Only one Western today, Canadian Pacific with Randolph Scott. Jack DeWitt and Kenneth Gamet wrote the screenplay and Edwin L Marin directed. I'd seen Edwin's Colt .45 with Randolph Scott but none of his other 50 plus films look familiar. Jack is the writer of Bomba, The Jungle Boy which came out just before Canadian Pacific.
It's a 1949 film that was filmed in two strip CineColor and the DVD has an hour long program on the restoration of the film. It wasn't that good a process but it was cheaper than Technicolor. Good thing it died out quickly.
Randolph is a surveyor for the Canadian Pacific railway. He's just found a passage through the Rockies so the railway can go through to British Columbia. Victor Jory is a guy who runs some trading posts in the area. He doesn't want the railroad because the trappers can then ship their furs to other towns for more money than Victor will pay.
Victor schemes against the railway, he'll kill anyone who gets in his way, he even blows Randolph up a bit. Jane Wyatt plays the railray's Doctor. She has a bit of a romance with Randolph but she ruins it by trying to change him too much. He goes back to Nancy Olsen who's really a better fit.
Randolph will get things settled with a bit of shooting and punching. There's a big Indian attack as Victor riles up the local natives. It will all fall apart and he'll get his in the end. Good story. Good cast. Worth seeing.
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