EMPEROR OF THE NORTH (director: Robert Aldrich; screenwriter: Christopher Knopf; cinematographer: Joseph Biroc; editor: Michael Luciano; cast: Lee Marvin (A No. 1), Ernest Borgnine (Shack), Keith Carradine (Cigaret), Charles Tyner (Cracker), Simon Oakland (Policeman), Elisha Cook (Gray Cat), Jr., Sid Haig (Grease Tail), Malcolm Atterbury (Hogger), 1973)
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Robert Aldrich set this epic duel between the king of the hoboes versus the most sadistic of Railroad Men during the height of the Great Depression in 1933. The simple story taps in on the hatred the railroad people have for the tramps. It is about one bum's aim, Lee Marvin, who is known as A No. 1, king of the hoboes, to ride the previously unridden No. 19 freight train of the murderous Shack (Ernest Borgnine).
Aldrich for the most part steers clear of the political situation in the country, instead he uses these men as powerful mythic symbols, showing the oppressed versus the oppressor. Marvin is laconic, immensely proud to be a hobo, and proud enough to claim he can ride any train for free. While Borgnine is a sadist, who sports a menacing grin. He will sledgehammer anyone to death who thinks they can get a free ride on his train. Borgnine's claim to fame is, no one gets a free ride on his train unless they want to be dead. These two are on a collision course and their dispute can only be settled in a violent manner.
Into the picture comes a young hobo called Cigaret (Keith Carradine), who has an unmitigating gall for taking risks but has trouble telling the truth. He has no class in the beginning of the film and no class by the film's end, as he forces himself on Marvin, riding along with him on No. 19. Marvin reluctantly tries to make him a hobo, but the kid is a wise guy, always making a backstabbing remark as a rejoinder to anything Marvin says.
Marvin announces his challenge to Borgnine on the water tower: A-No. 1 to Portland on train No. 19. This comes after Marvin rode in with Borgnine to New Orleans for a short hop, but was discovered in the empty cattle car, when Carradine also jumped in. When Borgnine locks them in the car, it spells certain doom for them, but Marvin sets the car on fire and jumps out in time.
Not able to shake Carradine, he acts as a reluctant teacher to him, trying as best he could to warm up to the obnoxious kid. When they are spotted by Cracker (Tyner), another enforcer on the train, they are forced to jump off. But determined to continue, Marvin greases the tracks to slow down another passenger train and thereby meet No. 19 in Salem, Oregon.
Trying to teach the kid the ropes, he takes him to a Baptist baptism in the river and has the kid steal their clothes while they are going through with the dunking ritual. If the kid could just shut up and be grateful that he is learning how to be a hobo from the king, Marvin could have warmed up to him a little.
But Marvin's main beef is with Borgnine. This all leads to the duel between the steel chain swinging Borgnine and the board wielding Marvin, as Carradine chickens out and becomes only a cheerleader for Marvin. The fight atop the moving train is filled with blood and gore.
Marvin is terrific as the spry and wizened hobo. He becomes the only one to ride No.19 for free. Borgine is a caricature of someone spewing hatred. Carradine is the one who breaks the illusion that all the hoboes are good and all the railroad men bad. Aldrich's film is muscular, depicting the natural beauty of the Oregon countryside, while the aimless life of the hoboes is humorously set in motion. It's just too bad that the director couldn't connect all the dots with the corrupt political situation that caused this great suffering and left so many with hardened hearts.
REVIEWED ON 6/14/2000 GRADE: B-
Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews"
http://www.sover.net/~ozus
ozus@sover.net
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DENNIS SCHWARTZ
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews