Union Pacific (1939)

 Cecil B. DeMille's "Union Pacific"

A typical Cecil B. DeMille picture usually contains a thematical battle between hedonism and spiritual resolution. With the 1923 version of "The Ten Commandments," the characters must evaluate whether they want to abide by the law of God or go down the path of moral selfishness that was rampant in the 1920s. In his 1932 effort "The Sign of the Cross," a soldier is torn between the pleasures of the Roman empire and the spiritual certainty of Christianity. With his 1939 film "Union Pacific," there is a similar vein, despite minor adjustments to the formula. 

"Union Pacific" takes place in 1862 during the construction of the Union Pacific railroad. Many believe that uniting the east and the south will bring together a divided America. However, financial opportunists find it in their best interest to delay the progress. The film is a battle between these two intentions, each represented by an individual character. 

The main conceit of the film is that the progress of American industrialism will lead the nation to unity. And the antithesis of that is selfish greed, which will only break the nation apart. In this way, the film takes on a Nationalist perspective. The reason for this unity comes from the growing nationalism taking place in America in 1939. After the financial collapse of 1929, which had consequential effects until about 1935, America pulled together out of necessity. On top of this, it was becoming apparent that war in Europe was on the horizon and it was in America's interest to continue unifying in the event it needed to go to war (which is exactly what happened). Because of this, many films in the late 1930s and early 1940s convey messages of unification and collective interest. 

In the film, two men who represent these two varied perspectives continue to fight their cause. However, they are so busy fighting with each other that they do not realize the real threat to their progress are the Native Americans. In the climax of the film, the train is crashed by natives. The two men must then band together to realize the true common enemy (which is not each other). This narrative lends itself to the nationalist perspective the film takes. The civil infighting of Americans needed to cease to realize the real threat of foreign invasion. The parallel to this train crash came in the form of Pearl Harbor in 1941.

With a Cecil B. DeMille film also comes spectacle. Despite what many consider a lackluster script, no one argued that DeMille's action sequences and large scale production valve were not top notch. This is especially so in the climatic train crash sequence and subsequent shoot out with the natives. When watching the film, I myself gasped at the spectacular visual rendering of a crashing train. 

Despite being a low quality of script, audiences flocked to see the film, making it Paramount's highest grossing film of 1939. With this effort, DeMille continues to be associated with major box offices successes, which is why he is periodically continued to be given the reigns of major projects for the next two decades. In the throws of history however, the film is greatly overshadowed by another western that was released two months before, "Stagecoach." Many critics who watched "Union Pacific" noted it as being a lazy affair amounting to nothing but "B" movie standards. It was of a similar vein to the westerns that came before, all considered "B" level entertainment. "Stagecoach's" revolutionary lens allowed Western to upgrade to a higher form of art. As film historian and theorist Wheeler Dixon notes, "Stagecoach" brought the Western to a category that was "worthy of adult attention and serious criticism, and therefore a yardstick against which all westerns have subsequently been measured." This yardstick reached far beyond "Union Pacific" and even vastly overshadows it in the realms of film history.