Tonight's Movie: Canyon Passage (1946) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

The superb Western CANYON PASSAGE (1946) is now available on Blu-ray thanks to Kino Lorber.

In the years since my first viewing close to two decades ago, this film directed by Jacques Tourneur has become one of my favorite Westerns -- indeed, one of my favorite movies, regardless of genre. It's a richly detailed, complex film which offers new rewards and insights on each viewing, and I can't recommend it highly enough.

The movie tells the story of a frontier community in 1850s Oregon, including Logan (Dana Andrews), a merchant who also runs a pack mule delivery service, and his best friend George (Brian Donlevy), who has a gambling addiction and is engaged to Lucy (Susan Hayward).

Logan and Lucy seem to have an attraction, but Lucy remains loyal to George, while Logan proposes to a recently orphaned English girl, Caroline (Patricia Roc).

The wider community is populated by a marvelous group of actors including Ward Bond (truly scary in this one), Lloyd Bridges, Andy Devine, Dorothy Peterson, Fay Holden, Virginia Patton, Stanley Andrews, Frank Ferguson, Halliwell Hobbes, and more. Wandering amongst the community members singing songs like the Oscar-nominated "Ol' Buttermilk Sky" is Hi Linnet (Hoagy Carmichael).

I've previously written about the film at considerable length in both 2013 and 2019, so rather than restate many of the same points I'd like to direct readers to those posts for more extensive thoughts on the movie.

I think it's worth emphasizing here, however, how I gain something new on each viewing, which makes adding this particular Blu-ray to a classic film fan's library such a joy. Last time around, as I wrote for Classic Movie Hub, I really keyed in on how much George (Donlevy) exists "outside" the local community. He lives there, but he's not really part of things, other than his close relationships with Logan and Lucy.

This time I felt I gained new insights into the character of Caroline (Roc), who on first or second viewing seems to be a bit of a timid English rose; that impression might have been initially reinforced by the way she wanders lost in the forest after a lethal Indian attack.

On this viewing I was completely struck by a sequence early in the film which I almost didn't remember, in which Caroline leaves the Dances (Devine and Peterson) to help a neighbor deliver a baby. When Mrs. Dance asks if she should send for the doctor, Caroline laughingly says that it's "just a baby" and she can handle it, and she confidently heads out to serve as midwife.

Though an unmarried young woman, Caroline plainly has a great deal of life experience and has more nerve than I initially credited to her, singlehandedly delivering a baby at an isolated cabin -- a point which is underscored by her desire to remain in Oregon and have a farm after her father was killed, despite the ongoing dangers.

Though the film is only 92 minutes long, it's as meaty as a good novel, managing to give its many characters depth and distinctive personalities, in turn causing the viewer to reflect more deeply on them with each successive viewing. Simply put, it's a superb film which deserves to be revisited regularly.

The Kino Lorber Blu-ray shows off the Technicolor cinematography of Edward Cronjager in fine fashion; surely the wonderful location shots filmed in Oregon never looked better. I also really noticed so many interesting details in the houses this time around, perhaps aided by the crisp-Blu-ray picture.

The disc includes the movie's trailer, an additional trailer gallery for four films also available from Kino Lorber, and a fact-filled commentary track by Toby Roan.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.