HotToastyRag 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.

GManfred You can see the date of my review above. I was always a big western fan but somehow this one escaped me all these years. Maybe I was always looking for a well-known Western star like James Stewart or John Wayne, but Dana Andrews? He made a couple but they were mostly forgettable and besides, he was a 'B' list actor anyway.'Canyon Passage" was excellent in all respects, especially the multi-layered plot which is not typical of the western genre. They are often 2-dimensional affairs; good guys and bad guys, good guy rides in and saves whatever needs saving. Or rescues the wagon train from Indians. Or outwits the corrupt sheriff. And so on.After all the above reviews, it's all been said, so I won't. I just want to say I recommend this picture and I can't think of a valid criticism or a flaw to report. Photography was gorgeous, acting was solid and director Jacques Tourneur always turns in a first class job ("Cat People" (42), "Out Of The Past" (47),etc). Movies like this make sitting in a darkened theater worthwhile and rewarding, or in front of a TV if you missed it the first time.

secondtake Canyon Passage (1946)This is a tale with a not so subtle moral message--the man who is modest, just, and hardworking is the better man. And he'll get the sassy girl, the one who is currently attached to the gambling big spender who is the good man's friend and opposite. Dana Andrews plays the virtuous leading man perfectly--he's strong without being a tough or outrageous strong man (like John Wayne) and he's also kind, with a smile the shoots off his sombre face like a flash of light. That's he's popular with women is no surprise, but he's committed most of all to being a successful businessman, and a restless one, roving from outpost to outpost in beautiful Oregon.His counterpart is the likable but flawed Brian Donlevy, who is really the perfect choice here because he isn't the kind of paradigm we will quite fall in love with. The woman who steals the show is Susan Hayward. And then there is Hoagy Carmichael, playing a role he often plays, the musician wise man who sees everything and understands it before anyone else. It's a great group, supported by hundreds of others (yes--an ambitious film) and directed with a subtle, fast touch by the unsung great, Jacques Tourneur.So, in short, "Canyon Passage" was surprise and a total pleasure. I couldn't take my eyes off of the photography and the rich color, good pure Technicolor with the redoubtable Natalie Kalmus coordinating. The plot is strong, and Andrews is terrific in scene after scene. Westerns are sometimes difficult to see from the 21st Century without putting it into some history of film context, but this one works as a drama, pure and simple, a drama set out west in the late 1800s. The movie is also unique in being set in the lush mountains near Portland, Oregon. The scenery is gorgeous in the big sense, but every small scene is lush and forested and rainy--almost the opposite of that dry, open, blue sky norma in a "Western" strictly speaking. Interiors in golden lamplight lead to exteriors of dripping greens and blues, or the delicate grays of night.Even the music is great, especially the lighthearted and clever songs by Carmichael. (The great Frank Skinner handled the rest of the score.) Edward Cronjager is one of the dozen great cinematographers of classic Hollywood, and in this you can see why. It's a complex film, visually, and it never lets up. Especially the night scenes (where the lights and sets could be controlled perfectly) are vivid and have that controlled beauty of great studio (and location) Hollywood. If any of these elements sound good, I wouldn't miss this film.

edwagreen Prior to 1947 and Smash-Up, the film that set the pace for Susan Hayward to play emotionally unbalanced women, her earlier films such as Reap the Wild Wind (1942) and I Married A Witch (1944) were simply awful. This film falls in that category as well.Despite the beautiful scenery, the film for the most part is primarily dull. Let's not get into the trap of the hard pioneer life because even the pioneers would have been annoyed with this film.I knew that it was too good to be true when Brian Donlevy was playing a nice business person. I just knew that there had to be murder in his heart. Furthermore, Ward Bond looked so big and heavier in his role as the heavy.The story really doesn't get started until the murders and the Indian uprising. The beginning is very slow moving.In the same year that Andrews gave a memorable performance in "The Best Years of Our Lives," he was given very poor writing material to work with here. Hayward is extremely wooden in the role of Lucy. She just seemed to follow that way in all of her previous performances. Patricia Roc, in the role of Caroline, is the real loser in this film. She loses everything, but vows to remain far away from the town after the uprising. No wonder little was ever heard from her again.A vintage film to forget,please do.