The Great Barrier (1937 film)

The Great Barrier (aka Silent Barriers in the United States)Movie Westerns: Hollywood Films the Wild, Wild West - John Howard Reid - Lulu - Published 2005 - Page 65 - Retrieved 13 January 2021 is a 1937 English historical drama film about the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway.The Great Barrier - IMDB The film was based on the 1935 novel, "The Great Divide", by Alan Sullivan.Movie Roadshows: A History and Filmography of Reserved-Seat Limited Showings, 1911-1973 - Kim R. Holston - McFarland - Published 2012 - Page 317 - Retrieved 13 January 2021
==Cast==
*Richard Arlen as Hickey
*Barry MacKay as Steve
*Antoinette Cellier as Mary Moody
*Roy Emerton as Moody
*Lilli Palmer as Lou
*J. Farrell MacDonald as Major RogersJ. Farrell MacDonald - IMDB - Retrieved 13 January 2021
*Reginald Barlow as James Hill - Member of C.P.R. BoardReginald Barlow - IMDB - Retrieved 13 January 2021
*Arthur Loft as William Van Horne - Member of C.P.R. BoardArthur Loft - IMDB - Retrieved 13 January 2021
*Ben Welden as Joe
*Jock MacKay as Bates
*Henry Victor as Bulldog KellyHenry Victor - IMDB - Retrieved 13 January 2021
*Ernest Sefton as Magistrate
*Frank McGlynn Sr. as Sir John Macdonald - Prime Minister of CanadaFrank McGlynn Sr. - IMDB - Retrieved 13 January 2021
*Gilbert Emery as George Stephen - Member of C.P.R. BoardGilbert Emery - IMDB - Retrieved 13 January 2021
*Howard Hickman as Donald Smith - Member of C.P.R. BoardHoward Hickman - IMDB - Retrieved 13 January 2021
*William Ruhl as Thomas Shaughnessy - Member of C.P.R. BoardWilliam Ruhl - IMDB - Retrieved 13 January 2021
*William Millman as R.B. Angus - Member of C.P.R. BoardWilliam Millman - IMDB - Retrieved 13 January 2021
== Production ==
=== Pre-production ===
The film was inspired by the success of the 1936 film "Rhodes, the Empire-Builder". Films began being plotted throughout the British Empire, including in Australia, Kenya, India, and Canada. A story that had been serialised in Maclean's Magazine, "Track of Destiny", and later published in book form as "The Great Divide", was selected to be adapted.The Great Barrier is Conquered -Again - W.M. Gladish - 1 October 1936 - Maclean's Magazine - Page 14 - Retrieved 13 January 2021
=== Principal Photography ===
Filming began near Revelstoke in June 1936. Richard Arlen enjoyed the experience of having made the film, finding it contrary to the machine-like process of turning out films in Hollywood, and where scripts were frequently subject to daily revisions.Short Stop Here by Richard Arlen On Way To West - The Ottawa Journal - 27 June 1936 - Page 2 - Retrieved 13 January 2021
== Reception ==
=== Contemporary ===
Ann Ross, writing for Maclean's Magazine, said of the film; "The British studios demonstrate that the building of the C.P.R. is just as exciting historical material as wars, abdications, and armadas."Shots and Angles - Ann Ross - 15 June 1937 - Maclean's Magazine - Page 22 - Retrieved 13 January 2021
=== Modern ===
Author John Howard Reid called the film a "rip-roaring, action-paced, vigorously staged Canadian western whose continuous thrills are halted only by an occasional sub-title," and praised Roy Emerton's acting, Rosmer's directing, and the cinematography.
==Notes==
*Frank McGlynn, Sr. had also portrayed Abraham Lincoln several times before his portrayal of Macdonald, and would continue to do so afterward, becoming the actor to have played Lincoln the most times in sound pictures.Abraham Lincoln on Screen: Fictional and Documentary Portrayals on Film and Television - Mark S. Reinhart - McFarland - Published 2009 - Page 147 - Retrieved 13 January 2021
==Links==
*The Great Barrier on Wikipedia
*Silent Barriers on IMDB
*The Great Barrier at the British Film Institute
==References==
Category:Fiction
Category:Real films
Category:Real historical films
Category:Real English historical films
Category:Real films released in 1937