Le 22 spie dell'Unione

Fess Parker stars as James Andrews, Yankee spy, who takes an extremely dangerous mission during the Civil War. Parker has his trademark easy-going smile on throughout the entire film, as he and a group of Union soldiers try to steal a train and destroy about a 1000 miles of train track, in an effort to cut the supply lines of the Rebel army and deal the South a fatal blow. Jeff Hunter and Kenneth Tobey are loyal Southern train officials who try to stop them by using every means under their disposal, which include running after the train for miles, using a handcart and stealing another engineer's engine. Jeff York, Dick Sergeant, Harry Carey Jr., and John Lupton, plus a lot of other character actors, round out Fess' Union forces.

This film is pretty accurate, as historical Disney movies go, and is based on a true story. Buster Keaton's silent film "The General" is also based on the same Civil War event.

Disney just released the movie on DVD, in its original widescreen format; the picture is sharp and detailed, with wonderful, bright colors and fine, clear sound. This is an excellent way to see this movie, and is well worth the money. It would be great if Disney would put out Fess' other films, the original 3 part "Davy Crockett" and the hilarious "Davy Crockett and the River Pirates" in this format, too, as well as "Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow". In fact, I'd love to see all their live action films on DVD and in their original aspect, and done as well as "The Great Locomotive Chase".

This is really not a review as such, even though I really enjoyed this film when I saw it as a kid and am glad it is now available on DVD.I do hope they have included the "making of" that aired on Disneyland when the film was first released. My main comment is about the obscure connection of The Great Locomotive Chase,the actual event and Gone With the Wind. The conductor who chased Andrews, Capt William A.Fuller lived in Atlanta after the war and he had a daughter named Annie Laurie Fuller. Annie married Atlanta architect, artist and historian Wilbur G.Kurtz. Wilbur and Annie were friends of Margaret Mitchell. When GWTW was being filmed, Mitchell suggested Kurtz be the technical adviser on the film. The Kurtzs spent a great deal of time in Hollywood. Kurtz kept a diary of his work on the film that was published in the The Atlanta Historical Journal in the Summer 1978 issue, Vol XXII Number 2. Annie Laurie took some of the pictures that accompany the article. I found this connection to be interesting and if anyone out there is a GWTW junkie like myself, try to get a copy of the above mentioned journal. There is a wealth of information on the making of GWTW.

Finally, those of us who are railroad and civil war fans have an excellent widescreen version of this movie, with the release of The Great Locomotive Chase on DVD. While some of the details in the story line are not accurate history, Disney did a very good job. The trains even have link and pin couplers which are virtually never seen in movie accounts of the period.

I watched this western for the third time today, and in LBX frame please, far better than the average and unbearable garbage can pan and scan one. This western is unique in its kind, with thrilling and so inventive locomotive chase, as its title says so. And I would not have expected such a story and directing from a Disney production; this film is not actually for juvenile audiences, although kids can perfectly see it. No gratuitous violence here. Yes, an exciting film with another surprise that no other comment has talked about.

THERE IS NO WOMAN CHARACTER HERE !!!!

Surprising for a western, especially a Disney production. Even the most violent films nearly always have a woman in the stories, at least supporting characters; here, no gal at all. That doesn't bother me but only surprises. That's all.

For a 1956 family film based on a true story, Walt Disney didn't pull any punches. "The Great Locomotive Chase" doesn't skirt the fact that the northern raiders were captured and the leaders executed. The film handles this carefully and without undue gore or bloodshed.

The story is based on a true event, and as other reviewers have noted, it sticks close to the actual details. The train chase is portrayed somewhat longer here than it was, but otherwise this is a decent treatment of an historical event during the American Civil War.

Fess Parker handles the role of James Andrews very well. Parker will always be known for his role as Davy Crockett in the Wald Disney TV series. But, he was a talented actor and played in a variety of films. Jeffrey Hunter is good as William Fuller, and all the roles are done very well. Hunter was an excellent actor whose career was cut short when he died of a stroke at age 42 in 1969.