The Great Locomotive Chase (1956)

Director:

Francis D. Lyon

Writer:

Lawrence Edward Watkin (written by)

Release Date:

8 June 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Adventure | War

Tagline:

A true-life spy story of ultimate suspense. High speed and inconceivable bravery!

Plot:

This is based on a true story. During the Civil War, a Union spy, Andrews, is asked to lead a band of...

Plot Keywords:

Train | Railway | Soldier | Medal Of Honor | Quinine

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Fess Parker	...	James J. Andrews
Jeffrey Hunter	...	William A. Fuller
Jeff York	...	William Campbell
John Lupton	...	William Pittenger
Eddie Firestone	...	Robert Buffum
Kenneth Tobey	...	Anthony Murphy
Don Megowan	...	Marion A. Ross
Claude Jarman Jr.	...	Jacob Parrott
Harry Carey Jr.	...	William Bensinger
Leonard P. Geer	...	J.A. Wilson (as Lennie Geer)
George Robotham	...	William Knight
Stan Jones	...	Wilson Brown
Marc Hamilton	...	John Wollam
John Wiley	...	John M. Scott
Slim Pickens	...	Pete Bracken

Also Known As:

Andrews' Raiders (USA) (TV title)

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Australia:G | USA:Approved | Canada:G (video rating) | Finland:K-12 | Iceland:L | Sweden:Btl | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Georgia, USA

Company:

Walt Disney Productions

Trivia:

Only thirteen pieces of equipment were actually used: two full-sized locomotives, one yard engine, three passenger cars, two iron box cars, and five wooden box cars that were built specifically to be destroyed in the film. The various pieces of equipment wore different numbers on different trains throughout the movie.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The locomotive Texas is equipped with a Westinghouse air brake, which was not invented until 1872 and not in common use until the 1880s.

Quotes:

James J. Andrews: [shows Fuller a letter] You don't get a letter like that from Brigadier General Beauregard just for running Quinine.
William A. Fuller: No, I reckon you don't. I'd give my right arm just to serve under that man.
James J. Andrews: *You are*! This railroad is the artery that pumps fresh blood into the army of Mississippi on the left land, and to the army of Northern Virginia on the right. Beauregard and Robert E. Lee would *perish* without men like you!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Living Steam: Virginia and Truckee Then and Now at the Nevada State Railroad Museum (2008) (V)

Soundtrack:

Sons of Old Aunt Dinah

One of the most historically accurate movies to come out of Hollywood!

Finally, those of us who are railroad and civil war fans have an excellent widescreen version of this movie, with the release of The Great Locomotive Chase on DVD. While some of the details in the story line are not accurate history, Disney did a very good job. The trains even have link and pin couplers which are virtually never seen in movie accounts of the period.