drystyx
I had hoped to like this grandiose railroad Western as much as the other epic railroad Westerns: Canadian Pacific and Western Union are great, and UNION PACIFIC is simply the best Western ever made, the definitive Western.
This one has some assets. The hero, played by Sterling Hayden, maybe the homeliest lead actor in film History, is likable, as are the other good guys.
The most interesting of the good guys is killed off in a bit of a contrived way, however, and the contrivance seems to be very Republican in that only low level people are killed, giving the impression of demi god qualities among the elite, an impression needed by the elite to keep the minions in line. Always suspicious.
The romance angle works well enough. In fact, it's good to see two people who are more "next door" types being in the lead.
weezeralfalfa
In retrospect, we might think of this as the last and least of a trilogy of films featuring the building of a railroad, with the word Pacific in the name: "Union Pacific"(1939), "Canadian Pacific"(1949), and "Kansas Pacific"(1953). I'm a sucker for these types of films. Of these, "Union Pacific" is, by far, the best remembered, having the most resources and a run time nearly twice that of the present film. Nonetheless, I enjoyed them all, even with their faults. In place of Joel McCrea or Randolph Scott, we have the less remembered, though quite convincing, Sterling Hayden as the chief troubleshooter, who brings all of his 6'5" frame to bear in dealing with the bad guys. Of course, there's romance implied between the troubleshooter and a girl he comes into contact with periodically. In the present case, Eve Miller, as Barbara, takes an initial dislike to Hayden because she sees him as a rival to her father, who is the foreman of the work gang. But, eventually, she understands that he is not out to replace her father, just to supplement him in getting the job done. Of course, there must be people trying to delay or stop rail construction or the trains that run on them. In "Union Pacific" and "Canadian Pacific", both Native Americans and whites are involved in these depredations. In the present film, no Native Americans are involved, probably because of lack of running time. Instead, we have a gang of southern sympathizers under the leadership of Will Quantrill(Reed Hadley). Not clear if they are receiving support from the Confederate Government, as such, at this time. Quantrill is a historically relevant name, relating to depredations in Kansas and other border states before and during the Civil War. His name pops up every now and then in Civil War or post-Civil War westerns. In fact, James Griffin, who plays the rail worker Joe, played Quantrill in another film. This gang uses tactics such as tearing up rails, rolling boulders onto the track, ambushes, staging fights among the workers, and blowing up locomotives by dynamite or artillery. Not only do these tactics require remedial action, they scare workers away. Incidentally, dynamite hadn't yet been invented when this story takes place(1861). Nitroglycerin, the active ingredient in dynamite, or black powder, was used in blasting, at that time. Actually, little explosives should have been needed, since the landscape of Kansas is mostly flat or gently rolling, generally requiring little leveling of the rail bed. Historically, what eventually became the Kansas Pacific line didn't begin building track until 1863, finished in 1866. This is in contrast to this story, when this occurs in 1861. In web sources, I didn't find any mention of problems with saboteurs. A few years later, this line was connected to the Union Pacific.I'm surprised so little attention was paid to Quantrill, as the mastermind of the sabotage operations. He is not included in the finale, when all of his henchmen are killed or taken as prisoners. In these types of films, usually the chief villain dies, if not in a fight with the hero, by some other means, or sometimes is merely imprisoned. Hayden had quite an adventurous life, the sea being his real love, sailing around the world a few times. He hated acting, actually, thinking of actors as pawns. Mostly, it provided him with enough money to buy more sailboats. He married the same woman 3 times!....Eve Miller had a minor acting career. She seems to have had problems with her romantic life, attempting suicide several times, succeeding at last. See all three of these films at YouTube, only Union Pacific being in B&W.
Lou Rugani
I saw "Kansas Pacific" in theatrical release, as the second half of a double bill with "War of the Worlds". What a day at the movies that was! Since then, I've sought this film out and have seen it repeatedly. There could be more rail action for my taste, but what there is, plus the solid performances of the fine cast, makes for a very good Western indeed. And Albert Sendrey's terrific gonna-build-a-railroad soundtrack music is epic. I've always wished Hollywood had given him more to do. You'll be humming that theme, and carrying fond memories of steaming down the high iron aboard the "Kansas Pacific". Highly recommended to all.
