The Great Barrier

This Black & White Film was shot, in part, in Revelstoke, B. C. Canada in 1936.

Many locals participated in all aspects of the Film and many long term Friendships were formed between the Cast/Crew and the locals.

When it was first released, there was an issue with the Original Title in that it was too close to the title of another film and so the name was changed. To add to the confusion, some scenes, (mainly containing Lilli Palmer) were considered to be too 'racy' for the period. Therefore, there are two versions of this film, one shortened and one uncut. I have seen both versions, but I can no longer find the uncut, longer version. If anyone has it, I know approx 5,000 people who would LOVE to see it.

I recorded this just to see one of my favourite actresses, Miss Lilli Palmer. The delightful little lady, always so proper, so stiff-upper-lip, so serene...and suddenly she's in a low cut dress with a tight bodice, a blonde wig, hanging around a cheap bar. The town floozy. And to her credit, she absolutely pulls it off, like Jean Kent's reversal from The Reluctant Widow back to The Wicked Lady. If this had been an American production, I daresay Palmer would have gotten an Oscar nomination for her superb playing. But, enough of that. This isn't JUST "the building of the Canadian Pacific Railroad", that makes it sound dull. Sure, that's what it's centered on - finding a pass through the Rockies to complete the rail - but it's so much more. A couple of card sharks start the action by coming to town; not to work, but to win. But they end up working anyway, after a fight at the saloon finds them in court, without money for bail, and with a full prison cell. The movies shows how they both take to their fate, and the many obstacles, some of them romantic, in their way. This is real, and it's not a happy ending for some. Great movie overall, 9/10.

Clearly Silent Barriers is 1 movie and The Great Barrier is another movie. And my great uncle had a bit part in laying the railroad tracks down in the movie. The version I have is off a videotape a round 83 minutes but it's not the longer version his daughter (thus a relative) says it should be. So is there a third version?? The one I have clearly is from a videotape with the overscan on the bottom of the picture. The one I have is confusion so I'm not entirely convinced it's the Great Barrier movie. IMDB really needs to separate these movies. Like they do with the two different versions of the (not great but okay) Prequel versions for the Exorcist. ..

I bought a copy of the "Silent Barriers" 5 years ago. I always thought there was no difference between "The Great Barrier" and "Silent Barriers" but in title only until a week ago I had the privilege of viewing "The Great Barrier". "The Great barrier" is almost 20 minutes longer that the "Silent Barriers" with a lot of important scenes to the plot of the story left in. I found "The Great Barrier" story line to flow whereas the "Silent Barriers" left out a lot of an answered questions. "The Great Barrier" I found was an interesting and entertaining movie for both classic movie viewers and railway buffs. A must see.

Gordon

A friend burned this onto a DVD for me, and I watched and enjoyed it earlier today.

There are lots of historical inaccuracies in the film, but I liked it, anyway. The guy playing Moody, Roy Emerton, was effective.

To cite just one small inaccuracy (not a spoiler) a reference is made to the first train going through the Rockies, its destination given as Vancouver. The first train was actually bound for Port Moody, at the eastern end of Burrard Inlet, and arrived there July 4, 1886. The first train into Vancouver, a few miles farther west, didn't get there until May of 1887.