"The Great Locomotive Chase" is a rousing action-adventure from Disney, based on a real Civil War story. Fess Parker, hot off his performance as Davy Crockett, is cast here as James J. Andrews, a Union spy who supervised a group of soldiers in a mission to sabotage the Rebel railroad system. They run into trouble when a Southern train conductor, William A. Fuller (Jeffrey Hunter), realizes that they pulled the wool over his eyes, and goes to extreme lengths to catch up to them.
You can easily root for both sides in this story. Well written and well produced (by Lawrence Edward Watkin), and capably directed (by Francis D. Lyon), it portrays both North and South as VERY determined individuals. You marvel at the ingenuity and brevity of the Andrews raiders, and admire the tenacity of Fuller and other characters like Anthony Murphy (Kenneth Tobey) as they work hard (and I mean HARD) to foil Andrews and his men.
There's a generous array of engaging characters and performances here. Parker and Hunter are excellent in the leads, and standing out in meaty supporting roles are Jeff York (as a Northerner with a quick temper who's always spoiling for a fight) and John Lupton as the mild-mannered William Pittenger, who narrates the story in flashback. Other familiar character actors like Eddie Firestone, Don Megowan, Harry Carey Jr., Slim Pickens, Morgan Woodward, Robert Foulk, and Hank Patterson, as well as former child actor Claude Jarman Jr., all appear.
The filmmakers create sufficient tension and excitement from the premise, with the intense, protracted locomotive chase of the title taking up a fair share of the running time. It's also interesting to see how the Union soldiers feel uneasy about lying to the Southern folk, pretending to be their friends and sympathetic to their cause. Andrews' men also don't cotton to taking orders from a civilian, and are not used to being stealthy when they prefer to take on their enemy in battle. In the end, both Andrews and Fuller develop a respect for each other (albeit grudgingly on Fullers' part).
Extremely well photographed in CinemaScope by Charles P. Boyle, and nicely scored by Paul J. Smith, this is a worthy viewing all around.
Eight out of 10.
You can easily root for both sides in this story. Well written and well produced (by Lawrence Edward Watkin), and capably directed (by Francis D. Lyon), it portrays both North and South as VERY determined individuals. You marvel at the ingenuity and brevity of the Andrews raiders, and admire the tenacity of Fuller and other characters like Anthony Murphy (Kenneth Tobey) as they work hard (and I mean HARD) to foil Andrews and his men.
There's a generous array of engaging characters and performances here. Parker and Hunter are excellent in the leads, and standing out in meaty supporting roles are Jeff York (as a Northerner with a quick temper who's always spoiling for a fight) and John Lupton as the mild-mannered William Pittenger, who narrates the story in flashback. Other familiar character actors like Eddie Firestone, Don Megowan, Harry Carey Jr., Slim Pickens, Morgan Woodward, Robert Foulk, and Hank Patterson, as well as former child actor Claude Jarman Jr., all appear.
The filmmakers create sufficient tension and excitement from the premise, with the intense, protracted locomotive chase of the title taking up a fair share of the running time. It's also interesting to see how the Union soldiers feel uneasy about lying to the Southern folk, pretending to be their friends and sympathetic to their cause. Andrews' men also don't cotton to taking orders from a civilian, and are not used to being stealthy when they prefer to take on their enemy in battle. In the end, both Andrews and Fuller develop a respect for each other (albeit grudgingly on Fullers' part).
Extremely well photographed in CinemaScope by Charles P. Boyle, and nicely scored by Paul J. Smith, this is a worthy viewing all around.
Eight out of 10.