Union Pacific (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Union Pacific |
| Original title | Union Pacific |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1939 |
| length | 135 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Cecil B. DeMille |
| script |
Walter DeLeon C. Gardner Sullivan Jesse Lasky Jr. Jack Cunningham |
| production | Cecil B. DeMille |
| music |
Sigmund Krumgold John Leipold Victor Young Gérard Carbonara Leo Shuken George Antheil |
| camera |
Victor Milner Dewey Wrigley |
| cut | Anne Bauchens |
| occupation | |
| |
Union Pacific (German title: The woman belongs to me ) is an American western epic from 1939 , directed by Cecil B. DeMille for the Paramount Pictures film studio based on the 1937 novel Trouble Shooter by Ernest Haycox . Union Pacific was awarded the Golden Palm of 1939 retrospectively in 2002 .
action
There is a competition in route construction between the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroad companies. The destination is the city of Ogden , Utah , which each of the two companies would like to reach first. Bank director Asa Barrows wants to increase his wealth by supporting the Central Pacific . He hires the adventurer Sid Campeau to sabotage the work of the Union Pacific .
Three years later, the Union Pacific sends the first locomotive onto the rails, which is operated by the engine driver Monahan. Jeff Butler is supposed to ensure order and safety on the route, he gets help from Fiesta and Leach. The workers' addiction to games and drinking especially caused problems, which was initiated by Campeau and his partner Dick Allen, who knew Jeff from his time in the army. In addition, the work is constantly interrupted by Indian raids. Dick and Jeff are not just opponents on the track. Both are drawn to Monahan's daughter Mollie.
Campeau tries to incite workers about late payment. Barrows is forced by General Ulysses S. Grant to provide wages for Union Pacific workers . The bank director hatches a plan to get the borrowed money back by stealing the money bag. Campeau assigns Dick to the robbery. In fact, Dick manages to steal the money bag from the train, but he is soon followed by Jeff. Dick hides the sack in Mollie's mail van. When he wants to return, Jeff caught up with him. Now the men from also appear. Mollie accepts the engagement to Dick in order to get Jeff a free exit.
Jeff goes to Campeau's saloon with some men. He can get a confession from Campeau and then has his restaurant destroyed. Jeff then goes to church to arrest Dick for the robbery before his wedding to Mollie. Jeff is late though. Mollie helps her new husband escape and is fired from the railroad company. The next day, Dick meets Mollie on the moving supply train to flee with her. But an attack by the Indians prevents this. Only Jeff, Mollie and Dick survive the attack, all the other workers are dead, the train fell from the track. The three survivors can telegraph to Cheyenne to ask for help. Meanwhile, the Indians keep attacking while the army sends a unit to the rescue. Mollie is shot in the fight. When the army arrives, Jeff lets Dick escape, who then names Jeff Barrows as the author of the sabotage. He promises to find Mollie in Ogden.
To reach Ogden, the tracks must be laid over snow that gives way under the weight. The engine driver Monahan is killed in an accident. Still, the Union Pacific can win the race to Ogden. When the last nail in the road is driven in, Campeau, who wants to kill Jeff, mistakenly shoots Dick. Jeff is unsuspecting without a gun, Campeau is finally shot by Leach.
background
Union Pacific's budget was around $ 1 million, which was above average at the time. Filming locations included Cache in Oklahoma , Cedar City in Utah , Council Bluffs in Iowa , Kanab in Utah and Stockton in California . The production of the film took place in the typical generous manner DeMilles, whereby he was able to secure the support of the Union Pacific Railroad , which provided the production team with construction plans, locomotives and wagons. A track several miles long was built in Utah, so large that Paramount had to acquire a railroad license. After the film was completed, DeMille was the private individual with the most railroad material in the United States. The replica of the city of Cheyenne also belonged to the typical DeMille style. Hundreds of Navajos were hired to raid the Indians. The golden nail ( Iron Strike ) shown in the film was the original loaned from Stanford University .
For his last black and white film, director DeMille, who had to undergo surgery before filming, was brought to the locations on a stretcher. A special platform had to be built to monitor the camera settings, which were made using cranes.
The production design came from Roland Anderson and Hans Dreier . As an assistant director also worked among others Charles Barton , who later had a career as a main director. Numerous supporting roles were cast with well-known actors to match the large budget. For example, Regis Toomey , Ward Bond , Lon Chaney Jr. , Monte Blue , Iron Eyes Cody , Max Davidson , Richard Denning , Will Geer , Elmo Lincoln , Walter Long , Nestor Paiva , Cyril Ring and Joe Sawyer small roles, some of which were not even mentioned in the credits.
