Le survivant des monts lointains

"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.

this is a terrific film with a terrific cast and an outstanding score by dmitri tiomkin who composed for many films, many of them western: high noon, the alamo.. the film tells of two brothers, one honest, one outlaw, who separate and cross paths later, on both sides of the law..one look at the cast and you know who's what..the plot is somewhat moralistic, as it includes a juvenile who is shown the right and wrong paths in life..today, it would be cliche: no gratuitous gore, sex, language, chases, crashes and few screams..i guess this is what would be known as an adult film, because only adults (who remember these actors) would appreciate how things were done in the '50s..and more's the pity; in those days, less was more..an audience could enjoy one gunshot, one smile, one look and not get as bored as audiences do today when they see schwarzenegger, stallone, seagal, norris, etc., then ask gee, i wonder what he'll do next time that's better? even in the '50s, many films had class, today, it's all kitsch and glitz..thank god films last forever..

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.

Jimmy Stewart made some wonderful Westerns in the late 1940s and through the 50s. Compared the the average Western of the time, they had rather complex and featured non-traditional plots. As a rule, I actually hate the formulaic Western, as they have absolutely nothing new to offer and are just too derivative to be taken seriously. While this movie does have some new plot devices and the excellent acting of Stewart, this movie is the closest of these Westerns to approach the old formulaic themes. As a result, it is probably my least favorite of his films, but it is still pretty watchable.

Stewart, uncharacteristically, is a traveling accordion player (I am NOT kidding about this, really) and he has been doing this job for several years since being blamed for a train robbery (he was working for the railroad at the time). This film gives him a chance to prove himself and regain his old job with the railroad. But, along the way he encounters Brandon DeWilde (the cute kid from Shane who was killed at a very young age) and Audie Murphy (the war hero and actor who also died way too young). Aside from these two characters and Stewart, nothing about the plot is particularly outstanding. A decent and watchable film, but awfully predictable and forgettable.

By the way--a note to movie buffs--you DO get to hear Jimmy Stewart sing several songs in this film! While his singing was absolutely awful in BORN TO DANCE, in this film it isn't bad--the loud and cacophonous according did great things to hide his less than stellar voice! If only he'd used it in this previous musical!!