Transcontinent Express (1950)
"Rock Island Trail" (original title)

Loumas, president of the Rock Island Trail company, tries to expand his rails into the Midwest but finds resistance of the steamship and stage-coach lines. The malicious Kirby Murrow tries ... See full summary »

Director:

Joseph Kane

Writers:

Frank J. Nevins (story), James Edward Grant (screenplay)

Stars:

Forrest Tucker, Adele Mara, Lorna Gray

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Forrest Tucker	...	Reed Loomis
Adele Mara	...	Constance Strong
Lorna Gray	...	Aleeta (Indian princess) (as Adrian Booth)
Bruce Cabot	...	Kirby Morrow
Chill Wills	...	Hogger McCoy
Barbra Fuller	...	Annabelle Marsh
Grant Withers	...	David Strong
Jeff Corey	...	Abe Lincoln
Roy Barcroft	...	Barnes
Pierre Watkin	...	Major
Valentine Perkins	...	Annette (Aleeta's French maid)
Jimmy Hunt	...	Stinky Tanner
Olin Howland	...	Saloonkeeper (as Olin Howlin)
John Holland	...	Maj. Porter
Kate Drain Lawson	...	Mrs. McCoy

Storyline

Loumas, president of the Rock Island Trail company, tries to expand his rails into the Midwest but finds resistance of the steamship and stage-coach lines. The malicious Kirby Murrow tries everything to slow down Loumas' progress and doesn't even stop before sabotage. Only Constanze, daughter of banker Strong, believes in his success strong enough to support him financially.

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Plot Keywords:

railway | trucolor | train

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Genres:

Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 May 1950 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mississippi-Express

Company Credits

Production Co:

Republic Pictures (I)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Color (Trucolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

"'Rock Island Trail' tells a story of the building of the first bridge and railroad over the Mississippi River from Rock Island, Illinois, to Davenport, Iowa. The World Premier of the film was in the Quad Cities, USA, on April 27th, 1950. Republic stars took part in a pre-show promotional parade which extended from Silvis, Illinois, the Home Yard of the mighty Rock Island Lines, at the time the largest rail yard in the world, to the theater in Rock Island, Illinois, and included John Wayne, Roy Rogers, Dale Evans and Rock Island Railroad employees.

User Reviews

This movie is the story of my ancestor's life, in part

I saw this movie, Rock Island Trail, on cable about a year ago as I was looking for something to watch. As I got involved in the plot, I realized it was partly based on the life of my Grandfather's Grandfather, Henry Farnam of New Haven, Connecticut. Mr. Farnam was a railroad builder and president of the Rock Island Line in the 1850s. He built the first bridge across the Mississippi at Rock Island and the bridge in the movie looked just like it. The steamship industry did run a boat into the bridge and burned it down. They then sued and Mr. Farnam hired Abraham Lincoln to defend the railroad. The railroad won the right to build the bridge as it was not a hazard to navigation. All this was in the movie. The western, shoot-'em-up and romantic parts were fictional. I would like to see this movie again and see how much was fact and how much fiction. Mr. Farnam's papers are at the library at Yale University. He was a big donor to Yale and the city of New Haven.