Kansas Pacific (film)
| Kansas Pacific | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Ray Nazarro |
| Written by | Daniel B. Ullman |
| Produced by | Walter Wanger Edward Morey Jr. |
| Starring | Sterling Hayden Eve Miller |
| Cinematography | Harry Neumann |
| Edited by | William Austin Walter Hannemann |
| Music by | Albert Sendrey |
Production company | Walter Wanger Productions |
| Distributed by | Allied Artists Pictures Corporation |
Release date |
|
Running time | 73 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Kansas Pacific is a 1953 U.S. Cinecolor Western film released by Allied Artists Pictures and directed by Ray Nazarro. It stars Sterling Hayden and Eve Miller. The film offers a fictionalized account of the struggle to build the Kansas Pacific Railway in the 1860s just prior to the American Civil War. In the film the building of the railroad in Kansas is opposed by sympathizers of the Confederacy.
General Winfield Scott sends a Corps of Engineers captain (Hayden) incognito to complete the railroad in order to supply western outposts when the anticipated war starts. Opposing the railway is Confederate William Quantrill (Reed Hadley), whose mission is to stop or delay the railway from being completed.
The rights to the film are currently in the public domain.
Production
The movie was filmed at the Iverson Movie Ranch and the Sierra Railroad in what is now Railtown 1897 State Historic Park, Jamestown, California. Walter Mirisch of Allied Artists had Walter Wanger's name put on the picture as a producer, although he was in prison for shooting agent Jennings Lang, whom he believed to be having an affair with his wife, Joan Bennett. Thanks to Mirisch, Wanger received a producer's billing, salary and profit participation.[1]
Plot
Set prior to the Civil War but after the South has seceded from the U.S., Kansas Pacific centres of the efforts to build a railroad across Kansas toward the West Coast. Southern sympathizers attempt to sabotage the railroad construction efforts so Army Captain John Nelson, played by Sterling Hayden, is brought in to keep the project going. Captain Nelson must not only contend with the efforts of the saboteurs but also try to romance the railroad foreman's daughter, Barbara Bruce, who is played by Eve Miller. This film also features Clayton Moore, best known for his roles in films and on television of The Lone Ranger.
Notes
- ^ p.49 Mirisch, Walter I Thought We Were Making Movies, Not History 2008 University of Wisconsin Press
External links
- Kansas Pacific at IMDb
- Kansas Pacific on YouTube
- Kansas Pacific is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive (Black-and-white)
- Kansas Pacific is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive (Color)
- Kansas Pacific at AllMovie
- Kansas Pacific at Rotten Tomatoes
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