For the second time in my life I have watched this supposed Noir/horror/ standard Western. I have given it 4 for the Film Noir scenes and the excellent colour. I do not see the Oregon scenery to be that outstanding, and the acting I find mediocre. Susan Hayward who is engaged to a gambler is not at her best, and most of the time I barely noticed her. Dana Andrews is Dana Andrews and clearly a crowd puller, but his acting is in my opinion plain boring. Patricia Roc is not often seen although billed highly and frankly she was better on home ground in the UK. I am not American so I probably miss out on the details that viewers seem to urge other viewers to see again. The film has a plot, but no spoilers as I got lost in it except for the fact that a nasty man has assaulted a Native American woman, and that in response to that there is a massacre of a homestead family. The horror scene is the dragging a woman screaming into the bushes where the Native Americans kill her. It is a nasty scene and sticks in the mind. Lovers change lovers and there are the usual fist fights. Technically the film is perfect, but the content borders on the dull with a number of scenes that seemed to me to be just killing time. Jacques Tourneur was an excellent director, but this is not his finest hour. I understand that others will disagree and I respect that.
Review of Canyon Passage
