Emperor of the North Pole (1973)

Director:

Robert Aldrich

Writer:

Christopher Knopf (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

23 May 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Action | Thriller

Tagline:

Lee Marvin & Ernest Borgnine meet in the fight of the century.

Plot:

It is during the great depression in the US, and the land is full of people who are now homeless. Those people...

Plot Keywords:

Train | Hobo | Great Depression | Railway | Sadist

Cast

Lee Marvin	...	A No. 1
Ernest Borgnine	...	Shack
Keith Carradine	...	Cigaret
Charles Tyner	...	Cracker
Malcolm Atterbury	...	Hogger
Simon Oakland	...	Policeman
Harry Caesar	...	Coaly
Hal Baylor	...	Yardman's Helper
Matt Clark	...	Yardlet
Elisha Cook Jr.	...	Gray Cat (as Elisha Cook)
Joe Di Reda	...	Dinger (as Joe di Reda)
Liam Dunn	...	Smile
Diane Dye	...	Girl in Water
Robert Foulk	...	Conductor
James Goodwin	...	Fakir
Raymond Guth	...	Preacher (as Ray Guth)
Sid Haig	...	Grease Tail
Karl Lukas	...	Pokey Stiff
Edward McNally	...	Yard Clerk
John Steadman	...	Stew Bum
Vic Tayback	...	Yardman
Dave Willock	...	Groundhog
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Don Blackman	...	Old Shine (uncredited)
Jack Collins	...	Dispatcher (uncredited)
Richard Daughty	...	The Cub (uncredited)
Bennie E. Dobbins	...	Mechanic (uncredited)
Joe Haworth	...	Ash Eater (uncredited)
Lance Henriksen	...	Railroad worker (uncredited)
Harry Hickox	...	Elder (uncredited)
Bern Hoffman	...	Halfy (uncredited)
James Kingsley	...	Machinist (uncredited)
George McFadden	...	Prairie Special engineer (uncredited)
Ralph Montgomery	...	Alkee Stiff (uncredited)
Hal John Norman	...	Hobo (uncredited)
Danny 'Big Black' Rey	...	Hobo (uncredited)
Wayne Sutherlin	...	Gink (uncredited)
Forrest Wood	...	Station agent (uncredited)

Directed by
Robert Aldrich

Writing credits
Christopher Knopf		(writer)
Jack London		(short story) uncredited

Produced by
Stanley Hough	....	producer (as Stan Hough)
Kenneth Hyman	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Frank De Vol		(as Frank DeVol)

Cinematography by
Joseph F. Biroc		(as Joseph Biroc)

Film Editing by
Michael Luciano

Casting by
Jack Baur

Art Direction by
Jack Martin Smith

Set Decoration by
Raphael Bretton		(as Rafael Bretton)

Makeup Department
William Turner	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Saul Wurtzel	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Malcolm R. Harding	....	assistant director (as Malcolm Harding)
Michael D. Moore	....	second unit director
Larry Powell	....	second assistant director
Barry Steinberg	....	second assistant director

Art Department
John La Salandra	....	construction coordinator
Ygnacio Sepulveda	....	property master

Sound Department
William Hartman	....	sound effects
Don Isaacs	....	sound effects
Godfrey Marks	....	dubbing dialogue editor
Richard Overton	....	sound mixer
Edward Rossi	....	sound effects
Theodore Soderberg	....	sound re-recording mixer
Don S. Walden	....	sound effects (as Don Walden)

Special Effects by
Henry Millar Jr.	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
L.B. Abbott	....	visual effects

Stunts
Bennie E. Dobbins	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jerry Gatlin	....	stunts (uncredited)
Chuck Hayward	....	stunts (uncredited)
James Kingsley	....	stunts (uncredited)
Walter Scott	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Joe Jackman	....	camera operator
Kenneth Peach Jr.	....	camera operator (as Ken Peach Jr.)
Orville Hallberg	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ed Wynigear	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Frank Capacchione	....	associate editor
Roland Gross	....	associate editor

Transportation Department
Chris Haynes	....	driver
Kelly Aldrich	....	driver: camera car (uncredited)

Other crew
Walter Blake	....	title designer
Dave Davies	....	unit publicist
Howard Hohler	....	script supervisor
Robert Sherman	....	dialogue supervisor

