andrews
Brian Donlevy
Susan Hayward
Patricia Roc
CinematographyEdward Cronjager
Edited byMilton Carruth
Color processTechnicolor
Production
company
Walter Wanger Productions
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release dates
  • July 15, 1946 (1946-07-15) (Portland, Oregon)
  • July 17, 1946 (1946-07-17) (United States)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2,623,925[1]
Box office$4,263,651[1]

Canyon Passage is a 1946 American Western film directed by Jacques Tourneur and set in frontier Oregon.[2] It stars Dana Andrews, Susan Hayward and Brian Donlevy. Featuring love triangles and an Indian uprising, the film was adapted from the 1945 Saturday Evening Post novel Canyon Passage by Ernest Haycox. Hoagy Carmichael (music) and Jack Brooks (lyrics) were nominated for Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Ole Buttermilk Sky."

Plot[]

In 1856, ambitious freight company and store owner Logan Stuart agrees to escort Lucy Overmire home to the settlement of Jacksonville, Oregon, along with his latest shipment. Lucy is engaged to Logan's best friend, George Camrose. The night before they depart, however, Logan has to defend himself from a sneak attack in his hotel room; though it is too dark to be sure, he believes his assailant is Honey Bragg. Later, he explains to Lucy that he once saw Bragg leaving the vicinity of two murdered miners. Despite Logan's unwillingness to accuse Bragg (since he did not actually witness the crime), Bragg apparently wants to take no chances.

On their journey, Logan and Lucy become attracted to each other. They stop one night at the homestead of Ben Dance and his family. There, Logan introduces Lucy to his girlfriend, Caroline Marsh.

In Jacksonville, Logan tries to get George to stop playing poker with (and losing to) professional gambler Jack Lestrade, even giving him $2000 to pay off his debts, but George is more interested in the prospect of getting rich quick without hard work. What Logan does not know is that George has been stealing gold dust left in his safekeeping by the miners to pay some of his losses. George also has a secret he is keeping from Lucy; he keeps propositioning Lestrade's wife Marta, though she shows no interest in him.

Meanwhile, the burly Bragg keeps trying to provoke Logan into a fight. Finally, he succeeds. Logan wins, but does not kill his opponent when he has the chance. A humiliated Bragg tries to ride Logan down on his way out of town.

George decides to move away to make a fresh start and finally gets Lucy to agree to marry him. Logan then proposes to Caroline and is accepted, much to the disappointment of Vane Blazier, Logan's employee, who is in love with Caroline himself.

Lucy decides to accompany Logan to San Francisco to pick out a wedding dress. Along the way, they are ambushed by Bragg. Though their horses are shot dead, they get away and return to town, only to discover that George is in grave trouble.

When a miner appears months earlier than George had expected and informs him that he wants to get his gold the next day, George kills the drunk man late that night. However, his crimes are traced to him; shopkeeper Hi Linnet saw him stealing some gold, and the miner's lucky gold nugget is found in George's possession. The locals, led by Johnny Steele, find George guilty of murder and lock him up, intending a late-night lynching. However, when one of the settlers rides in with the warning that the Indians are on the warpath after Bragg killed a woman, Logan helps his friend escape in the confusion.

Logan organizes a party to fight. When Bragg seeks their protection, Logan drives him off, to be killed by the Indians. They are then driven off by Logan's men.

Afterward, Logan and Lucy learn that George was found and killed by one of the townsfolk. Caroline also has second thoughts about marriage to a man who is away so frequently on business; she breaks their engagement and accepts Vane. Logan and Lucy are free to follow their hearts.

Cast[]

Reception[]

The location photography in Umpqua National Forest and the performances by Hayward and Roc were praised by critics from Time and The New York Times.[3]

According to Variety, the film earned $2,250,000 in rentals in 1946[4] but resulted in a loss of $63,784.[1]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c Matthew Bernstein, Walter Wagner: Hollywood Independent, Minnesota Press, 2000 p443
  2. ^ Fujiwara, Chris (1998). Jacques Tourneur: The Cinema of Nightfall. McFarland. pp. 125–. ISBN 9780786404919. Retrieved December 29, 2012.
  3. ^ Eduardo Moreno, The Films of Susan Hayward, Citadel Press, Secaucus, NJ, 1979, p. 111.
  4. ^ "60 Top Grossers of 1946", Variety 8 January 1947 p8

External links[]

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