Kansas Pacific (1953)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Ray Nazarro

Writer:

Daniel B. Ullman (written by)

Release Date:

22 February 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Romance | Western

Tagline:

Built by bullets, dynamite, and blood-stained spikes!

Plot:

With the Civil War about to begin, Southern saboteurs attack frontier railroad construction.

Plot Keywords:

Sabotage | Army | Civil War | U.S. Army | Kansas

Cast

Sterling Hayden	...	Capt. John Nelson
Eve Miller	...	Barbara Bruce
Barton MacLane	...	Cal Bruce
Harry Shannon	...	Smokestack, Train Engineer
Tom Fadden	...	Gus Gustavson, Train Fireman
Reed Hadley	...	Bill Quantrill
Douglas Fowley	...	Max Janus
Robert Keys	...	Lt. Sam Stanton (as Bob Keys)
Irving Bacon	...	Telegrapher Casey
Myron Healey	...	Morey
James Griffith	...	Joe Farley, Railroad guard
Clayton Moore	...	Henchman Stone
Jonathan Hale	...	Railroad President Sherman Johnson

Runtime:

73 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Cinecolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #16144) | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Iverson Ranch, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Allied Artists Pictures

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The film is set in late 1860/early 1861 shortly before the outbreak of the American Civil War. The crew building the Kansas Pacific railroad is using dynamite for blasting. Dynamite was invented by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel in 1866.

Quotes:

Bill Quantrill: Any trouble?
Max Janus: Yeah, with the sheriff. They need a new one now.

Exciting Railroad Yarn!

"Kansas Pacific" is another building of a railroad picture that turns out to be quite good. It was produced by Allied Artists on a larger than normal budget for an "A-minus" or "B-plus western. It was shot in color and contains some great shots of vintage trains as well as, some exciting battle sequences. There's one particularly convincing attack where the confederate supporters blow up an entire train.

The story takes place just prior to the American Civil War. A railroad is being built by the Union Army to supply its western posts. Confederate sympathizers are trying to prevent its completion.

Union engineer John Nelson (Sterling Hayden) is sent out from Washington to oversee the building of the railroad. Construction boss Cal Bruce (Barton MacLane) and his engineer "Smokestack" (Harry Shannon) have been experiencing troubles from unknown sources. It turns out that southern sympathizer Bill Quantrill (Reed Hadley)is behind the problems. Bruce's daughter Barbara (Eve Miller) is the token heroine who provides the love interest for Hayden.

There are many familiar faces to western fans in the supporting cast. Members of Hadley's gang include the likes of Douglas Fowley, Lane Bradford, Myron Healey, Riley Hill and a moustachioed Clayton Moore. James Griffith plays Joe Farley, a railroad guard. Hill was never a major player as a villain in westerns but he could always be singled out in the gang because he was usually clean cut and wore a "hero style" white hat. Moore of course was better known as TV's "The Lone Ranger" and had appeared in many Republic and Columbia serials (on both sides of the law) of the period.

Hayden was a big man, six foot six I believe, and was always more convincing in his screen fights than many of his contemporaries. MacLane although giving a good performance, was usually on the wrong side of the law in his movies and was better suited to brutish villainous roles.

A better than average railroad film.