Emperor of the North Pole (1973)
At the height of the Great Depression, psychotic freight train conductor Shack (Ernest Borgnine) refuses to let any hobos ride his train. He is more than happy to club them with his hammer and watch them get mangled as they fall between the carriages. Older 'bo, A-Number 1 (Lee Marvin) for no reason than the challenge declares he will ride the train and lets everybody know. An inevitable climax is ensured.
An exciting and unusual film, aided immeasurably by the performances of its protagonists, many stunts done aboard the moving trains, the period design and director Robert Aldrich's handling of this fable of masculine power-plays over nothing. However, the inclusion of Keith Carradine as a whiny young bum who tries to ride on Marvin's coattails sucks life from the narrative each time the camera turns to him and surely by 1973 someone other than Frank Devol could have been requested to write the score. Otherwise, well, well worth watching. 7/10
At the height of the Great Depression, psychotic freight train conductor Shack (Ernest Borgnine) refuses to let any hobos ride his train. He is more than happy to club them with his hammer and watch them get mangled as they fall between the carriages. Older 'bo, A-Number 1 (Lee Marvin) for no reason than the challenge declares he will ride the train and lets everybody know. An inevitable climax is ensured.
An exciting and unusual film, aided immeasurably by the performances of its protagonists, many stunts done aboard the moving trains, the period design and director Robert Aldrich's handling of this fable of masculine power-plays over nothing. However, the inclusion of Keith Carradine as a whiny young bum who tries to ride on Marvin's coattails sucks life from the narrative each time the camera turns to him and surely by 1973 someone other than Frank Devol could have been requested to write the score. Otherwise, well, well worth watching. 7/10