Union Pacific (1939)
(Cecil B. DeMille, US 1939, 135 min., 35mm)
The only film to win the Palme d’Or in the 1930s (then called the “Grand Prix du Festival International du Film”) is this Cecil B. DeMille epic of railroads battling for supremacy in the 1860s. Banker Asa Burrows (Henry Kolker) stands to make a fortune if the Central Pacific Railroad reaches Ogden, Utah, before the rival Union Pacific. In order to turn the tide, he hires Sid Campeau and Dick Allen (Brian Donlevy and Robert Preston) to sabotage both the Union Pacific’s track and its men. The Union Pacific hires troubleshooter Jeff Butler (Joel McCrea) to handle the threats, who also happens to be an old army buddy of Dick. The two find themselves on opposite sides of the train wars and competing for the hand of mail mistress Mollie Monahan (Barbara Stanwyck), leading to an explosive conclusion in true DeMille fashion.