Denver and Rio Grande (1952)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

A Major Disappointment

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Denver and Rio Grande is directed by Byron Haskin and written by Frank Gruber. It stars Edmond O'Brien, Sterling Hayden, Dean Jagger, Kasey Rogers, Lyle Bettger and J. Carol Naish. Music is by Paul Sawtell and Technicolor cinematography by Ray Rennahan.Two railroad companies battle for the right of way through Royal Gorge - with murderous results...In truth it's without doubt that the scenery on offer here, and if you happen to have any kink for olde steam trains, are what puts this in the above average department. Plot is based around real instances during the advancements of the Denver and Rio Grande railway. It plays out for entertainment purposes as baddies against goodies and as a notable observation of what some will do to get their way. There's strands involving wrongful accusations, simmering passions and a whole host of train sequences snaking through gorgeous locations. There's even some amazing train carnage, which is thrilling and more potent as it's not model work on show. Cast are fine and turning in perfs that we accept as viable for our enjoyment - with a pat on the back for Zasu Pitts and Paul Fix who are playing out a cute and funny mature courtship in the making - and all other tech contributions are safe and appealing enough.Opening with a voice over narration set to scenes of the then modern D&RG railway, before whisking us back to its formative years, this is a nice nostalgia piece that overcomes its plotting failings courtesy of big heart and ocular delights. 7/10

This film begins with some very bad narration. Not only is it unnecessary, but the guy's voice sounds very phony and it adds nothing positive to the picture. It also comes off like an advertisement for the Denver & Rio Grande Railway! The film is a completely fictionalized account of the building of the railroad. In this story, forces of evil (a competing railway) are conspiring to stop the railroad from being built. So, it's up to a tough guy (Edmond O'Brien) to make sure the line is built--and O'Brien is more than willing to beat the stuffing out of anyone who gets in his way....or shoot him! He's one of the most pugnacious characters I've ever seen O'Brien play--a man who has all the patience of Bluto! Early in the film, two evil guys working for the competition attack O'Brien*. And, one of them (Sterling Hayden) shoots at O'Brien and accidentally kills his partner in crime--and blames O'Brien. Well, although O'Brien is acquitted in the case, he's lost his confidence and spends the next 15 minutes in the film coming up with excuses NOT to return to his job. Eventually, however, he does and it's back to punchin' and scrappin' to make sure the men do their part. As for the baddies, they dynamite the hills, rob the payroll and do lots of other things to disrupt progress.Now into this mix is a clichéd woman--a woman who KNOWS absolutely nothing but seems to think she knows everything. She and O'Brien instantly HATE each other--therefore you know they'll be in love by the end of the film. Another woman (Zasu Pitts) is in the film...for no discernible reason whatsoever. Pitts, I think, MAY have been intended as comic relief--but all her scenes had nothing to do with the plot and she's more an annoyance than anything else.So it any good? Well, not really. But the film has very nice scenery and my uncle (who watched the film with me) said this line makes a terrific trip--as he's done the trip from Silverton to Durango. So, at least we got to talk about how pretty southwest Colorado is...though we both got a bit bored by the clichés and silly writing in "Denver and Rio Grande".*By the way, although I love Edmond O'Brien films, the idea of him beating up TWO guys (one of which is the humongous and well-muscled Sterling Hayden) at the same time is quite laughable. In fact, I remember chuckling through this silly scene.

There were some weak points to this film that could have easily been fixed or edited and they probably should of. First of all the way Nelson is killed- how can you be convinced you shot someone when you were fist fighting them? Second of all the fact that Linda was the sister of Bob Nelson should have been saved to be revealed to the audience when it was revealed to Jim Vesser after the trains crashed. It would keep the audience in suspense and wondering where she's riding off to and why. And finally the head on collision between two old narrow gauge steam locomotives. Since they were capturing such an amazing scene the filming makers should have set up multiple cameras to capture that awesome crash. A couple close up shots would have been so much better than the single shot from far away. All in all I love this movie. Even though the script was empty at times the work put in to get those spectacular shots of the trains and the mountains made up for it.

Pretty standard 50's action-western with a railroading theme. Edmund O'Brien's team of men are trying to build a rail line through the mountains, and dirty-dealing Sterling Hayden's men are trying to build their line first by sabotaging the other group. Lots of trains and mountain scenery, and not much else.Landslides, robberies and shootings abound, but despite the action the poor actors can't do much with the dead-end script. Dean Jagger is always good, and Paul Fix and Zasu Pitts are the comic relief as the broadly Irish train engineer and the camp cook who keeps trying to get Fix to propose to her. If you like trains and beautiful scenery, this is a decent movie.