Passaggio di notte

Jimmy Stewart plays a former railroad worker who accepts a small job from his former employer; To carry a large sum of money aboard a train to make sure it reaches it's destination. He gets robbed, and by someone he has a past with.

Very predictable and by and large a very typical American western. The story is familiar and practically transparent, but it's got the irresistibly appealing Stewart to carry it. The film is also incredibly beautiful to look at. I read somewhere that this was the first film to be shot in 2.35:1 framing, a very wide screen format, and it works beautifully. With all these insanely vivid colors and the huge scenery depicted here, one could freeze many frames here and hang them on a wall. It's that beautiful at times.

Verdict; Solid, above average American western. Still like those Italian westerns more.

The workers on the railroad are threatening to stop work and slow down the progress across the country because they haven't been getting paid. Every time the payroll is brought in it is stolen by Whitey Harbin and his gang. Thinking that nobody would suspect him, the bosses ask ex-employee Grant McLaine to carry the money on the next train. However when the train gets robbed anyway, Grant loses the money and is forced to set out after Whitey to rescue a boy, the boss' wife and the money – bringing him into a fight with the infamous Utica Kid.

I was drawn to this film by the names in the cast list, which was a good thing because it were these names that made the film better than they were by virtue of their performances. The actual plot is quite plodding in the first half but gets better in the second half. Even with this stronger half though it is still not a great western that could possibly compare to Stewart's better films. The musical numbers, dances and gentle set up of the first half almost had be losing interest and it is only the twists and gun fights of the final 30 minutes that make it memorable and worth seeing. Even then it is not without other flaws – characters are a problem. If you are able to understand the Utica Kid as a person then you are doing better than I did – in fact the film even lost it's first choice director because he was unable to understand the character's personality or motivation. The rest of the characters are pretty much as you'd expect – loyal girls, evil villains, cute kids etc, although they are made better by the delivery.

Stewart is always watchable and he carries the film well here. He is not a great singer but he does OK with the songs given him but his greater input is in delivering a tough character who is not all pure goodness but has a bit of a past to him. Murphy is cool and slick but he isn't a great actor and he isn't able to make the slightly irrational Utica Kid work as a person. Duryea overacts to good effect but gets forgotten by the film near the end, while support is OK from Stewart, Foster, De Wilde and Jack Elam.

Overall this is nothing special but it is still quite enjoyable. The number of well known names in the cast prevent me from calling it a B-movie but essentially that's what it could have been if not for the stars. The plot is deadly slow for the first half but has a good, fast-paced final 30 minutes that make up for it. The actors (in particular James Stewart) lift the film and make it feel better and it is fun if pretty unmemorable.

Hearing James Stewart play the accordion and sing is probably not the most pleasant part of this film. Great actor, bad singer. World War II Congressional Medal of Honor winner Audie Murphy, not usually recognized as a top acting talent, turns in the best performance in this film and he and Stewart are surrounded by a cast of great character actors. "Night Passage" was the first U.S. film produced in Technirama, a superior large format wide screen system developed by Technicolor, Inc., and the photography is extremely good. Worth a look.

"Night Passage" is one of a series of westerns made by the venerable James Stewart for Universal in the 50's and 60's. This one is directed by James Neilson rather than Anthony Mann but is nonetheless an above average western.

Grant McLaine (Stewart) has been wondering from place to place over the past five years earning his living by singing songs and playing the accordion. McLaine had been fired by the railroad for appearing to have helped his outlaw brother, The Utica Kid (Audie Murphy) escape justice five years earlier. The railroad is being robbed of their payrolls by Whitey Harbin (Dan Duryea) and his gang. Railroad boss Kimball (Jay C. Flippen) rehires McLaine to guard the next payroll. Along the way McLaine learns that the Utica Kid is a part of Whitey's gang.

McLaine befriends a boy, Joey (Brandon DeWilde) as he is being chased by surly villain Concho (Robert Wilke). Later, the train on which they are traveling is held up by the gang and Kimball's wife Verna (Elaine Stewart) is taken captive. After being pistol whipped by Concho, McLaine recovers and trails the gang to their hideout. There he poses as the person bringing the ransom money while meeting up with his brother. Will blood be thicker than water? You'll have to wait until the final showdown.

The film is beautifully photographed and the railroad setting provides for many scenic moments. The Stewart character doesn't quite have the edge that he would have had in a Mann film, however ANY film with James Stewart is worth your time. Murphy playing in an rare "A" level movie does okay as the all in black gunfighter. Duryea is at his usual sneering slightly mad best as the chief villain.

Of the supporting players, Olive Carey (widow of Harry Carey) has a delightful bit as a muleskinner named Miss Vittles. Dianne Foster appears as Murphy's girl, "Charlie" and Paul Fix and Ellen Corby are hilarious as the Feeneys. In addition to Wilke, Duryea's gang includes Jack Elam and Chuck Roberson. For nostalgic TV fans Herbert Anderson (Dennis the Menace) and Hugh Beaumont (Leave It To Beaver) have small roles as well.

Worth your while.

Without Anthony Mann to deliver the goods, one would expect "Night Passage" to be a flop under the direction of the TV-oriented James Neilson. Quite the contrary is the case. This is one of the best westerns of the 50's. Audie Murphy, continually underrated by the Hollywood big wigs, turns in his best performance ever, even better than in the more touted "The Red Badge of Courage" or in "To Hell and Back" in which he plays himself. One senses that he is actually portraying himself more in "Night Passage" than in his autobiographical film. He is up against stiff competition and more than takes care of himself. James Stewart is fine as always and his accordion playing is above average. Hell, even his singing isn't all that bad. Some entertainers with less musical talent have built careers for themselves in the record industry. Dan Duryea gives an over the top rendition of gang leader Whitey Harbin, which isn't bad, just different for the gifted actor. The only one wasted in the picture is the fabulous Jack Elam, given only a minor character role with no place to go with it. The rest of the cast, including Hugh Beaumont, aka Ward Cleaver, strut their stuff, including the two women, Dianne Foster and Elaine Stewart. Brandon De Wilde is still playing his Joey Starrett part from "Shane." The viewer can almost hear him yelling, "Shane! Come back, Shane!"

The script by Borden Chase from a story by Norman Fox is a fairly predictable one, reminiscent in some ways of the more complex one Chase wrote for the Stewart/Mann masterpiece, "Winchester '73." Grant McLaine (Stewart) wants his old railroad job back. He's provided the opportunity by doing a job for the railroad, personally carrying the payroll to the workers at the end of the track to prevent Whitey and his gang from stealing it as they were in the habit of doing on a regular basis. There is a conflict of interest though since a gun riding with the Whitey gang is The Utica Kid (Murphy) with whom McLaine has a private connection. Unable to find the payroll, Whitey and his gang kidnap the wife of railroad tycoon, Ben Kimball (Jay C. Flippen), holding her until the payroll is turned over to them. The title "Night Passage" concerns not only the action that takes place in the night between McLaine and the gang but also the personal transactions that occur among the assorted characters involved in the resolution of the story.

Another asset for "Night Passage" is the cinematography zeroing in on the beautiful Colorado landscape around Durango. The Narrow Gauge Railroad train ride from Durango to Silverton is available for tourists to see the topography first hand. The El Rio de las Animas Perdidas (The River of Lost Souls), called the Animas River by most, is indeed a site to behold.