Not known as an actor in action-adventure films, Spencer Tracy nonetheless took on this sort of part for 1940’s Northwest Passage. The film delivers a look at the pioneer days of the 18th century.

In New England circa 1759, college dropout Langdon Towne (Robert Young) drunkenly offends the wrong people. This sends him and his pal “Hunk” Marriner (Walter Brennan) on the run.

Eventually they meet up with “Rogers’ Rangers”, a team of explorers runs by Major Robert Rogers (Tracy). This sends them on a dangerous journey into the wilderness.

On the film’s poster art, Passage features the subtitle “Book 1: Rogers’ Rangers”. Obviously that implies that filmmakers hoped the flick would spawn at least one more cinematic chapter.

No sequel ever got the greenlight. A TV series called Northwest Passage ran for a single season across 1958-59, but the Tracy-helmed version ended with this flick.

It appears we never got “Book 2” because Passage failed to turn a profit. While it sold a good number of tickets, it came with such a high budget that it lost money.

I won’t claim to feel distraught that we never got a second Rogers’ Rangers tale on the big screen. Although Passage brings a decent adventure, I don’t think it ever hits a higher gear.

Of course, as often impacts movies that feature white characters who slaughter those of other ethnicities, the basic racism involved becomes an issue. Although I attempt to watch movies through the perspective of their eras, it can become tough, and that turns into an issue with Passage.

Granted, Passage depicts the Rangers’ native opponents as pretty vicious. We see indications that they kidnapped women and brutally scalped victims.

Still, there’s that unpleasant sense of natives as less than human that infuses the movie. Not that Passage sits alone in these attitudes, but it can feel racist even by the standards of its era.

Beyond these concerns, Rangers turns into a spy action tale, one abetted by good location photography. While parts of the film use obvious soundstages, plenty of the movie went out into natural settings.

These choices give the flick an appealing vibe. When it indulges in some actual action, it becomes reasonably compelling.

However, a huge chunk of Passage devotes its narrative to the hardships faced by the Rangers on their journey. While this might depict the reality of the situation, it doesn’t make for involving drama.

Mainly because watching some guys starve to death fails to seem particularly cinematic. Also, we don’t invest much in Rogers or the others, so their fates never become especially important to us.

Passage enjoys a reputation as a strong adventure film, but I don’t think it lives up to that hype. Although the end product kicks to life at times, it drags too much across its 127 minutes.

Footnote: oddly, the movie never sends Rogers and/or his Rangers to seek the actual Northwest Passage. The film’s ending implies that “Book 2” would depict that expedition but this flick doesn’t follow that tale.

Northwest Passage appears in an aspect ratio of 1.37:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This became an excellent presentation, especially given the film’s age.

In terms of sharpness, the movie usually demonstrated nice delineation. A few shots seemed just a smidgen soft, but those issues occurred infrequently, so the majority of the flick looked concise and accurate.

No issues with jagged edges or shimmering materialized, and no edge enhancement became apparent. Grain remained appropriate, and no specks, marks or other defects showed up at any time in this fresh presentation.

Colors were strong. I thought flesh tones were a bit on the brown side, but that was a reflection of Technicolor and too much makeup. Otherwise, the hues tended to be vivid and full.

Blacks seemed deep and dense without too much heaviness. Shadow detail worked similarly well, as dimly-lit shots were appropriately clear and thick. I found little about which to complain here and thought the Blu-ray brought the movie to life in a positive manner.

The DTS-HD MA monaural audio of Passage appeared fine for its era. Speech was fine. The lines showed age-related thinness, but they were always perfectly intelligible and without edginess.

Effects resembled the dialogue. Those elements lacked much depth but they were without notable problems.

Music was acceptable for its age, as the songs and score tended to be a bit tinny. There wasn’t much range to the music, but again, that stemmed from the limitations of the very old source. This became a perfectly adequate mix for its vintage.

In addition to the film’s trailer, we find a vintage featurette. Entitled “Northward, Ho!”, it runs nine minutes, 25 seconds.

The program mixes fictionalized elements related to the movie’s creation as well as actual shots from the production. The former make this a less than honest view of the shoot, but the latter compensate.

Though the end product represents a well-shot film, Northwest Passage plods too much to become a bracing adventure tale. Even if we ignore its rampant racism, the final result just fails to engage too much of the time. The Blu-ray comes with excellent visuals as well as acceptable audio and minor bonus materials. I hoped to find an exciting tale but this one only occasionally connects.