Western Union

While escaping from a heist of a bank, the outlaw Vance Shaw (Randolph Scott) helps Edward Creighton (Dean Jagger), the chief-engineer of the Western Union that is surveying the Wild West and had had an accident with a horse. In 1861, Vance regenerates and is hired to work for the Western Union with the team that is installing the poles and cable from Omaha to Salt Lake City. Vance and the engineer from Harvard Richard Blake (Robert Young) flirt with the gorgeous Edward's sister Sue Creighton (Virginia Gilmore) and she chooses Vance. However, his past haunts him when the outlaw Jack Slade (Barton MacLane) steals the Western Union cattle disguised of Indians.

"Western Union" is a good but predictable western directed by Fritz Lang. The story shows the difficulties of the brave and idealistic men responsible for installing the telegraph through the West, facing thieves and Indians. The entertaining story has action, drama, romance and funny situations, but with the exception of the identity of Jack Slade, there is no surprise in the story. Randolph Scott gives another magnificent performance with a great cast. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Os Conquistadores" ("The Conquerors")

No one ever really believed that Randolf Scott was a gun toter; he seemed too gentle for that. But the veneer of respectability he gave to his roles helped reinforce the western morality of good superceding evil. Nowhere is this poetry more evident as in Western Union [1941], directed by one of film noir's most gifted geniuses Fritz Lang, here working equally adeptly in colour. The shot of unfinished telegraph lines snaking away into twilight oblivion leaves lasting impressions.

This western prophecies the long professional relationship between producer Nat Holt and Randolf Scott which ran from 1946 and turned out cliché-westerns which weren't cliches at the time, and which, with practice improved till there was a kind of visual poetry about them. This isn't the history of Western Union, the way the western isn't the history of the old west. But it seems to relate a kind of truth, and that's what matters.

Fritz Lang's "Western Union" is a entertaining movie with good heroes in Randolph Scott,the strong and silent man trying to escape his outlaw past,Robert Young as the easterner trying to conform to the code of the wild west,and Dean Jagger as the determined boss of the Western Union gang.I think the acting honors go to Dean Jagger who is very good in his part. Randolph Scott found his prototype of western hero in this movie and would play variations of that type in westerns to come for the next two decades.The movie looks very good in early Technicolor. Barton MacLane makes a good villain.I enjoyed this western much,although I consider it pretty standard stuff.

I wanted to see this film because my grandfather acted in it. His name is James Spencer. I was in store for other treats in this film. It was awe inspiring to see the scenic vistas that shooting on location brought to this film. I was reminded of John Ford's western films. The acting and characters were very watchable and fun. The film was peppered with the fantastic and not seen lately character acting talents of many contract players of the 30's. A great treat for the eyes and mind.

This movie is so cute! Marketed as a western that chronicles the advent of the Western Union telegraph office and telephone lines, it doesn't exactly scream cute, but it is. Randolph Scott provides enough eye candy to turn any movie cute, but it's not just he who turns the film into an educational western into a feisty, flirty comedy-it's Robert Young, too.

Prior to this movie, I'd been known to not particularly like Robert Young, but this was one of the first to make me really change my mind about him. He's so adorable in this movie! Virginia Gilmore is the love interest, and while a young Dean Jagger is crossed off the list due to his brotherly relationship, she has to choose between Scottie and Robert. When Scottie comes in the picture, he's impossible to resist. He's handsome, he knows how to ride a horse-thanks to his WWI service days-and he's got a shady past. In short, he's a cow-bad-boy with an authentic Southern accent.

Then, Robert shows up. He's a total dandy, but absolutely adorable. He's smart, charming, and puts the fun in sarcasm. In his first scene, he meets Virginia and she taps out a message in Morse code in the telegraph office to her coworkers making fun of the well-dressed gentleman. Robert merely smirks and, completely devoid of smugness, corrects her spelling. "I don't know what you're talking about," she sniffs indignantly. "Yeah, but I know what you're talking about," he smiles. He's irresistible, too!

In my favorite scene, Robert pays a call on Virginia late in the evening. Scott has beaten him to the office, so he's not allowed any romantic time with her. She ends up sending them both away, and laughing, they realize-alongside the audience-that they can't help but like each other even though they're rivals. It's really impossible to choose between them.