Disapointment

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Blistering performances.

I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, but I got a little confused during the plot of Union Pacific. It's about the rise of the railroad West to California, and the different characters either try to stop it or try to keep it going. Some people have ulterior motives, and through the twists and turns, I got a bit lost. Plus, I kept getting the two leading men, Joel McCrea and Robert Preston, confused. Barbara Stanwyck plays a plucky Irish lass in this movie, who steals the hearts of both Joel and Robert, and it's a pretty intense love triangle that will keep you guessing until the very end. There's love, action, secret plots, murder, and a historical background to carry you through this forgotten old movie. And, if afterwards, you forget about it, well, no one will really blame you.

The building of the transcontinental railroad serves as a backdrop for this epic drama about a romance triangle. Anchoring the triangle, Stanwyck sports an Irish accent that comes and goes, but she is a lively presence. McCrea, as the good guy, and Preston, as a likable bad guy, compete for Stanwyck's affections. Donlevy is the villain while Tamiroff and Overman provide the comic relief as McCrea's deputies. DeMille provides the energy, keeping the proceedings from lagging despite the long running time. The action is highlighted by an Indian attack while McCrea, Stanwyck, and Preston are trapped inside a train wreck and running out of ammunition. It's hokey but fun.

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.

They don't make 'em like this anymore. Everything you could want in a film: romance, wit, drama, action. Barbara Stanwyck and Joel McCrea make an incredible on-screen duo. The train wreck scene at the end is especially impressive. Kudos to Cecil B. Demille for this work of art. I wish I could give this movie more than 10 stars! :)