Pacific Express

Amidst the glamour of "Gone With the Wind" and "The Wizard of Oz", this b&w Cecil B. DeMille Historical Fiction Classic received its share of eager 1939 movie theatre audiences. Starring a wholesome Irish immigrant Barbara Stanwyck, a noble law man Joel McCrae and a dashing dare devil Robert Preston, "Union Pacific" delivers a love-triangle centered around the historic 1869 joining of rail road tracks to connect the Western and Eastern borders of the United States. The love story is "formula", but delivers several "moments" where many viewers will fumble for their Kleenex. The climactic final scene showing the pay-off for all of the material and human sacrifices is priceless!

The very last of DeMille's b&w ventures, Union Pacific is one of those gems that endured the test of time, endearing the "glorious black and white" to generations of viewers. I first saw this classic as a child; I loved it then, as I still do today. Of all of the Hollywood movies ever produced, no single year of film-making has ever stood out from the rest like 1939. "Union Pacific" helped solidify this status. A true Hollywood Classic!

Ernest Haycox story "Trouble Shooters" becomes excellent spectacle from director and co-producer Cecil B. DeMille, here working with all his action-packed attributes yet saved in the end by a wonderful and personable trio of stars. In the days following the Civil War's climax, General Grant is asked to help financially back the railroad, which hopes to expand its tracks East from California and across America; Joel McCrea is the superintendent in charge of production, Robert Preston is his former war buddy and railroad traitor, and Barbara Stanwyck is the woman happily caught between them both. After a sluggish opening of about twenty minutes, this adventure gets cooking for a rip-roaring good time. There's political treason and treachery, Sioux Indian attacks, and majestic locomotives galore! We never quite learn the motives behind Stanwyck's romantic-minded actions (and her Irish accent is a little wobbly), but we have no trouble believing her adoration for clever, two-fisted McCrea, who emerges as the picture's hero. Supporting cast is full of colorful personalities, and the upbeat spirit of the movie is broad but unquestionably rousing. **1/2 from ****

1939's "Union Pacific" was the final black and white feature for the legendary director Cecil B. De Mille, coming on the heels of John Ford's "Stagecoach," spearheading the revival of Hollywood Westerns from hour long quickies to major productions. Owing a debt to Ford's own 1924 silent "The Iron Horse," De Mille proved again a master showman, a fine cast and epic scenes of destruction and Indian battles, though top billed Barbara Stanwyck's oirish accent calls attention to one of her least rewarding performances. Fortunately, Joel McCrea is everything the script calls for, a towering troubleshooter for the Union Pacific railroad, quick to put an end to problems arising in their goal to combine east and west coasts. Banker Henry Kolker is buttressed by reliable villain Brian Donlevy (already well versed in railroad chicanery in Fox's "Jesse James"), confederates played by Fuzzy Knight, Anthony Quinn, Robert Barrat, and Lon Chaney Jr. Robert Preston is the literal wild card in this stacked deck, Donlevy's partner in crime but soft for pretty Stanwyck. For Chaney fans, coming off a small role as 'One of James Gang' in the aforementioned "Jesse James," his role is nothing more than a bearded extra with no dialogue, less than a minute on screen in just two short scenes, in at 26 minutes (aboard the train when a henchman takes a potshot at a defenseless Indian), out at 36 (seated in the saloon when Donlevy offers up free drinks). Lon would fare better in De Mille's "North West Mounted Police" (in the wake of his triumphant "Of Mice and Men"), but would never work for the illustrious director after that. Another trivia note finds unbilled Richard Denning playing a reporter, only three years before wedding Chaney co-star Evelyn Ankers in a lasting union.

It doesn't suffer from any of his usual flaws. The pacing is perfect, the acting is not at all stilted, and the technical aspects don't dominate the story or the characters. The story centers around the building of the titular railroad. A banker hires a motley group of gamblers and whoremongers (led by Brian Donlevy) to slow down production and then invests in the Central Pacific. Joel McCrea plays a railroad cop, basically, who sees that Donlevy is trouble. He can't outright kick him out, because his army buddy and best friend (Robert Preston) is Donlevy's partner. To further complicate the relationship between McCrea and Preston, there is a girl caught between them (Barbara Stanwyck). It's a great story supported by fine performances all around. While the film runs for 2 hours and 19 minutes, it never seemed boring at all. There are several exciting setpieces, most notably an Indian attack. There are also a couple of great suspense sequences. I loved the scene where McCrea corners Preston and Stanwyck after the payroll has been stolen. It goes on for a long time but the suspense never breaks. Generally I don't think DeMille has skill enough to pull something like that off. My only real problem is that sometimes the good guys are as bad as the villains. McCrea has two sidekicks, played by Akim Tamiroff and Lynne Overman, who can't help but be referred to as henchmen. I mean, even the characters' names are sinister, Fiesta and Leach. Donlevy has a couple of henchmen as well (Anthony Quinn in an early role and Robert Barrat), and they aren't any scarier.

This is far and away my favorite Cecil B DeMille creation. It fully embraces his full-on Hollywood aesthetics - hokey drama, comic-book characters, huge action sequences and, of course, a long runtime. Those traits tend to make his films seem dated and absurd - but in the Western genre they work remarkably well.

Joel McCrea and Barbara Stanwyck are at their most charismatic here - even though Stanwyck is needlessly burdened with a ludicrous Irish accent. Brian Donlevy is a perfect villain (as usual), and Robert Preston is the epitome of the best friend who can't make up his mind which side to be on.

The story clearly has some historical credibility. Of course, in this movie everything is simplified to comply with the dictates of Hollywood melodrama, but the real-world backbone holds up well enough to hold our interest. It also provides a perfect justification for some of DeMille's trademark action sequences. There are multiple train crashes, an 'Indian' (indigenous American!) attack, confrontations in a saloon, a train robbery and a shoot-out or three. Never a dull moment.

What makes this film more enjoyable than other DeMille epics is that it doesn't take itself too seriously. Union Pacific lacks the pretensions of Ben Hur, The Ten Commandments (either version) or Cleopatra. It's also not as blandly melodramatic as films like North West Mounted Police or The Greatest Show on Earth. Oddly enough, I'd say DeMille's next-most-enjoyable film is his other big western, The Plainsman. Maybe the western genre was a particularly good fit for his style. Or maybe this was just a good period for him - he made these two films just three years apart in the late 1930s.

There's no mistaking Union Pacific for a great work of art. But it is fine 'popcorn' entertainment in the classic Hollywood tradition. If you get tired of the neverending reruns of DeMille's later color spectaculars, don't overlook this 'smaller' film.