The Great Barrier

The Great Barrier - 1937 | 83 mins | Drama | B&W

The Production Team

Director: Geoffrey Barkas and Milton Rosmer.
Producer: Günther Stapenhorst.
Script: Michael Barringer, Emeric Pressburger, Milton Rosmer and Ralph Spence. (from the novel The Great Divide by Alan Sullivan)
Cinematography: Sepp Allgeier, Arthur Crabtree, Glen MacWilliams and Robert Martin.
Editing: Charles Frend and Ben Hipkin.
Costume Design: Marianne.
Sound Department: Phillip Dorté.
Original Music: Hubert Bath and Louis Levy.

The Cast

Richard Arlen - Hickey
Lilli Palmer - Lou
Antoinette Cellier - Mary Moody
Barry MacKay - Steve
Roy Emerton - Moody
J. Farrell MacDonald - Major 'Hell's Bells' Rogers
Ben Welden - Joe
Jock MacKa - Bates

Plot Synopsis

Vigorous account of the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway between Montreal and Vancouver shot on location in British Columbia with the use of realistic rolling stock.

Hickey (Richard Arlen) and Steve (Barry MacKay), two young men in search of adventure arrive in a small Canadian town where the Canadian Pacific Railway is under construction. There they meet Mary (Antoinette Cellier), the daughter of a 'Railway Boss'. Steve, a smooth-talking cad, is interested in her but her attention is focused firmly on ex-gambler Hickey. After they are involved in a brawl, they are arrested and fined. To earn the money they take up work on the railway. A party is organised to find a pass through the Canadian Rockies for the railway and both Steve and Hickey join up. The journey is fraught with danger and the two must endure many hardships. Mary awaits their return eagerly.