The film premiered at great expense on April 27, 1939 in Omaha , Nebraska , the starting point of the Union Pacific Railroad and corporate headquarters. For three days, DeMille and his stars were pulled through the States by train, pulled by an original locomotive, and made effective stops. Parties and parades were held, as was a monumental costume ball. The film opened in the premiere cinema in Omaha with a push of a button by President Franklin D. Roosevelt . After the premiere, DeMille and his stars continued the train journey until they reached the east coast after 15 days. In Germany it was released in a shortened version in 1939 under the title The woman belongs to me . It was performed again in 1965 after the Second World War. At the end of the film, in front of the fade-out, a modern train pulled by diesel locomotives can be seen. The locomotives obviously come from the EMD E series , which was produced from 1937, initially in small numbers, and after the Second World War, together with the EMD F series, was the first commercially successful type of diesel locomotive.
Reviews
The lexicon of international films wrote that the film was a "large-scale patriotic western" with spectacular action scenes, and overall it was above-average cinema entertainment. Frank S. Nugent of the New York Times described the film at its premiere in 1939 as very good, colorful, spectacular and of excellent origin. The Variety basically called the film a super western. The Protestant Film Observer was of the opinion that the film was good to watch and that it was as exciting as it was interesting for young people from 14 years of age.
Katja Nicodemus emphasized the importance of the physical presence of the leading actress: “What a performance! Freehand she stands on the speeding firewood cart, her hair is blowing in the wind, her laugh is challenging and her gaze is half directed into the distance. Barbara Stanwyck in Union Pacific is the spirit of the railroad in a female body. Everything that this film is about is summarized in the shot: a landscape that has to be conquered and a woman who wants to be conquered. "
Awards
Farciot Edouart , Gordon Jennings and Loren L. Ryder received an Oscar nomination in 1940 for Best Visual Effects . In 1975 the film received the Western Heritage Award .
The film was to be shown in competition at the Cannes International Film Festival , which was held for the first time in 1939, but could not take place due to the German attack on Poland . In 2002, a retrospective took place at the 55th Film Festival, at which the competition films from 1939 were shown. A jury then retroactively awarded the main prize of the Golden Palm 1939 to Union Pacific on an honorary basis .
synchronization
The film opened in German cinemas in September 1939. At that time it was one of the few US productions that were still started in Germany. The dubbed version made at the time was 30 minutes shorter than the US version. It was used again in the Allied occupation zones in 1947.
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Mollie Monahan | Barbara Stanwyck | Till Klokow |
| Captain Jeff Butler | Joel McCrea | Fritz Ley |
| Dick Allen | Robert Preston | Oskar Schättiger |
| Banker Barrows | Henry Kolker | CW castle |
| Dr. Harkness | Stanley Andrews | Otto Henning |
In re-dubbing, which was created for the re-performance in 1965, the following voices can be heard: Michael Cramer for Joel McCrea as Captain Jeff Butler; Peer Schmidt for Robert Preston as Dick Allen; Eduard Wandrey for JM Kerrigan as Monahan and Klaus Miedel for Brian Donlevy as Sid Campeau.
The Blu-ray released by Koch Media in 2017 for the German-speaking market contains both edited and dubbed versions.
literature
- Katja Nicodemus : The woman is mine. In: Bernd Kiefer , Norbert Grob (ed.), Marcus Stiglegger (collaboration): Filmgenres. Western (= RUB . No. 18402). Reclam, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-15-018402-9 , pp. 97-100 [with references].
Web links
- Union Pacific in theInternet Movie Database(English)
- Horst-Jürgen Gerigk: On the topology of the Western, using the example of Cecil B. DeMilles "Union Pacific" (1939)
Individual evidence
- ↑ budget information (IMDb)
- ↑ Frank Miller on TCM (English)
- ^ Union Pacific. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Review of the New York Times (English)
- ↑ Critique of the Variety (English) ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Ev. Munich Press Association, Review No. 181/1965
- ↑ Katja Nicodemus: The woman is mine. In: Bernd Kiefer , Norbert Grob (ed.), Marcus Stiglegger (collaboration): Filmgenres. Western (= RUB . No. 18402). Reclam, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-15-018402-9 , pp. 97-100, here 97.
- ↑ According to: The forgotten films. Dubbed films in Germany 1930–1945
- ^ "Union Pacific" in the synchronized files
