Union Pacific (1939)

Union Pacific (1939) ***

Produced by Cecil B. DeMille
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Directed by Cecil B. DeMille

   Continuing the odd Virginian connection, we have 1939’s Union Pacific. Released right around the time of Stagecoach, the two big budget films helped to bring the genre out of the B-movie serial slump it was in through much of the 30s. The story is Ernest Haycox's novel "Trouble Shooter." Cecil B. Demille was not a great director of westerns and Union Pacific is more of a historical epic with western spectacle thrown in for good measure and many of the scenes are borrowed from The Iron Horse. The cast, however, is superb and the big ticket train wrecks and an Indian/Cavalry battle carry the film. The film was even up for an Academy Award for Best Special Effects that year.
    Jeff Butler (Joel McCrea) is working for the Union Pacific to keep the Irish plugging away to beat the Central Pacific to Utah. An unscrupulous investor pays Sid Campeau (Brian Dunlevy) and Dick Allen (Robert Preston) to work against the railroad by distracting the Irish with booze, gambling, and women. Jeff and Dick turn out to be old pals but are split by their opposing interests and their collective interest in the railroad mail gal (Barbara Stanwyck with a grating accent). The film covers all the fictionalized action leading up to the "Last Spike" driven in 1869 (fun fact - they used the actual golden spike for the film). McCrea and Dunlevy would go on to play against one another as the Virginian and Trampus in 1946’s version of The Virginian.

Law and Order (1932)

Law and Order (1932) ***

Produced by Carl Laemmle Jr.
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Directed by Edward L. Cahn

   This film had many contributions from a more contemporary perspective that lent itself well to the creation of a film which has the at times non-western feel like that you see in Gary Cooper’s performance in High Noon (1952). The source material is the novel “Saint Johnson (1930)” by William R. Burnett whose 1929 work "Little Caesar" became the 1931 film of the same name that stands proudly in the tradition of 30’s gangster films and John Huston’s adaptation captures this aspect well. It is also the first (and one of very few) westerns directed by Edward L. Cahn. As an example, he would much later direct the sci-fi classic It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958) which would influence the original screenplay for one of my personal favorites Alien (1979). What really sells Law and Order are the compelling performances by a fine cast. Walter Huston, who we just saw before as Trampus in The Virginian (1929), at first plays it a bit aloof but builds tension throughout the film eventually screaming it the streets about a “reckoning” that immediately brought to my mind the scene from Tombstone (1993). Harry Carry does extremely well as the Doc Holiday figure of Brandt and his death with the line “bury me with my shotgun” is a standout moment as well. While not a huge role, Judge Simpson is played by Russell Simpson who was in both silent versions of The Virginian though is best known as Pa Joad from 1940’s The Grapes of Wrath. You will even hear the familiar screeching of Andy Devine, who will for me forever be the stagecoach driver from Stagecoach (1939).
The novel by Burnett is admittedly a fictionalized account of Wyatt Earp at Tombstone where the names and locations have been changed, though Tombstone replaces the fictional Alkali from the novel. I don’t need to recount the tale here given my audience but this version lacks any inserted love affair to muddy the waters of tough guy and buddies taming a lawless frontier town. A classic and far better than the remake in ’53 with Ronny Reagan.