{"id":49195,"date":"2020-06-28T16:05:55","date_gmt":"2020-06-28T23:05:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=49195"},"modified":"2021-08-30T10:26:54","modified_gmt":"2021-08-30T17:26:54","slug":"union-pacific-1939","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=49195","title":{"rendered":"Union Pacific (1939)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;A railroad from Omaha to California? One might as well think of flying!&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Union-Pacific-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Union-Pacific-Poster-204x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"204\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-49197\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Union-Pacific-Poster-204x300.jpg 204w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Union-Pacific-Poster-695x1024.jpg 695w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Union-Pacific-Poster-87x128.jpg 87w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Union-Pacific-Poster-768x1131.jpg 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Union-Pacific-Poster.jpg 815w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 204px) 100vw, 204px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA shady stock manipulator (Henry Kolker) hires a gambling hall owner (Brian Donlevy) to intentionally stall progress on the Union Pacific railroad, but Donlevy&#8217;s partner (Robert Preston) &#8212; in love with the Irish daughter (Barbara Stanwyck) of an engineer &#8212; finds his loyalties tested when his old war buddy (Joel McCrea) comes on board as a &#8220;peace-keeping&#8221; troubleshooter, and romantic tensions emerge between Stanwyck, Preston, and McCrea.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Akim Tamiroff Films<\/li>\n<li>Anthony Quinn Films<\/li>\n<li>Barbara Stanwyck Films<\/li>\n<li>Brian Donlevy Films<\/li>\n<li>Cecil B. DeMille Films<\/li>\n<li>Evelyn Keyes Films<\/li>\n<li>Historical Drama<\/li>\n<li>Joel McCrea Films<\/li>\n<li>Lon Chaney, Jr. Films<\/li>\n<li>Robert Preston Films<\/li>\n<li>Trains and Subways<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nSeveral years after &#8220;creatively&#8221; portraying the legend of Buffalo Bill and Wild Bill Hickok in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=48571\"><em>The Plainsman<\/em> (1936)<\/a>, Cecil B. DeMille followed in the footsteps of John Ford&#8217;s silent classic <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=58\"><em>The Iron Giant<\/em> (1924)<\/a> in offering this tale about the corruption inherent in the building of the transcontinental railroad (a massive, years-long, money-infused endeavor if there ever was one &#8212; though according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s2017ceci.html\">DVD Savant<\/a>, the true source of corruption is sorely misrepresented here). The leads are all in top form, with Stanwyck especially appealing as a plucky Irish lass willing to face reality squarely in the eyes, and Preston eliciting a surprising amount of sympathy in a challenging baddie role. Overall, the tale is well-directed, and the cinematography by Victor Milner is impressive; but the dehumanization of Indians is distressing, and I&#8217;m not a fan of the humorous sidekicks played by Akim Tamiroff and Lynne Overman. While this is one of DeMille&#8217;s better flicks, it&#8217;s not must-see viewing by all film fanatics. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Barbara Stanwyck as Mollie Monahan<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Union-Pacific-Stanwyck.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Union-Pacific-Stanwyck-1024x647.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"404\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-49198\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Union-Pacific-Stanwyck-1024x647.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Union-Pacific-Stanwyck-300x189.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Union-Pacific-Stanwyck-128x81.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Union-Pacific-Stanwyck-768x485.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Union-Pacific-Stanwyck-1536x970.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Union-Pacific-Stanwyck.png 1617w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Robert Preston as Dick Allen<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Union-Pacific-Preston.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Union-Pacific-Preston-1024x631.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"394\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-49199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Union-Pacific-Preston-1024x631.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Union-Pacific-Preston-300x185.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Union-Pacific-Preston-128x79.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Union-Pacific-Preston-768x473.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Union-Pacific-Preston-1536x946.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Union-Pacific-Preston.png 1651w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Joel McCrea as Jeff Butler<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Union-Pacific-McCrea.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Union-Pacific-McCrea-1024x636.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"398\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-49201\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Union-Pacific-McCrea-1024x636.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Union-Pacific-McCrea-300x186.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Union-Pacific-McCrea-128x79.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Union-Pacific-McCrea-768x477.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Union-Pacific-McCrea-1536x953.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Union-Pacific-McCrea.png 1629w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Victor Milner&#8217;s cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Union-Pacific-Building2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Union-Pacific-Building2-1024x641.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"401\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-49200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Union-Pacific-Building2-1024x641.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Union-Pacific-Building2-300x188.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Union-Pacific-Building2-128x80.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Union-Pacific-Building2-768x481.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Union-Pacific-Building2-1536x961.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Union-Pacific-Building2.png 1651w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, though it&#8217;s recommended for the lead performances. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0032080\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/94487\/union-pacific#articles-reviews?articleId=240786\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s2017ceci.html\">DVD Savant Review (scroll down to fifth review)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1939\/05\/11\/archives\/the-screen-in-review-cecil-be-de-mille-continues-his-historical.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;A railroad from Omaha to California? One might as well think of flying!&#8221; Synopsis: A shady stock manipulator (Henry Kolker) hires a gambling hall owner (Brian Donlevy) to intentionally stall progress on the Union Pacific railroad, but Donlevy&#8217;s partner (Robert Preston) &#8212; in love with the Irish daughter (Barbara Stanwyck) of an engineer &#8212; finds his loyalties tested when his old war buddy (Joel McCrea) comes on board as a &#8220;peace-keeping&#8221; troubleshooter, and romantic tensions emerge between Stanwyck, Preston, and&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=49195\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=49195"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75597,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49195\/revisions\/75597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=49195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=49195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=49195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}