I had hoped to like this grandiose railroad Western as much as the other epic railroad Westerns: Canadian Pacific and Western Union are great, and UNION PACIFIC is simply the best Western ever made, the definitive Western. This one has some assets. The hero, played by Sterling Hayden, maybe the homeliest lead actor in film History, is likable, as are the other good guys. The most interesting of the good guys is killed off in a bit of a contrived way, however, and the contrivance seems to be very Republican in that only low level people are killed, giving the impression of demi god qualities among the elite, an impression needed by the elite to keep the minions in line. Always suspicious. The romance angle works well enough. In fact, it's good to see two people who are more "next door" types being in the lead.

In retrospect, we might think of this as the last and least of a trilogy of films featuring the building of a railroad, with the word Pacific in the name: "Union Pacific"(1939), "Canadian Pacific"(1949), and "Kansas Pacific"(1953). I'm a sucker for these types of films. Of these, "Union Pacific" is, by far, the best remembered, having the most resources and a run time nearly twice that of the present film. Nonetheless, I enjoyed them all, even with their faults. In place of Joel McCrea or Randolph Scott, we have the less remembered, though quite convincing, Sterling Hayden as the chief troubleshooter, who brings all of his 6'5" frame to bear in dealing with the bad guys. Of course, there's romance implied between the troubleshooter and a girl he comes into contact with periodically. In the present case, Eve Miller, as Barbara, takes an initial dislike to Hayden because she sees him as a rival to her father, who is the foreman of the work gang. But, eventually, she understands that he is not out to replace her father, just to supplement him in getting the job done. Of course, there must be people trying to delay or stop rail construction or the trains that run on them. In "Union Pacific" and "Canadian Pacific", both Native Americans and whites are involved in these depredations. In the present film, no Native Americans are involved, probably because of lack of running time. Instead, we have a gang of southern sympathizers under the leadership of Will Quantrill(Reed Hadley). Not clear if they are receiving support from the Confederate Government, as such, at this time. Quantrill is a historically relevant name, relating to depredations in Kansas and other border states before and during the Civil War. His name pops up every now and then in Civil War or post-Civil War westerns. In fact, James Griffin, who plays the rail worker Joe, played Quantrill in another film. This gang uses tactics such as tearing up rails, rolling boulders onto the track, ambushes, staging fights among the workers, and blowing up locomotives by dynamite or artillery. Not only do these tactics require remedial action, they scare workers away. Incidentally, dynamite hadn't yet been invented when this story takes place(1861). Nitroglycerin, the active ingredient in dynamite, or black powder, was used in blasting, at that time. Actually, little explosives should have been needed, since the landscape of Kansas is mostly flat or gently rolling, generally requiring little leveling of the rail bed. Historically, what eventually became the Kansas Pacific line didn't begin building track until 1863, finished in 1866. This is in contrast to this story, when this occurs in 1861. In web sources, I didn't find any mention of problems with saboteurs. A few years later, this line was connected to the Union Pacific.I'm surprised so little attention was paid to Quantrill, as the mastermind of the sabotage operations. He is not included in the finale, when all of his henchmen are killed or taken as prisoners. In these types of films, usually the chief villain dies, if not in a fight with the hero, by some other means, or sometimes is merely imprisoned. Hayden had quite an adventurous life, the sea being his real love, sailing around the world a few times. He hated acting, actually, thinking of actors as pawns. Mostly, it provided him with enough money to buy more sailboats. He married the same woman 3 times!....Eve Miller had a minor acting career. She seems to have had problems with her romantic life, attempting suicide several times, succeeding at last. See all three of these films at YouTube, only Union Pacific being in B&W.

*Spoiler/plot- 1953, A railroad family becomes part of the Kansas railroad political matters leading up to the Civil War.*Special Stars- Sterling Hayden, Eve Miller, Barton MacLane.*Theme- The Union must be saved with the use of its railroads.*Trivia/location/goofs- Shot on Iverson Ranch, Chatsworth California. Sterling Hayden plays the lead well especially since his recently released background was as a successful WW2 OSS spy. Barton MacLane appears as a good guy this time instead of his usual 'baddie' role of his younger days.*Emotion- An enjoyable B-movie film of the pre-Civil War era. Railroad rolling stock/engines and scenic vistas was a plus to see the early Northwestern San Fernando Valley with Iverson Movie Ranch.

This very appealing and simple railroad western is a Monogram Picture made in color and labeled 'An Allied Artists Film" to up-size its image. Other comments on this site will tell you the story and the history of the time and setting; I shall stick to my reaction. Basically filmed on a short distance of track at the back of some western lot, AA have succeeded in creating a suspenseful B grade chase western that allows for some very well staged train stunts and explosive set pieces. With a excellent music score matching the rousing action and photographed superbly in Cinecolor (I did not know this 'cheap' process was so beautiful) all clearly adds to the welcome comic book look and feel of this handsome railroad drama. Other excellent train chase films include NORTHWEST FRONTIER (1959) and THE GREAT LOCOMOTIVE CHASE (1956) and recently: TV movie Young Indiana Jones And The Phantom Train Of Doom which in itself is almost an elaborate remake of Kansas Pacific but set in WW1..... and If you love Republic action pix in glorious Trucolor like I do, then find a tape of TIMBERJACK (1954) which has a fantastic contraption style logging train in peril, more Sterling Hayden and even a few songs by Hoagy Carmichael and (gulp) Vera Ralston - with tambourine! The Americana of Kansas Pacific and Timberjack make a excellent western train double feature if you are keen for some track work and explosions in your own lounge room. Fun to watch with Nephews and pre-teens whilst babysitting....like I did. So easy to enjoy. Wait 'till you see the cannon battle with the carriages blasted off the tracks! Well done!