It's always good when a movie is filmed on location, as this is. Well, wait a minute. It's sort of filmed on location. The real incidents on which this film is based took place on the eastern edge of the Rockies, on the Royal Gorge Route of the railway. This was filmed mostly near Durango, on the western side of Colorado's Rockies. Okay, not bad, just about 220 miles off, but if you know Colorado, it makes a difference. The Royal Gorge area is relatively arid, while the Durango area is not arid, so the look is all wrong.
Nevertheless, this is a pretty good fictionalized story about a real incident in Colorado railroad history. Incidentally, you can still ride part of the Royal Gorge Route out of Canon City, Colorado, and it's a swell journey about an authentic train.
This was a Paramount flick, and a rather big budget production from a company that didn't typically make very many Westerns. It isn't the smoothest production you'll ever watch, but it's still an above average Western. And, the train collision is very well done and looks very real...not sure how they did it.
The male star is Edmond O'Brien. O'Brien was usually a supporting actor, but occasionally showed up in a leading role. I always liked him, but he probably missed the A list simply because he was a bit chunky. Sterling Hayden was the lead bad guy, and does fairly well here. I always liked Dean Jagger, who plays General Palmer, the railroad owner here, but this is not one of his better portrayals. Kasey Rogers is the chief female actor here, a decidedly B list actress, but she does fairly well as a woman torn between revenge and loyalty. Lyle Bettger plays the real heavy here, and I have to say, after watching him a couple of years ago during the same year in "The Greatest Show On Earth", he was a bit of a cornball as an all too bad villain -- overacting in both roles, to the point of being the caricature of villainy. J. Carrol Naish was a good character actor, and does nicely here as the engineer (as in construction) of the railway. Zasu Pitts and Paul Fix are along for a few laughs as a rather dowdy romantic couple.
I can't make up my mind whether this film is a very, very good B Western, or a so-so A Western. But if you like Westerns at all, this one -- based on real history -- is well worth watching at least once.
Nevertheless, this is a pretty good fictionalized story about a real incident in Colorado railroad history. Incidentally, you can still ride part of the Royal Gorge Route out of Canon City, Colorado, and it's a swell journey about an authentic train.
This was a Paramount flick, and a rather big budget production from a company that didn't typically make very many Westerns. It isn't the smoothest production you'll ever watch, but it's still an above average Western. And, the train collision is very well done and looks very real...not sure how they did it.
The male star is Edmond O'Brien. O'Brien was usually a supporting actor, but occasionally showed up in a leading role. I always liked him, but he probably missed the A list simply because he was a bit chunky. Sterling Hayden was the lead bad guy, and does fairly well here. I always liked Dean Jagger, who plays General Palmer, the railroad owner here, but this is not one of his better portrayals. Kasey Rogers is the chief female actor here, a decidedly B list actress, but she does fairly well as a woman torn between revenge and loyalty. Lyle Bettger plays the real heavy here, and I have to say, after watching him a couple of years ago during the same year in "The Greatest Show On Earth", he was a bit of a cornball as an all too bad villain -- overacting in both roles, to the point of being the caricature of villainy. J. Carrol Naish was a good character actor, and does nicely here as the engineer (as in construction) of the railway. Zasu Pitts and Paul Fix are along for a few laughs as a rather dowdy romantic couple.
I can't make up my mind whether this film is a very, very good B Western, or a so-so A Western. But if you like Westerns at all, this one -- based on real history -- is well worth watching at least once.