Cecil B. DeMille’s Union Pacific opens with a foreword
setting the coming action squarely as an act of national triumph. The building of a railroad line from Omaha to
California, apparently the dream of no less than Abraham Lincoln, is undertaken
at great expense not simply as a matter of profit but rather as a way to unite
a fractured country following “the War Between the States.” These lofty ideals are undercut early by Asa
M. Barrows (Henry Colker), a banker out of Chicago who sees an opportunity to
make a killing by sabotaging the progress of the Union Pacific, allowing the
Central Pacific line to prosper (why the Central Pacific couldn’t also save
America is left unsaid). To these ends
he hires Sid Campeau (Brian Donlevy), a gambling
house proprietor and all around ne’er do well, to take his liquor, his cards,
and his loose women to foster delays amongst the hardworking men doing the work
of building a nation. Campeau takes
along his partner Dick Allen (Robert Preston), a former Union soldier turned
professional gambler.
Three years later we find these men
hard at their work with things looking desperate for the fortunes of the Union
Pacific and the men who have invested so heavily in it. Into this situation walks Captain Jeff Butler
(John McCrea), the latest in an apparently long line of “troubleshooters”
hired to clean up the situation. He is given Fiesta (Akim
Tamiroff) and Leach Overmile
(Lynne Overman) as bodyguards, two characters who
initially appear comic and incompetent, though the latter is disproved later in
the film. Finally there is Mollie
Monahan (Barbara Stanwyck), an Irish
lass for whom the term spitfire was likely invented. She has been the object of Dick Allen’s
unsuccessful romantic pursuits for some time, but is not above accepting his
lavish gifts.
As it happens Butler and Allen are
old army buddies and both seem initially bemused by the fact that they are no
longer on the same side. As McCrea’s
efforts prove effective Allen’s amusement wanes, first because of the damage to
his profession and later because of the feelings Mollie is clearly beginning to
have for Jeff Butler. This love triangle
will become the focus of most of the film.
Butler’s efforts to complete the railroad will have to contend not only
with Campeau and his henchmen but Indians, fire, mountains, an honest wage for
an honest day’s work, and a nasty group of buffalo.
This is a great looking film,
employing seemingly hundreds of extras to populate the “towns” that spring up
around the railroad. DeMille peppers the film with
every European accent you can remember and some you may have forgotten, though
apparently the Chinese had nothing to do with this particular rail line. With the exception of perhaps overstaying its
welcome I enjoyed Union Pacific immensely,
even as I couldn’t help but be aware of how it was manipulating me. If only I could find a good Irish woman…