According to one source, the script was revised by as many as 12 other writers, in addition to the two credited. Author Kenneth Roberts served as a co-writer on a second draft of a proposed script for the movie, one that covered the entire novel, not just the first book of it. However, executives at MGM scuttled the revision and instead used the first draft of the script, which covered only the first book, as the basis for the finished film. This is why the film "Northwest Passage" was subtitled "Book One: Roger's Rangers".