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| Union Pacific - 1939 |
Coming up next we have 1939's "Union Pacific", a story about the meeting of two railroads from opposite ends of the USA and a tale of love that blossoms on the rails.
The film's cast includes Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea, Akim Tamiroff, Robert Preston, Lynne Overman, Brian Donlevy, Robert Barrat, Anthony Quinn, Stanley Ridges, and Sam McDaniel.
A transcontinental railroad is being built in the USA. Two railroads, the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific, are vying to be the first to reach a designated point where they will meet.
There are those on the Union Pacific that don't want it to arrive on time. The man in charge has bet heavily on the Central Pacific, and he knows that he will make a huge amount of money should the Union Pacific arrive last. He hires Sid Campeau to follow the building of the Union Pacific rails and make as much trouble as he can to slow the progress.
And he does a good job of it, too. He stirs up a whole bunch of trouble. He sets up saloons, which distract the men from their work, and he also stirs up trouble with the Indians that live along the way.
Currently on the Central Pacific line is sassy Irish postmistress Mollie Monahan. She's there with a friend of hers, Dick Allen, who is also the right hand man of troublemaker Sid Campeau. Dick is in love with Mollie, but she keeps him on his toes and doesn't commit herself.
Also on board is railroad troubleshooter Jeff Butler, whose job is to make sure the work continues on schedule. He's a very likeable guy, and he's assigned two bodyguards: Fiesta and Leach. After meeting Jeff, Leach says to Fiesta, "I declare, he seems like a right nice young
feller. I hope he lives long enough so that we can
get acquainted."
Jeff gets right to work by interfering with some of Campeau's men, even tossing one off of the train. He marches right up to Campeau and lets him know who is boss. "He's going to be unpopular," says Dick. "Not with me," says Mollie with a smile as she watches Jeff work. It turns out that Dick and Jeff are old army buddies, which is unfortunate given Dick's association with Campeau.
Campeau's saloons are responsible for the death of at least one man per day. As hard as Campeau works at trying to keep the men distracted, Jeff gets one up on him and clears the place out with a rumor of a gold strike at the end of the line. Campeau isn't happy.
Meanwhile, Mollie and Jeff start spending a lot of time together. Both start to fall for one another.
At the end of the track, Jeff has to deal with a troublemaker who wants his wages immediately. Jeff is able to win a fight against him and convince the rest of the men that the money is coming. When it does come, Campeau has Dick steal it. Jeff knows that Dick's stolen it and pays him a visit.
Things don't go well during that confrontation. Campeau arrives on the scene with backup and the only thing that saves Jeff is Mollie, who hastily agrees to marry Dick to save Jeff's life.
Jeff later gets proof that Dick stole the money and confronts him just after his wedding to Mollie. Dick causes some confusion in the crowd and is able to slip away.
The next morning as the train moves on, Mollie is startled when someone enters her train car. It's Dick, who has hidden underneath the train.
Mollie tells him that the only reason she married him was to save Jeff's life. Dick tells her that he knows, but he wanted her for his wife under any circumstances.
The train comes under attack from a tribe of Indians, who ultimately cause the train to derail. Jeff makes his way to Mollie's car and is surprised to find Jeff. With their lives threatened, all thoughts are turned towards survival. Mollie is able to telegraph for help using a very crudely made telegraph system. The help comes just in the nick of time.
After they are safe, Jeff gives Dick a horse and instructions to not be seen on the Union Pacific line, otherwise he will have to kill him. Dick shakes Jeff's hand and cautions him not to forget that Mollie is his wife. Jeff smiles and says, "I might. She wouldn't."
After some more hardships, both railroad lines are united at Promontory Summit, Utah. And Dick wastes no time in finding Mollie. He goes to find Jeff after he hears that Campeau is nearby and Jeff isn't wearing his guns.
Campeau kills Dick after mistaking him for Jeff, and he almost puts a bullet in Jeff's back. (Don't worry. Campeau gets his comeuppance courtesy of Leach and Fiesta.)
As the two railroads finally meet, Jeff goes to Mollie and tells her that Dick is dead. They are free to begin their life together. "Some of your sweetness got into my blood. I guess it's there for life," Jeff says. To which Mollie replies, "And my heart will be answering you...as long as ever it beats."
Cast rundown:
Barbara Stanwyck...........................Mollie Monahan
Joel McCrea....................................Jeff Butler
Akim Tamiroff.................................Fiesta
Robert Preston................................Dick Allen
Lynne Overman...............................Leach Overmile
Brian Donlevy.................................Sid Campeau
Robert Barrat..................................Duke Ring
Anthony Quinn................................Jack Cordray
Stanley Ridges................................Gen. Casement
Sam McDaniel.................................Waiter
And that's all for Union Pacific. When the railroads met in 1869, a golden spike was used to mark the end of the construction. For the filming of this movie, the original golden spike was loaned out by Stanford University for use in the film. Cecil B. DeMille directed most of the movie from a stretcher because he was recovering from an operation. Quite a feat when you consider the scale of this movie.
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