The amount of historical accuracy in Canadian Pacific wouldn't fill a teaspoon, and the amount of originality in the story concocted to replace the history would is hardly more impressive. Yet Pacific manages to be a moderately entertaining flick in spite of all this. As indicated, there's nothing in the plot that can't be viewed in almost any other western. Yes, it's a nice small twist that the Indian uprising is part of a plot concocted by a white man to stop the construction of the railroad, but even that kind of twist isn't really fresh. Of course, plot isn't everything in a screenplay, but it's not as if the characterizations are deep or novel, or as if the dialogue is stunningly brilliant. No, all of that is rather commonplace. But it is all put together in a very workable manner, enough so that director Edwin L. Marin can mine it for some nifty sequences, including the aforementioned Indian attack, which is really very exciting and quite well done. And it gives Randolph Scott plenty of opportunity to exude his particular charm and virility, which he does quite well, and for Victor Jory to turn in a nice little villainish turn. Nancy Olson is only so-so as part of a love triangle, but Jane Wyatt makes her part of said triangle something rather special; she almost convinces the viewer that it's possible to perform a blood transfusion in the manner shown here. And while the Cinecolor is not the most dazzling color process, Fred Jackman, Jr.'s cinematography is excellent, as is Dimitri Tiomkin's score.
