User Reviews

The dauntingly difficult construction of the Alcan (Alaska Canada) Highway, extending northwest for nearly 1600 miles, following bulldozers from Dawson Creek, British Columbia up and over to Fairbanks. Alaska, an eight month long achievement during 1942 that utilized thousands of men before its completion, forms the background for this roisterous tale of romantic adventure. The road is well designed for the transport of troops, supplies and food to an Alaska that was soon to be attacked by Japanese forces, and the characters in the screenplay portray for the most part members of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, the principal governmental agency responsible for extending the route by eight miles per day, despite extremely cold temperatures that would periodically plunge as low as minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit. "Pop" Ormsby (Harry Shannon), owner of a road building outfit, wins a contract to complete the Highway, and he and his employees enlist in the Engineer Corps, Pop as Major and commanding Officer of the unit, and his two sons Woody (Richard Arlen) and Steve (Bill Henry) as Technical Sergeants, although the latter two are rivals after the heart of Ann Coswell (Jean Parker), daughter of the civilian engineer into whose oversight the Highway project has been assigned. Evidence of Ann's preference for Woody, the elder Ormsby brother, is presently prima facie and a simmering conflict between the siblings leads to deeper problems for the entire crew, while a comedic element concerns team cook Frosty (Ralph Sanford) and his search for a mail order wife. The movie was a financial success for Paramount's Programmer Unit under the aegis of producers William Pine and William Thomas and is an excellent example of how the pair's organization created fixed formula films as ensemble pieces, the nifty dialogue here mainly from Lewis R. Foster, and there is crisp editing by William Ziegler who efficiently incorporates into the work documentary footage (including voice-over) of the actual Highway project. Ably directed by Frank McDonald, the briskly paced film benefits from a host of talented supporting players, among whom are Edward Earle, Joe Sawyer, Eddie Quillan, and Frank Richards, while always effective Parker wins acting honours for an assured performance as sought-after Ann in this satisfying work that offers action, romance, suspense, and even pathos.

Despite the credits thanking Alberta Province in Canada for its cooperation. I think all we really saw of Canada is newsreel footage edited into the film. I doubt Paramount spent big bucks in location shooting especially with the Alaska Highway itself a prime military target.

A good documentary about the actual building of the Alaska Highway would be nice as it was a remarkable engineering achievement on par with the Panama Canal. But what we get here is a stupid romantic triangle among the workers against the backdrop of the project they were working on.

Richard Arlen and William Henry are a pair of brothers sons of Harry Shannon who gets both the job and a commission in the Army Corps of Engineers to see Alaska Highway through. Something discussed in peace it became a wartime necessity as Alaska was a military target. Some of the Aleutian Islands were occupied by the Japanese and held for the duration.

But Arlen and Henry are both panting hot and heavy for Jean Parker who is the daughter of Edward Earle, Shannon's right hand man. I swear I wanted to bang these two together, skull first and scream there's a war on stupid. Good Lord, they realized it in Casablanca.

Nice newsreel footage, stupid characters.

A movie about the production of the Alcan highway could have had more potential. But if you're looking for a movie about how the road was made this probably isn't a great option. It was never going to be a grand spectacle about the highway's construction (at least not in the 40s) but the film doesn't really deliver at all. There are essentially three parts to the movie which are interspersed. One is a generally uninteresting love triangle. The second piece is comic relief. And the third is the roadwork. The love triangle is pretty boring, the comic relief is pretty boring, and they don't do much to make the construction scenes all that interesting either. In conclusion this film can be ignored.

I was looking forward to seeing this movie, and had anticipated something along the lines of "The Fighting Seebees" and "Wake Island". Unfortunately I was wrong.

The movie is basically a series of actual newsreel segments, pasted together by 2 main plot devices, a love triangle, and a comedy skit using 3 of the actors.

Interest is only maintained by wanting to see the next newsreel clip, other than that, we are less than entertained by wooden acting from cardboard characters. The "action" photography of drivers on big bulldozers is laughable, the actors looking everywhere but ahead, and bouncing around on set chairs.

Overall a very disappointing effort, and a movie that only a fanatic should contemplate buying.

When I watched "Alaska Highway" I had a reaction that many might not have. That's because as I watched the aging Richard Arlen muddle through this bad film, I couldn't help but think of him in his glory days when he was a leading man in GOOD films--such as the Oscar-winning "Wings" back in 1927. The years were not good to his career as by the mid-1930s onward, he appeared in mostly third-rate films by fourth-rate studios. Now instead of a handsome leading man, he was just another journeyman actor.

This is the sort of film they only made during WWII. It's a propaganda film designed to help boost the war morale as well as make a few bucks in the process. Its backdrop is the building of the Alaskan Highway, but it's really just another familiar love triangle flick. The Major is responsible for a group of engineers who are trying to get this road completed within six months. After all, it will help the US and Canada get soldiers and supplies to Alaska in order to fight the Japanese (yes, while it's not talked about much in history books, the Japanese did attack and even occupied portions of Alaska).

There is a monkey wrench, however, that gums up the works. The Major has two idiots for sons (Arlen and William Henry) who both have fallen for the same girl (cute Jean Parker--who I always thought looked a lot like Ann Sothern). Can these two knuckleheads set aside their hormones and machismo long enough to do their bit to help America rule supreme?! Will the Americans STILL manage to win the war? What do you think?! The film suffers from some bad writing (Parker's character is insane--or at least in the way she was written), bad dialog and is just not that interesting. You know it's not a very good movie when the comic relief (featuring the cruel but funny antics of Joe Sawyer) are by far the best thing about the film. Probably not worth your time. Watchable but nothing more.

This is the third of the Poverty Row Pine/Thomas productions I’ve watched, and it was immediately followed by another – DANGEROUS PASSAGE (1944). I’ve already forgotten all about the first two, AERIAL GUNNER (1943) and GAMBLER’S CHOICE (1944) – both starring Chester Morris (whom I hope to see presently at his prime in ALIBI [1929] and the “Standard Version” of THE BAT WHISPERS [1930]) – which I only came across last year, and these are liable to share the same fate (in fact, I’d say they’re even lesser achievements)! Anyway, here we get yet another popular actor from the 1920s and 1930s who had since slipped into B-movies, Richard Arlen (best-known for playing the hero of that much-desired-but-still-bafflingly-M.I.A.-on-DVD horror classic ISLAND OF LOST SOULS [1932]) – by the way, he was also in AERIAL GUNNER!; ditto for his leading lady Jean Parker – who had once worked for the likes of Frank Capra, George Cukor and Rene' Clair (though she did land the heroine part in a fine ‘B’ title not long after this, namely Edgar G. Ulmer’s BLUEBEARD [1944]).

For what it’s worth, the film presents an unusual slant on the typical propaganda effort churned out by Hollywood during WWII i.e. the building of a highway in Alaska that would facilitate the movement of troops, as well as their equipment and rations, preparing to ‘meet’ the Japanese army. However, the approach is strictly formula stuff – which includes romantic rivalry, comedy relief sidekick and a climax which incorporates tragedy, reconciliation, and a general best-foot-forward attitude! There’s not much else to say except that the film, thankfully brief at 67 minutes, is mildly diverting (but, as I said, totally unsurprising) along the way; incidentally, scriptwriters Lewis R. Foster and Maxwell Shane were (or would become) directors in their own right – the former had even helmed a number of classic Laurel & Hardy shorts, while the latter seemed most interested in noir films (albeit with a psychological leaning)!