Rock Island Trail (film)

Last updated

Rock Island Trail
Rock Island Trail poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Joseph Kane
Screenplay by James Edward Grant
Produced by Paul Malvern
Starring Forrest Tucker
Adele Mara
Lorna Gray
Bruce Cabot
Chill Wills
Barbra Fuller
Cinematography Jack A. Marta
Edited by Arthur Roberts
Music byR. Dale Butts
Production
company
Distributed byRepublic Pictures
Release dates
  • April 27, 1950 (1950-04-27)(Quad Cities) [1]
  • June 4, 1950 (1950-06-04)(New York) [2]
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Rock Island Trail is a 1950 American Trucolor Western film directed by Joseph Kane, written by James Edward Grant and starring Forrest Tucker, Adele Mara, Adrian Booth and Bruce Cabot. The film was released by Republic Pictures and premiered on April 27, 1950. [1]

Contents

Plot

As the boss of the Rock Island Trail Company, a contractor of the American government that builds railroad tracks, Reed Loomis competes with stagecoach and riverboat companies, such as the one led by Kirby Morrow, who tries to sabotage his rivals.

After a sabotage attempt in which a riverboat is deliberately driven into the pile of a railroad bridge, severely damaging the bridge, the matter is brought to trial. Lawyer Abraham Lincoln successfully represents Loomis, and the riverboat company is ordered to rebuild the bridge.

Loomis is engaged to Constance Strong, the rich and beautiful daughter of banker David Strong. Although Constance wants to marry him as soon as possible, Loomis refuses to wed before becoming rich.

In another attempt to stop Loomis and his men, Morrow convinces the chief of an Indian tribe to attack a train with Loomis and his crew on board. The attack fails and Morrow is captured and killed.

The Rock Island Trail Company finally achieves its goals and Loomis marries Constance on a train.

Cast

Production

Following a search spanning 8,000 miles of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad's land, a filming location near Haileyville, Oklahoma was selected that featured unobstructed, natural terrain without indications of modern life, such as telephone poles. Location filming began on September 9, 1949. Actual railroad equipment dating back as far as 1831 was used in the film. [3]

Release

The film's world premiere became an event celebrated across the Quad Cities region on April 26 and 27, 1950, including parades, treasure hunts, talent contests and the visit by a contingent of Hollywood stars such as John Wayne, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, in addition to the film's cast. The premiere showing was held at three theaters simultaneously in the cities of Moline and Rock Island in Illinois and Davenport, Iowa. [1]

Reception

In a contemporary review for The New York Times , critic Thomas M. Pryor called the film "a good, very old-fashioned Western" and wrote: "'Rock Island Trail' is a slambang outdoor adventure and, contradictory as it may sound, one of the funniest—quite unintentionally, of course—horse and iron horse operas that have come down the pike in a long, long while. Maybe we shouldn't have laughed so often, but the dialogue is full of priceless clichés and the acting is so flamboyant that it deserves some special attention in the next Academy awards sweepstakes." [2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Treasure Hunts, Torchlight Parades, Street Dances to Usher in 'Rock Island Trail' Fete". The Democrat and Leader . Davenport, Iowa. April 25, 1950. p. 1.
  2. 1 2 Pryor, Thomas M. (June 5, 1950). "The Screen in Review". The New York Times . p. 19.
  3. ↑ "Motion Picture Filming Due To Start on Sept. 9". McAlester News-Capital . McAlester, Oklahoma. August 17, 1940. p. 1.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.