Canyon Passage (1946)

Academy Awards, USA 1947

Nominee Oscar

Best Music, Original Song Hoagy Carmichael (music) Jack Brooks (lyrics) For the song "Ole Buttermilk Sky".

Universal
Directed by Jacques Tourneur
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(DVD, Universal)

Dana Andrews is a no-nonsense store owner in a frontier Oregon town with ambitions to expand his freight company. He is engaged to a pretty country girl, but really in love with the more outgoing Susan Hayward. She is engaged to his best friend, a poker player deep in debt. Meanwhile, Andrews is hounded by a burly Ward Bond, whom Andrews believes he saw murder two miners. They finally tee off in a memorable bar fight. His best friend gets into more trouble when his debts lead to murder. He is arrested, tried and sentenced to hang. Meanwhile, Indians attack the town and Andrews uses the opportunity to bust his friend out of jail. The various plot lines are resolved in satisfactory, if a bit predictable, ways, with everyone ending up with the right person. Folk singer Hoagy Carmichael is both a character and commentator.