A train for two scoundrels

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Movie
German title A train for two scoundrels
Original title Emperor of the North
also: Emperor of the North Pole
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1973
length 118 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Robert Aldrich
script Christopher Knopf
production Kenneth Hyman
Stan Hough
music Frank De Vol
camera Joseph F. Biroc
cut Michael Luciano
occupation

A train for two scoundrels (original title: Emperor of the North ) is an American action film from 1973. Directed by Robert Aldrich , Lee Marvin , Ernest Borgnine and Keith Carradine can be seen in the leading roles . The script, written by Christopher Knopf, is based on the book Adventurer of the Rail Line ( The Road ) by Jack London , who processed the experiences of his youth, in which he traveled as a tramp on freight trains through America.

action

Set in 1933, at the time of the Great Depression , the film is about hobos , migrant workers who illegally travel through the western United States on freight trains. One day the experienced hobo "Ace No. 1" succeeds in riding a piece on freight train No. 19, the so-called "19er". The train driver is the ambitious Shack who tries with all his might to keep Hobos away from his train and does not shrink from the use of sadistic violence. The young, not very experienced, but all the more loudmouthed cigaret also gets on board, but he is discovered by Shack and, to his displeasure, locked in the car with Ace No. 1. But Ace No. 1 finds a way out, and from then on Cigaret clings to him and keeps talking about becoming an equally successful hobo.

Ace No. 1 bets other hobos and railroad workers that he'll be the first to drive all the way to Portland on Shack's 19s. Because of Cigaret's inattention while boarding the approaching train, Shack spotted both of them early. He tries with all means to chase the two off the train. In the final fight on an open freight car, Ace No. 1 manages to injure Shack and knock him off the train. After that, Cigaret brags as if he had contributed equally to defeating Shack. Now Ace No. 1 has had enough of the pain in the ass and also throws him off the train on the grounds that he doesn't have enough class for a good hobo.

Film analysis

A move for two scoundrels represents a break in Aldrich's filmography in several respects. On the one hand, in the characters, because the protagonists are characterized more warmly and comprehensively than in previous films. On the other hand, also in the close-ups of the main characters, which are examined more closely and through which their stories are told. Compared to Aldrich's previous films, what is also new is that there are only two high points and not a large number of narrative turning points. This refers to both the scene in which Shack tries to prevent the frontal collision with the oncoming mail train that is threatening due to his delay in thick fog, as well as the final three-way battle between Shack, Ace No. 1 and Cigaret.

Reviews

The TV magazine Prisma thinks Marvin and Borgnine's performance is “strong” , but rates the film as an “action-heavy flick” that “relies too heavily on a brutal finale to show a gripping timeline” . The lexicon of international films judges: "Well-done staged action film that suffers from its intrusive and unnecessarily brutal finale."

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Koch Media GmbH (ed.): A train for two scoundrels . Booklet for the German DVD edition, pp. 22–27
  2. ^ Prism online: A train for two scoundrels , accessed April 24, 2011
  3. ↑ http://www.zweitausendeins.de/filmlexikon/?sucheNach=titel&wert=13188