Overland Pacific

For some reason I hadn't ticked this one against my reference bible (Phil Hardy's "Western Movies"); it was on UK TV's marvellous Talking Pictures free channel.

What a nasty story full of murders, treacherous former friend, saloon gal with heart of gold (murdered), cowardly sheriff (murdered), feisty heroine (Peggy Castle) sporting tight slacks (father is murdered); hero is supposedly a telegrapher but really a "railroad agent", former mate is chief crook conniving with the usual sinister townies to supply repeating rifles to the Comanches to cause mayhem so railroad is diverted to town so land values can increase (familiar?); Hardy mentions the awful colour (Color Corp. Of America) which is a bleached horror; (the cowardly, crooked sheriff is Chubby Johnson-playing against his usual comedy type-warmly remembered as the riverboat captain in "Bend of the River"); ticked it off as am an obsessive Western watcher-but will never see it again!

The B-western Overland Pacific documents the struggle to build a railroad and how the whites are just as brutal as the natives. It seems like an early try at political correctness, and you can't fault the filmmakers for having the best of intentions.

Jock Mahoney headlines this frontier drama. Despite Mr. Mahoney's average amount of talent in the acting department, he does help bring subtle touches of realism to this picture. For example, when there is a brawl on the street and he brushes up against a building or a railing, we actually see dust fly. A lot of westerns are too clean; but the reality is that these old west towns are dirty and dusty.

This is an all right Western from 1954. The acting wasn't bad. I don't mind B & W films, so no problem there. One scene sticks with me. Jock Mahoney is in a gun battle with a rifleman a ways off. We see Mahoney take a bullet in the chest--right in his heart. There's not much blood on his shirt, but he deals with the injury by taking a handkerchief out of his pocket and sticking it under his shirt over the wound. The gunman approaches, and Mahoney gets into a fight with the guy and beats him using one hand after taking a bullet in the heart! Realistically, he'd have been dead after the shot. I didn't laugh, but I did find this to be the most memorable scene in the film.

I caught this rare item from a 16mm print, not very good, but I don't care. It is a good time waster without any surprises, with Jock Mahoney in a predictable role. A western as you have seen a thousand times before, with plenty of action, a bit romance and that's all. It was not produced by Columbia Pictures and their infamous Sam Katzman, Columbia where Sears made most of his career. He was not a bad director, but the producers whith whom he had to deal over the years prevented him to show better skills. He made many westerns and thrillers but only EARTH VS FLYING SAUCERS - a science fiction film - brought him fame.

Ross Granger is an railroad agent, going undercover as a telegrapher, looking into a series of raids by the Comanches on railroad construction near the town of Oaktown. He quickly discovers that the raids are sponsored by Del Stewart, a local businessman, and his associate Broden. Their goal is to force the railroad to run through land that they own.

Overland Pacific is a decent western with some fine fisticuffs, shoot em up action featuring Comanches vs railroaders, dry quips, friendship going sour and political machinations, however I found Jock Mahoney a little too passive when it came to investigating and not too determined. His friendship with William Bishop is explored more - speaking of which, Bishop steals the scene as the charming heel whose greed makes him murderous. Adele Jergens plays the saloon gal who still loves him, despite setting his cap for Peggy Castle. Predictably Castle falls for Mahoney - especially when she learns that Bishop was involved in her father's murder. Not a bad railroad western to settle down to enjoy. The finale is a cracker with attacking Comanches and dynamite. Good action.