MikeMagi
The setting is terrific -- director Rudolf Mate does a splendid job, exploring every nook and cranny of a metropolitan railroad station. There's even a lengthy sequence below the gleaming terminal where old tracks, vintage cars (and maybe a few buried bodies) reside.But the story itself lacks subtlety. The good guys, led by William Holden as the station's security chief and Barry Fitzgerald as his older crony, are dedicated and heroic.. The bad guys, led by Lyle Bettger as a psycho kidnapper, are evil incarnate. The plot, centering on a kidnapped heiress -- who happens to be blind -- unfolds in by-the-numbers style. Enjoy the tour of Union Station. But don't look for any unexpected twists as the tale unfolds.
gemproof99
Thought actor Lyle Bettger's performance ranks among the coldest of noir/crime films of the era. Was not even aware of this talented actor. After viewing Union Station intend to watch a few more films with Bettger. The scene in which Bettger orders the train clerk to open his lunch box so he can eat the clerk's sandwich characterizes the sheer audacity of the villain. Wonder if Cagney and Widmark thought the villain Joe could stand toe to toe with some of their criminal screen incarnations. Union Station was a pleasure to watch; interesting dialog, film editing, camera work, and of course the realistic scenery of a metropolitan train station.
Scott_Mercer
No, I am not referring to the quality of the film. Merely the fact that the film is set in a fictional, non-place. Apparently the novel that served as the source material was set in New York City.The train carrying Nancy Olson's character was coming from "Westhampton," leading one to suspect New York. However, there is no "Union Station" in New York, and never was. The actual station we see is not a set, but is in fact Union Station in Los Angeles, opened only 10 years prior to this film being shot (although the railroad police station office above the main entrance behind the screen is fictional...that space is actually outside the building floating in mid- air). The station still looks remarkably the same today, if you would like to visit and relive this film. Apparently there are some elevated trains adjacent to this station in the film though, which rules out Los Angeles as the setting. Los Angeles never had any elevated trains (well until 2003, anyway). One of the crooks tries to get away on an elevated train, leading to a shootout in a cattle stockyard. Leads me to believe this sequence must have been shot in Chicago. The name of the city is never mentioned in the movie, I believe. The station opens directly on a crowded city street of brownstone buildings, played by a studio back lot. Also fictional, as Los Angeles Union Station was/is surrounded by parking lots and a large post office, not brownstones. There's also an intersection of "21st and Mulberry." New York has both a 21st Street and a Mulberry Street, but they do not intersect. I believe that the underground freight train depicted in the film (like glorified ore carts in a mine) did not exist either, and was a set built on a sound stage, but a similar system did exist...in Chicago.Anyway, all these pedantic matters aside, this is a really enjoyable film. It is a quite straightforward police procedural, and nobody is attempting to reinvent the wheel here. You might say that Holden's talents are wasted in what is ultimately a rather slight and simple (but satisfying) story, but Holden certainly does not embarrass himself, does not "talk down" to the audience or the material, and it does not feel like he is "slumming" here. Nancy Olson is satisfactory, nothing more. Barry Fitzgerald does his usual shtick, but is a comforting presence. We do get the typical noir look of the times, BUT, this is not a film noir as such, as the moral tone is straight black and white. No shades of gray here. The good guys are really good, and the bad guys are really bad. Yes, the good guys are unafraid to use violence to extract a confession, but they do so with no doubts, assured in the rightness of their goals, even if their methods are identical to the thugs they are pursuing. Sure, we in the audience may not be convinced that roughing up a goon and threatening to kill his ass by throwing him in front of a train barreling down the tracks is such a great move, but the cops in the film have no such questions.Railroad fans will really enjoy its glimpse of a great American railroad terminal in its prime. Film noir and crime drama fans will most likely like how the plot unfolds, even if there is no question how things will end: the bad guys lose and the good guys win, nobody getting killed but the bad guys, and the good guys suffering only minor, easily-recoverable injuries.
NewEnglandPat
This neat thriller is a cops-and-robbers film that was typical of the genre many years ago. The plot deals with kidnapping and ransom issues and the scenes reflect the film noir style that was popular in Hollywood. A commuter's concern about possible criminal activity kicks off this mystery that unfolds in a train terminal as the police and gangsters engage in a high stakes game of nerve and wits. The cast is very good and William Holden and Nancy Olson make a nice pair, and in spite of their testy exchanges, seem headed to a romantic conclusion. Lyle Bettger, a fine villain, does a great job here, and a thrilling chase sequence on an elevated train ending in a stockyard might be the movie's high point. Barry Fitzgerald is good at underplaying scenes with droll humor and homespun words of wisdom and Jan Sterling has a brief role as a femme-fatale.
