Union Pacific (1939)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Cecil B. DeMille

Writers:

Ernest Haycox (story)
Jack Cunningham (adaptation)

Release Date:

5 May 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Western

Tagline:

"Union Pacific" is coming!

Plot:

One of the last bills signed by President Lincoln authorizes pushing the Union Pacific Railroad across the wilderness to California...

Plot Keywords:

Railroad | Union Pacific Railroad | Troubleshooter | Gunshot Wound | Senator

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins

Cast

Barbara Stanwyck	...	Mollie Monahan
Joel McCrea	...	Capt. Jeff Butler
Akim Tamiroff	...	Fiesta
Robert Preston	...	Dick Allen
Lynne Overman	...	Leach Overmile
Brian Donlevy	...	Sid Campeau
Robert Barrat	...	Duke Ring (Campeau henchman)
Anthony Quinn	...	Jack Cordray (Campeau henchman)
Stanley Ridges	...	Gen. Casement
Henry Kolker	...	Asa M. Barrows (banker)
Francis McDonald	...	Gen. Grenville M. Dodge
Willard Robertson	...	Oakes Ames
Harold Goodwin	...	E.E. Calvin (telegrapher)
Evelyn Keyes	...	Mrs. Calvin
Richard Lane	...	Sam Reed

Runtime:

135 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

West Germany:12 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #4831)

Filming Locations:

Cache, Oklahoma, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

The gold spike used at the ceremony to mark the end of the construction was the same spike actually used in the May 10, 1869 event, on loan from Stanford University.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: After the train wreck, and during all the scenes that immediately follow, Barbara Stanwyck suddenly appears with a very stylish 1939 bobbed hairstyle which we had not seen before, and which, of course, is completely inappropriate to the time period during which the story is taking place.

Quotes:

Jeff Butler: [informing Mollie that her husband Dick Allen is dead] He'll be waiting for us ... at end of track.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Cecil B. DeMille: American Epic (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Oh! Susanna

Supplementing Stephen Ambrose

One of the previous reviewers recommended reading Stephen Ambrose's book instead of watching this film. I would recommend reading the book and then supplementing it with Union Pacific.

The whole point of Ambrose's book is that while the financing of the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad was mired in corruption, what must not be overlooked is the remarkable engineering achievement that it was. In that sense Union Pacific is a great tribute to everyone responsible for that achievement including some corrupt politicians.

DeMille in his autobiography says he originally was going to do a film on the Hudson Bay Company and in fact had started preliminary work on same. He changed his mind when he heard that 20th Century Fox was doing one on that same subject. He turned his attention to the Transcontinental Railroad and the President of Union Pacific at that time was one William Jeffers who freely gave DeMille anything he needed to help him with the project. Jeffers and DeMille had the same right wing political views so they got along famously.

DeMille also got Joel McCrea who was one of his discoveries to play the lead. McCrea was the two-gunned railroad troubleshooter who sees the job through. Barbara Stanwyck plays an Irish immigrant's daughter who is the railroad postmistress. McCrea and Robert Preston both have the hots for her, but it's fairly obvious from the first minute who she ends up with. This was Robert Preston's first major part after having done a couple of B films for Paramount. Lynne Overman and Akim Tamiroff are McCrea's sidekicks and supply some comedy relief.

Brian Donlevy is the villain and he's at the height of his career. Later that year he got an Academy Award nomination for another Paramount feature, Beau Geste in the Supporting Actor category. One of his henchmen is Anthony Quinn, who after one reviewer remarked how lucky he was to have the DeMille family connection to get good roles, then swore he would never work for his father-in-law again. Quinn never did.

Two smaller parts are worth remembering. Regis Toomey plays a track layer who has a tragic death early on in the film. And J.M. Kerrigan as Stanwyck's father also dies tragically during a snowstorm.

Good slam-bang special effects. DeMille loved to wreck trains. He did it so well here, he later topped this one with one in The Greatest Show On Earth.

One of DeMille's best pictures. Too bad Cinerama hadn't been invented yet.