Western Union ( 1941 )

Western Union ( 1941 ) (DVD) (*)

~~$23.99~~ $17.97

Language Selections:
English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
Italian ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
Italy ( PAL/Region 2 )

Running Time:
91 min

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen

Special Features:
Biographies
Filmographies
Interactive Menu
Scene Access

Movie filmed in 1941 and produced in:
United States ( USA, Canada )

Directed By:
Fritz Lang

Written By:
Zane Grey
Robert Carson

Actors:
Robert Young ..... Richard Blake
Randolph Scott ..... Vance Shaw
Dean Jagger ..... Edward Creighton
Virginia Gilmore ..... Sue Creighton
John Carradine ..... Doc Murdoch
Chill Wills ..... Homer Kettle
Barton MacLane ..... Jack Slade
Russell Hicks ..... Provisional Governor, Territory of Nebraska
Victor Kilian ..... Charlie
Minor Watson ..... Pat Grogan
George Chandler ..... Herb
Chief John Big Tree ..... Chief Spotted Horse (as Chief Big Tree)
Chief Thundercloud ..... Indian leader
Dick Rich ..... Porky
Slim Summerville ..... Cookkie

Synopsis:

While escaping from a heist of a bank, the outlaw Vance Shaw helps Edward Creighton, the chief-engineer of the Western Union that is surveying the Wild West and had had an accident with a horse. In 1861, Vance regenerates and is hired to work for the Western Union with the team that is installing the poles and cable from Omaha to Salt Lake City. Vance and the engineer from Harvard Richard Blake flirt with the gorgeous Edward's sister Sue Creighton and she chooses Vance. However, his past haunts him when the outlaw Jack Slade steals the Western Union cattle disguised of Indians.

20th Century-Fox's Western Union was loosely based on a story by Zane Grey. The basic historical facts behind the connecting of telegraph wires between Omaha and Salt Lake City serve as a backdrop for a fictional story straight out of Manhattan Melodrama. Randolph Scott and Barton MacLane are cast as brothers who pursue wildly divergent paths in adulthood: Scott, an ex-outlaw, goes to work for Western Union, while MacLane remains a criminal, leading a concerted effort to sabotage the telegraph company. The Indians, too often merely villains in films of this nature, are treated with relative sympathy. When they do attack the whites, it is principally because they have been falsely accused of crimes committed by MacLane and his bunch. Western Union was the second Technicolor western effort from director Fritz Lang; the first was the equally popular Jesse James.

Vance Shaw gives up outlawing and goes to work for the telegraph company; his brother Jack Slade leads outlaws trying to prevent the company connecting the line between Omaha and Salt Lake City. Lots of Indian fighting and gunplay.

This product was added to our catalog on Friday 25 January, 2013.