Mississipi-Express

Rock Island Trail is centered on the building of a railroad bridge over the Mississippi River.

Forrest Tucker (as Reed Loomis) is the head honcho of the outfit in charge of building the first railroad bridge across the Mississippi River between Rock Island, Illinois and Davenport, Iowa in 1856. He must battle rival paddle wheel steamer and stagecoach lines to break their monopoly on transport.

An expansion storyline told with gusto, humour and the usual fictitious fun stuff interspersed throughout, which is conflicts in the form of shootouts, fistfights, ship ramming into the bridge setting it on fire, an Indian attack at the end and a mop fight (no joke!). It's lighthearted entertaining fare with Forest Tucker playing a hero for a change, and he does really well. Pity he didn't make more as a lead. I also liked the snappy dialogue and the song.

I saw this movie, Rock Island Trail, on cable about a year ago as I was looking for something to watch. As I got involved in the plot, I realized it was partly based on the life of my Grandfather's Grandfather, Henry Farnam of New Haven, Connecticut. Mr. Farnam was a railroad builder and president of the Rock Island Line in the 1850s. He built the first bridge across the Mississippi at Rock Island and the bridge in the movie looked just like it. The steamship industry did run a boat into the bridge and burned it down. They then sued and Mr. Farnam hired Abraham Lincoln to defend the railroad. The railroad won the right to build the bridge as it was not a hazard to navigation. All this was in the movie. The western, shoot-'em-up and romantic parts were fictional. I would like to see this movie again and see how much was fact and how much fiction. Mr. Farnam's papers are at the library at Yale University. He was a big donor to Yale and the city of New Haven.

Forrest Tucker had numerous leading-man opportunities following his breakthrough role in SANDS OF IWO JIMA. This was his first and arguably best. As Reed Loomis, he is persuasive as he attempts to raise money for his railroad expansion but is a worthy man of action as well, great with a gun, his fists and, as he demonstrates in a memorable scene with Bruce Cabot, even a mop dipped in boiling soup (you have to see it). Adele Mara makes an appealing leading lady as always, Bruce Cabot is a sturdy villain, and there's great support from erstwhile Republic leading lady Adrian Booth and perennial sidekick Chill Wills.

As action-packed as just about any Republic western, with one of the studio's strongest overall casts. Fast-paced and well handled by Joseph Kane. Turns up frequently these days on Encore's Western Channel. Recommended.

Rock Island Trail takes audiences through the journey of the advent of the railroad through the Illinois territory. In the decades before the Civil War, when cowboys and Indians still battled, and stagecoach passengers were still scared of "new train cars", Forrest Tucker is a railroad man with a vision. There's a pretty exciting scene towards the beginning where a stagecoach and a train race; it's obvious to us who will win, but back in the day, people actually took bets on it!

Costumer Adele Palmer clad her leading actress Adele Mara in countless gorgeous gowns. In every scene but one, she dons a new outfit with ornate material, great detail, and jaw-dropping style. This movie is worth watching just for the fashion eye candy! There was also a strong blue theme present in the Technicolor landscape, an interesting choice. I'm not sure if Palmer, director Joseph Kane, or art director Frank Arrigo were responsible, but it certainly made an impression. Amidst the brown dirt and golden rolling hill landscape, the cornflower blue really showed the influence of progress and civilization.

The romance started off being cute, but it grew almost upsetting. Forrest and Adele had a spunky banter together, and it only took one scene for him to steal her away from her fiancé Bruce Cabot and make a lifelong enemy of him. But once they fell in love, Forrest flatly refused to marry her. He insisted that because she had money and he didn't, she could boss him around in the marriage; he wanted it the other way around. So, he planned on keeping her hanging until he made his fortune. She would always smile sweetly at him and say, "I'll wait," but in that day and age (or any for that matter), it was insulting to take her for granted and steal away years of her youth with an empty promise. She kept waiting and waiting and waiting! Someone else with more respect for her and less pride in his pocketbook could have swept her off her feet and made an honest woman out of her.

In another scene, Forrest gets so angry that his workforce imbibes on a barrel of whiskey after a long day's work, he pours alcohol on a man's back and lights it on fire. Is he really supposed to be a good guy? Granted, Bruce was no Prince Charming either, but this definitely wasn't a Randolph Scott type of western. If you don't mind having the hero being a bit of an antihero, you can check it out. For me, the costumes were far and away the highlight. A close second was an adorable cameo by character actor Jeff Corey, playing a tall, lanky small-town Illinois lawyer with a top hat. . .

I found it interesting that this movie is based on some historical fact. I thought it an interesting tale of railroad expansion in the United States and could well imagine that the steamship industry would fight that expansion, just as the car and trucking industries brought about it's minor status today.

Forrest Tucker was excellent in the lead, as was Adele Mara, who played his love interest. Lorna Gray was very good as the Indian princess and the introduction of women smoking was an interesting addition. I always enjoy Chill Wills and Jeff Coorey as young Abe Lincoln, small time lawyer, was also quaint, and supposedly true.

Godd movie if you are looking for a western.