Union Pacific
In one of President Lincoln's final enactments, a bill authorizes driving the Union Pacific Railroad through the untamed West to California. Yet opportunist Asa Barrows schemes to profit by blocking the project. Chief troubleshooter Jeff Butler grapples with Barrows' operative, gambler Sid Campeau; Campeau's ally Dick Allen is Jeff's wartime comrade and a rival suitor for the engineer's daughter, Molly Monahan. Who will endure the mission to push the railroad through at any cost?
Director(s)
Cecil B. DeMille
Arthur Rosson
Cast & Crew
Details
Reviews
John Chard
There's nothing like hearing an engine whistle in the still night. Union Pacific is directed by Cecil B. DeMille (aided by others due to illness) and based upon the novel Trouble Shooter, written by Ernest Haycox. It stars Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea, Robert Preston, Brian Donlevy, Akim Tamiroff and Lynne Overman. Story is a fictionalised account of the building of the railroad across the American West, encompassing the trials, tribulations and rivalries that formed as history was being made. "The legend of Union Pacific is the drama of a nation, young, tough, prodigal and invincible, conquering with an iron highroad the endless reaches of the West. For the West is America's Empire, and only yesterday Union Pacific was the West". A big production that went down a storm at the box office upon release, Union Pacific, in spite of its overt patriotic bluster, is an entertaining and important part of the Western movie story. Alongside John Ford's Stagecoach, which was released a couple of months previously, DeMille's movie helped take the Western to a new and more adult level. It wouldn't be until the 50's that the Western truly found its mojo, but the influence of both Stagecoach and Union Pacific was firmly felt through each passing decade. Film manages to be literate whilst puncturing the plot with doses of action, the story underpinned by a love triangle between McCrea, Stanwyck and Preston. The former as the stoic troubleshooter brought in to keep order, the latter as the charming villain with a heart. Cast all work well with the material to hand, and if one is not bothered by the historical tampering involved in the story? Then it's an easy film to recommend to Western movie seekers. 7/10
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Union Pacific FAQs
The directors of Union Pacific are Cecil B. DeMille and Arthur Rosson.
The cast of Union Pacific includes Anthony Quinn as Cordray, Nestor Paiva as Canadian Pacific Conductor (uncredited), Robert Barrat as Duke Ring, Stanley Andrews as Dr. Harkness (uncredited), Harry Woods as Al Brett, Monte Blue as Indian (uncredited), Dick Botiller as Indian with Accordion (uncredited), George Anderson as Railwayman (uncredited), Jimmie Dundee as Laborer (uncredited), Ethan Laidlaw as Irishman (uncredited), Noble Johnson as Native American Shooting Piano (uncredited), Cyril Ring as Surveyor (uncredited), and more.
The duration of Union Pacific is 2h 15 mins.
Yes. You can watch the Union Pacific trailer on this Fanbiz page on Fanziz.
Union Pacific was released on 05 May 1939.
Union Pacific is listed under Drama and Western on Fanbiz.
Union Pacific has 1 review on Fanziz, with an average rating of 7.0/10. One reviewer wrote: "There's nothing like hearing an engine whistle in the still night. Union Pacific is directed by Cecil B. DeMille (aided by others due to illness) and based upon the novel T..."
