Robert Young

Randolph Scott

Dean Jagger

Virginia Gilmore

John Carradine

Chill Wills

Slim Summerville

Barton MacLane

Russell Hicks

Victor Kilian

Minor Watson

George Chandler

Chief John Big Tree

Chief Thundercloud

Dick Rich

Addison Richards

Irving Bacon

C.E. Anderson

Arthur Aylesworth

Bill Beauman

Hank Bell

Esther Brodelet

Paul E. Burns

Clarence Chorre

Sonny Chorre

Bob Clark

Cliff Clark

Russ Clark

Tommy Coats

Iron Eyes Cody

J.W. Cody

Bahe Denetdeel

Earl Dobbins

Larry Dods

Ralph Dunn

Frank Ellis

John Epper

James Flavin

Francis Ford

Tom B. Forman

Jack Henry Fritz

Boone Hazlett

Reed Howes

Sid Jordan

Cecil Kellogg

Tom London

Harold A. Malendez

Kermit Maynard

Frank McGrath

Charles Middleton

Lucille Miller

Frank Mills

Joe Molina

Merlyn Nelson

Herman Nowlin

Steve O'Brien

George Plues

Clint Sharp

Jay Silverheels

Joe P. Smith

James P. Spencer

Harry Strang

Tony Urchel

Eddy Waller

Ed Warren

Blackie Whiteford

Fritz Lang

David Buttolph

Allen M. Davey

Richard Day

Harry Joe Brown

Robert Bischoff

Travis Banton

Darryl F. Zanuck

Edward Cronjager

Thomas Little

Albert Hogsett

Zane Grey

Yakima Canutt

Roger Heman Sr.

Bernard Freericks

Otto Brower

Robert Cowan

Saul Wurtzel

Max Lauer

Carl Daniels

Fred Fox

Robert Carson

Lemuel Tribe

Don B. Greenwood

Jack Andrews

Lynn Shores

Henry Weinberger

Jerry Bryan

Hal Herman

George Bruce

Roy Pierce

Horace McCoy

Gene Fowler Jr.

Robert E. Goux

Ben Silvey

W.R. Snyder

Ben Southland

William F. Mittlestedt

Charles King

M. Goldman

Buddy King

Clarence Schiffer

William Koenig

Ray Lopez

Fred Hall

William Sittel

Western

Western Union

20th Century Fox

United States of America

English

loyalty

engineer

outlaw

doctor

preserved film

_**Adventures while setting up the telegraph line on the Great Plains**_

As the Civil War breaks out in 1861, a former outlaw (Randolph Scott) joins the team wiring what is now Nebraska and Wyoming for telegraph service. Dean Jagger plays the executive of the project while Robert Young is on hand as a “tenderfoot” from back East. Meanwhile Virginia Gilmore plays the potential romantic interest of the good-badman (Scott) and the heroic newcomer (Young).

Directed by Fritz Lang and based on the Zane Grey book, "Western Union" (1941) was a pretty big Western in its day and effectively mixes intrigue, action, romance and comedy. While Barton MacLane’s villainy as Jack Slade is too silent movie-ish and the geography is disingenuous, this ranks with the better Western epics of its era. The color and cinematography are wonderful and the AmerIndians are depicted in a non-cheesy, authentic manner.     

The film runs 1 hour, 35 minutes, and was shot in Utah (Zion National Park & Kanab), Arizona (House Rock Canyon, Arizona) and 20th Century Fox Studios, Century City, Los Angeles. 

GRADE: B

CinemaSerf

I wonder if Fritz Lang had these three imposed on him by the studio system or whether he chose them? Anyway, sadly the folks we have leading this interesting, pioneering, adventure don't really manage to raise the film from a rather procedural mediocrity - despite this being quite a fascinating story of determination and diplomacy. We start with "Shaw" (Randolph Scott) discovering the injured "Creighton" (Dean Jagger) whilst someone is being pursued by a posse. He helps the man to a nearby house where he abandons him to the well meaning folks who help him recover. It turns out that "Creighton" is a Western Union surveyor sent by the company to plan for the coming of the telegraph. Skip on a while and the two are reunited on the construction project, alongside the ostensibly more sophisticated "Blake" (Robert Young) with the two men soon vying for the affections of "Sue Creighton" (Virginia Gilmore) to bring a little (completely unnecessary) love triangle to this story. As the work proceeds, the men encounter hostiles, betrayal and even some subterfuge from aggrieved confederate soldiers - all whilst suspecting that "Slade" (Barton MacLane) is pulling the strings. The photography is impressive and the Zane Grey novel, like most of his work, is an exciting boys-own type of tale that adapts well to the screen with horse-chases, shoot-outs and a well shot conflagration at the end. It's just the actors. Scott is passable but the other two just don't cut it, I'm afraid. Pity, it could have been much better. As it is, it's still easy enough to watch, though.

Western Union( 1941)

A 20th Century-Fox Encore Hit !

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A review by Wuchak

Written by Wuchak on Sun Nov 22 2020

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