Rock Island Trail

19501950
PGPG
1h 30m

Feud between the long-established stagecoach and steamship lines and the emergent railway companies trying to expand into the Midwest.Feud between the long-established stagecoach and steamship lines and the emergent railway companies trying to expand into the Midwest.Feud between the long-established stagecoach and steamship lines and the emergent railway companies trying to expand into the Midwest.

6.2/10

190

Director
- Joseph Kane
Writers
- James Edward Grant(screenplay)
- Frank J. Nevins(based upon a novel: A Yankee Dared)
Stars

Top credits

See production, box office & company info

See more at IMDbPro

Emory Parnell and Forrest Tucker in Rock Island Trail (1950)

Bruce Cabot, Emory Parnell, and Forrest Tucker in Rock Island Trail (1950)

Adele Mara and Forrest Tucker in Rock Island Trail (1950)

Director
- Joseph Kane
Writers
- James Edward Grant(screenplay)
- Frank J. Nevins(based upon a novel: A Yankee Dared)
All cast & crew
See more cast details at IMDbPro

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. —Tom Zoerner <Tom.Zoerner@informatik.uni-erlangen.de>

b movie b western double feature film henchman barfly 31 more

Taglines
- 1000 miles of blazing, unforgettable adventure !
Genres
Certificate
- PG
Parents guide
- Add content advisory

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.

Goofs
The film is set in the pre-Civil War period. The passenger cars have clerestory ridges in the roofs, a feature not available until after the Civil War.

Connections
Referenced in American Masters: Tyrus (2017)

Top review

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.

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