''The Great Barrier'' is a 1937 British historical

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Milton Rosmer Milton Rosmer (4 November 1881 – 7 December 1971) was a British actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern ...

and

Geoffrey Barkas Geoffrey Barkas (born Geoffrey de Gruchy Barkas, 27 August 1896 – 3 September 1979) was an English film maker active between the world wars. Barkas led the British Middle East Command Camouflage Directorate in the Second World War. His larges ...

and starring

Richard Arlen Richard Arlen (born Sylvanus Richard Mattimore, September 1, 1899 – March 28, 1976) was an American actor of film and television. Biography Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Arlen attended the University of Pennsylvania. He served in Canada as a ...

Lilli Palmer Lilli Palmer (; born Lilli Marie Peiser; 24 May 1914 – 27 January 1986) was a German actress and writer. After beginning her career in British films in the 1930s, she would later transition to major Hollywood productions, earning a Golden Glob ...

and Antoinette Cellier. The film depicts the construction of the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

. It was based on the 1935 novel '' The Great Divide'' by

Alan Sullivan Edward Alan Sullivan (November 29, 1868 — August 6, 1947) was a Canadian poet and author of short stories. He is noted for his 1935 historical adventure novel '' The Great Divide'', which depicts the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway. ...

. It was made at the Lime Grove Studios in Shepherd's Bush. The film's sets were designed by

Walter Murton Walter Murton was a British art director, who worked from the 1920s until the 1940s. During his early career in the 1920s Murton was the regular set designer on the silent film series ''The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'' and '' The Myst ...

Cast

as Hickey *

as Lou * Antoinette Cellier as Mary Moody * Barry MacKay as Steve *

Roy Emerton Roy Emerton (9 October 1892 – 30 November 1944) was a British film actor. Earlier in his life, he was a sailor, stoker, docker, railway worker, and miner and served in the First World War. He played in a great number of popular London stage p ...

as Moody *

J. Farrell MacDonald John Farrell MacDonald (June 6, 1875 – August 2, 1952) was an American character actor and director. He played supporting roles and occasional leads. He appeared in over 325 films over a four-decade career from 1911 to 1951, and directed fort ...

as Major Rogers *

Ben Welden Ben Welden (born Benjamin Weinblatt; June 12, 1901 – October 17, 1997) was an American character actor who played a wide variety of Damon Runyon-type gangsters in various movies and television shows. Early years Welden was born in Toledo, Oh ...

as Joe * Jock MacKay as Bates *

Ernest Sefton Ernest Sefton (born as Ernest Henry Tipton; 13 January 1883 in Hackney, London – 5 December 1954) was a British film actor. He was the brother of Violet Loraine. Selected filmography * ''The Sign of Four'' (1932) * ''The Innocents of Chi ...

as Magistrate *

Henry Victor Henry Victor (2 October 1892 – 15 March 1945) was an English-born character actor who had his highest profile in the film silent era, he appeared in numerous film roles in Britain, before emigrating to the US in 1939 where he continued ...

as Bulldog Kelly *

Reginald Barlow Reginald Harry Barlow (June 17, 1866 – July 6, 1943) was an American stage and screen character actor, author, and film director. He was a busy performer in Hollywood films of the 1930s. Early life A native of Cambridge, Massachusetts ...

as James Hill * Arthur Loft as

William Van Horne Sir William Cornelius Van Horne, (February 3, 1843September 11, 1915) is most famous for overseeing the construction of the first Canadian transcontinental railway, a project that was completed in 1885, in under half the projected time. He succe ...

* Frank McGlynn Sr. as Sir John MacDonald

Production

It was one of a series of British Empire-related movies made by Gaumont around this time, others including ''Rhodes of Africa'', ''The Flying Doctor'' and ''Soldiers Three''. The film involved 16 weeks location shooting in Canada. Barbara Greene was borrowed from Fox. Location filming finished in June 1936.

Reception

Writing for ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

'' in 1937,

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

gives the film a generally good review, describing it as "a thoroughly worthy picture", "well acted, well produced nda little less than well written". Greene praised the saloon shindy and horseback race scenes, and commended Palmer's acting, however his primary criticism was that "it shrinks into significance, with its conventional love-story and the impression it leaves that the building of a railway depends on the heroic efforts of one or three men and a girl". (reprinted in: )

References

Bibliography

* Cook, Pam. ''Gainsborough Pictures''. Cassell, 1997.

External links

* 1937 films 1937 Western (genre) films 1930s historical drama films British historical drama films British Western (genre) films Films directed by Geoffrey Barkas Films directed by Milton Rosmer Films shot at Lime Grove Studios Films set in Canada Films set in the 1880s Films shot in British Columbia Rail transport films Films scored by Jack Beaver British black-and-white films 1937 drama films 1930s English-language films 1930s British films Gainsborough Pictures films {{1930s-UK-film-stub