Production Companies

• Inter Hemisphere
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1973) (USA) (theatrical)
• Fox-MGM (1973) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Abril Vídeo (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1976) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• CBS/Fox Video (1985) (Belgium) (VHS)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Pacific Title  titles and opticals
• State of Oregon  cooperation
• Oregon Pacific and Eastern Railroad  cooperation
• Intrada  score album released by (limited edition)

Also Known As:

Emperor of the North (USA) (reissue title)

Runtime:

118 min | 116 min (FMC Library Print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 (cut) (1987) | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1973) | USA:TV-PG | West Germany:16 (f) | Norway:15 | Norway:16 (1973) | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:PG | Netherlands:16

Filming Locations:

Cottage Grove, Oregon, USA

Company:

Inter Hemisphere

Trivia:

The title refers to a joke among hobos during the Great Depression that the world's best hobo was Emperor of the North Pole, a way of poking fun at their own desperate situation since somebody ruling over the North Pole would be ruling over a wasteland.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When the hobos are picking the switch lock, they are using lock picking tools that are used on tumbler locks and talking about tumblers. An Adlake switch lock of that design is a warded lock and does not have tumblers.

Quotes:

[Shack is chasing Cigaret atop the train after having dealt with the aftermath of the train stopping short]
Shack: Got yourself a game leg, hey kid? You should have jumped off! That would have been the smart thing to do. You should have jumped Kid! I got to hand it to you kid, you're smart. You play both sides against the middle. Have your self a high old time. But now it's lasted long enough. Oh, you can keep running kid, but you're running out of train!
[Shack laughs as the hobo falls over the cupola of the caboose]
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Pen Pals (1974)

Soundtrack:

A Man and a Train

Boxcar Willies

For you teenagers out there, or parents of teenagers who have expressed a desire to run away from home and ride the rails, this movie is the perfect antidote. Anyone who sees this film you will never even consider hopping on a boxcar again. Directed by Robert Aldrich, and bearing his unmistakable anarchist's stamp, it tells the story of two hoboes, one, A-1, played by Lee Marvin, a seasoned, lone wolf, and the other, Cigaret (Keith Carradine), a young boaster who tags along for the rides, and forever tries to convince his friend and mentor that he is in the same league with him in the art of hobodom, and maybe even better. The story revolves around the attempt of both men to ride the Number 19, a train lorded over by vicious railroadman Shack (Ernest Borgnine), who is known for despising hoboes, and for attacking them with hammer and chains! Director Robert Aldrich works wonders with this tall tale, some of it based on true stories. His fondness for improbable material is evident here, as once again he shows himself fascinated by the seemingly impossible task. Aldrich has a real feeling for what one might call WASP schmaltz, and he pours it on like ketchup on a Big Mac. He obviously loves railraods, old railroad uniforms, tramps, the Pacific Northwest, junkyards and the great outdoors generally, all copiously present here, aided in no small measure by Joe Biroc's lyrical photography.

The Emperor Of the North Pole is more character study than story. Marvin's character of A-1 is independent, shrewd and ethically minded, with a great sense of style. For him, being a hobo is almost a calling, and his acceptance by his fellow tramps constitutes a kind of knighthood, a status he guards jeaously. His opposite number, Shack, is a sadistic company man who relishes lording over others with a big stick, sometimes literally. To call him a type A personality would be a gross understatement. Unlike A-1, Shack has no sense of style; indeed, he doesn't even seem to own his personality. The railroad does. Cigaret is a kid, with a big ego and even bigger mouth who loves to tell stories about his exploits, none of them true. He fools no one, least of all A-1, who tries to teach him a thing or two, with only middling success. The clashing of these three personalities constitutes the bulk of the film, and is basically what it is about.

I sense that Aldrich, and screenwriter Christopher Knopf, were aiming for a larger than life effect, and that they were trying to create a sort of Great American Myth, like Paul Bunyan or Johnny Appleseed. They only partially succeed at this. Though Knopf's dialogue is at times excellent, the movie's realism works against its mythic qualities, and there's too much swearing. There's too much of a weary, real life-battered aspect to the characters for them to rise to iconic stature. Also, Cigaret's volubility is often obnoxious, and he seems to be saying the same things, again and again; and though Carradine plays him well enough, he comes across as too middle class and at times too delicate for the role. The action scenes on the other hand, are brilliantly done, and the climactic fight at the end is well worth the wait.