UNION PACIFIC (1939) B/W 135m dir: Cecil B. DeMille

w/Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea, Akim Tamiroff, Robert Preston, Lynne Overman, Brian Donlevy, Robert Barrat, Anthony Quinn, Stanley Ridges, Henry Kolker

A grandiose western saga about the linking of the east and west via rails. It's well acted and loaded with action.

From The Movie Guide: "UNION PACIFIC is a big, sprawling western epic produced with the usual DeMille extravagance and eye for detail. DeMille gained the cooperation of the Union Pacific Railroad, which made available heaps of old records and papers pertaining to the line's construction. In addition to the research material, the Union Pacific supplied DeMille with vintage trains and experienced crews to run them. The film was shot on locations in Utah and Oklahoma, and at the Canoga Park lot in Hollywood, where the reenactment of the golden spike ceremony was staged. Moreover, the actual golden spike (driven on May 10, 1869) that was used at that ceremony was loaned to the production by Stanford University and brought to Hollywood in great secrecy. DeMille, who assembled his usual cast of thousands for the production, was delighted by Stanwyck's professional enthusiasm as she toughed it through the action scenes with the men. The director had to undergo an operation during the production, and much of the location shooting was directed by Arthur Rosson and James Hogan during his absence. When DeMille returned to the production, he directed from a stretcher and was carried from set to set by crew members.

"Even the premiere of UNION PACIFIC was a spectacle. DeMille arranged for a special Union Pacific train to carry the cast on a five-day trip from Los Angeles to Omaha, where the film was to open (and where the railway line started). There were stops along the way, of course, and special events were planned at each. In Omaha a three-day celebration with the citizenry in period costume was held, and the UNION PACIFIC cast --- also in costumes --- joined in. The film was a big hit at the box office, prompting Paramount Studios finally to give DeMille carte blanche on future productions."

UNION PACIFIC was nominated for an Oscar for Best Visual Effects (Farciot Edouart, Gordon Jennings, Loren Ryder).