''Canadian Pacific '' is a 1949 American historical

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film, directed by Edwin L. Marin and starring

Randolph Scott George Randolph Scott (January 23, 1898 – March 2, 1987) was an American film actor, whose Hollywood career spanned from 1928 to 1962. As a leading man for all but the first three years of his cinematic career, Scott appeared in dramas, come ...

and Jane Wyatt. Filmed in

Cinecolor Cinecolor was an early subtractive color-model two-color motion picture process that was based upon the Prizma system of the 1910s and 1920s and the Multicolor system of the late 1920s and the 1930s. It was developed by William T. Crispinel an ...

on location in the

Canadian Rockies The Canadian Rockies () or Canadian Rocky Mountains, comprising both the Alberta Rockies and the British Columbian Rockies, is the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains. It is the easternmost part of the Canadian Cordillera, w ...

Banff National Park Banff National Park is Canada, Canada's first National Parks of Canada, national park, established in 1885 as Rocky Mountains Park. Located in Alberta's Rockies, Alberta's Rocky Mountains, west of Calgary, Banff encompasses of mountainous ter ...

, Morley Indian Reserve in

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, and

Yoho National Park Yoho National Park ( ) is a National Parks of Canada, national park of Canada. It is located within the Canadian Rockies, Rocky Mountains along the western slope of the Continental Divide of the Americas in southeastern British Columbia, bordere ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, it is a story about the building of the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

Plot

Tom Andrews is a surveyor involved in the building of the titular Canadian railroad, which is stalled by the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

. While he maps a route through the mountains, Andrews is shot at by Dirk Rourke, a fur trader, and his accomplice, Cagle. When Andrews returns to the construction camp, he sees Cagle working there and attacks him. Dr Edith Cabot intervenes as she is a

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

and disapproves of violence. Andrews heads for Calgary to see his girlfriend, Cecille Gautier. Andrews and Cecille's father attend a meeting at which Rourke campaigns against the railway by claiming that it will mean the end of trade in the area. Andrews tries to convince the crowd that the railway will benefit them and that Rourke objects only because it will end his business monopoly. He and Rourke get into a fist fight, which is broken up by Père Lacombe. To keep the peace and because Cecille's father sides with Rourke, Andrews decides to return to work on the railway. Cecille does not understand and is upset at his intention to spend another year away, and so she breaks their engagement. At the camp, Dynamite Dawson tells Andrews of his suspicion that Indians have been stealing dynamite. Andrews later finds several cases of dynamite buried at an Indian village. The chief says that young braves had been paid by a white man to steal them. Back at the camp, Cagle and Rourke shoot at one of the cases as Andrews unloads them. Andrews is seriously injured in the resulting explosion. On board a train back to the base hospital, Dr Cabot transfuses her own blood to save Andrews's life. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Cecille overhears Rourke, her father, and others plotting to stop the railway by inciting the Indians to cause trouble. When she objects, her father threatens to disown her. Suspecting Rourke of having caused the explosion that injured Andrews, she decides to join him at the hospital but is dissuaded by Dynamite, who persuades her to return home to gather evidence and to pass it on to him. Saboteurs cause a series of explosions, which closes down railway construction for the winter. By the spring, Andrews has recovered and wooed Edith. Hearing of trouble at the camp, Andrews prepares to return, but Edith persuades him not to wear a gun. Rourke has stirred up the Indians and established a saloon and gambling hall at the camp. When a man is shot at the saloon, Edith goes to help but is too late. Andrews straps on his guns again and closes the saloon. Cecille arrives and announces that Rourke and the Indians are about to attack. Dynamite rides off to get reinforcements while the others take refuge in the hospital car. Cecille's injured father is brought in and tells them that they are considerably outnumbered. Andrews goes after Rourke and Cagle and, as the Indians prepare for a final battle, shoots Cagle. Rourke is killed by a falling branch from a tree, which had been set on fire as a signal to the Indians. Although the Indians attack, they are driven off by reinforcements, which arrive by train at the last moment. Later, the Indian chief walks into the camp and sues for peace. Dismayed by the violence that she has experienced in the west, Edith boards a train for the east. Cecille looks on as Andrews boards the train as it moves off, but after saying goodbye to Edith, he jumps off and returns to her. Andrews and Cecile spend their honeymoon camping at Cecille's favorite lake, Lake Louise.

Cast

as Tom Andrews * Jane Wyatt as Dr. Edith Cabot * J. Carrol Naish as Dynamite Dawson * Victor Jory as Dirk Rourke *

Nancy Olson Nancy Ann Olson (born July 14, 1928) is an American retired actress. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in ''Sunset Boulevard (film), Sunset Boulevard'' (1950). She co-starred with William Holden in ...

as Cecille Gautier *

Robert Barrat Robert Harriot Barrat (July 10, 1891 – January 7, 1970) was an American stage, motion picture, and television character actor. Early years Barratt was born on July 10, 1891 in New York City, and educated in the public schools there. He left ...

as Cornelius Van Horne * Walter Sande as Mike Brannigan * Grandon Rhodes as Dr. Mason * Don Haggerty as Cagle * John Parrish as Mr. Gautier * Mary Kent as Mrs. Gautier * John Hamilton as Pere Lacombe * Howard Negley as Mallis *

Dick Wessel Richard Michael Wessel (April 20, 1913 – April 20, 1965) was an American film actor who appeared in more than 270 films between 1935 and 1966. He is best remembered for his only leading role, a chilling portrayal of strangler Harry "Cue ...

as Bailey

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Canadian Pacific (Film) 1949 films 1949 Western (genre) films 20th Century Fox films American Western (genre) films Cinecolor films 1940s English-language films Films scored by Dimitri Tiomkin Films directed by Edwin L. Marin Films set in the 1880s Rail transport films Northern (genre) films Films adapted into comics Films shot in Alberta Films shot in British Columbia 1940s American films English-language Western (genre) films