User reviews

Union Station (1950)

I saw "Sunset Blvd" right after seeing this one, and it really is pretty cool that the two leads here were in such different films. And with such ease. William Holden is the key actor in both cases--in the sense of screen time, of course, but also screen presence. But Nancy Olson as a kind of sweet stereotype is right on. Good stuff to build a movie around.

Or the other way around. Certainly in both cases there is a core concept that the actors fit into. "Union Station" has, by way of its title right off the bat, a clean focus. Holden plays William Calhoun, head of security for a fairly large train station in an unnamed town. The crime almost doesn't matter--it's a kidnapping with ransom--because we never quite feel for the victims (hostage and hostage's family) so much as feel the investigation happen. And key there is an odd and believable clash (romantic clash) between Calhoun, who has to do his job, and Olson's character, who is a typical person who wants to do good but doesn't understand the cool machinations of police work.

The first half of the movie is more interesting for its turns of plot. It leads us through the various stages of the discovering the crime and the nature of its extent without pushing. It's quite a nice insider look at the logic of it. Then the second half turns to more action--chasing and drama pure and simple, with some of the best low light shooting you can ask for.

This is the era when studios are moving away from shooting on lots to finding locations to work in, and some of the scenes are fabulous. The stock yard chase toward the beginning is fabulous, and all the ventilation tunnel scenes at the end equally so. The station itself, which takes up the bulk of the movie, is interesting and nicely contained. This is a movie you can simply "watch" for its visual flow, and the sites. In fact, I did this twice, almost by accident, because I was tired in the first round and wanted to see what I missed. In terms of plot, nothing much shows up the second time around, but the editing and photography are really so fine you can watch it all twice no problem.

Back to "Sunset Blvd." then--there is on some level no comparison between the two, as movies, even if there are lots of overlaps in time and cast. It's not just that Billy Wilder is a far more inventive and interesting director than Rudolph Mate, but the intentions were far bigger. "Union Station" is a formula picture. It's not even a film noir, but an action drama with low key light and vigorous photography. It's worth noticing that Mate is a photographer, and was director of photography for some seriously wonderful movies. And he has a handful of great films to his resume, too. So he attacked what must have been an obvious boilerplate movie and made it really really good. Check it out.

"Union Station" is a realistic 1950 film starring William Holden, Nancy Olson, Jan Sterling and Barry Fitzgerald. It was released after "Sunset Boulevard" so by the time it came out, Holden had actually moved up another level of stardom. Rudolph Mate directed the film in a quasi-documentary way, showing all levels of an attempt to rescue a kidnapped blind girl (Allene Roberts), the daughter of Olson's wealthy boss. Holden plays the detective in charge of Union Station, and he doesn't like the idea of anybody messing with his turf.

There are some very exciting scenes, particularly the one on the train, which as someone mentioned, very likely inspired "The French Connection." Holden gives a strong, macho performance, which makes the scene where he visits Olson in her home extra delightful, as he becomes embarrassed when her mother fusses over him. It's amazing that after Golden Boy, he toiled in so many films beneath his ability. Jan Sterling is the gangster's girlfriend with a heart - it's a small but showy and sympathetic role. Lyle Bettger is the villain, and he's slime all the way through. The only problem with the film is the kidnap victim herself, Lorna, who screams non-stop. I'm surprised her father wanted her back, but you know how it is with parents.

Really holds your interest. What a hunk Holden is. Highly recommended.

UNION STATION is a briskly paced thriller laced with enough suspense to keep the viewer intrigued until the final shootout in a tunnel below the station where badman (LYLE BETTGER) must be tracked down by hard-boiled detective (WILLIAM HOLDEN) so that a blind girl (ALLENE ROBERTS) can be returned safely to her father. Bettger has arranged a ransom for the girl to the tune of $100,000 and is determined to keep a grip on the suitcase containing the ransom money.

NANCY OLSON is the woman on the train who first notices that one of the men has come aboard with a gun and she immediately becomes suspicious enough to report this to the authorities. Lead detective Holden takes charge and he and Olson gradually develop a relationship of trust that leads to the finale where she's tending to his wounded shoulder, while LAPD man (BARRY FITZGERALD) looks on approvingly, sensing love in bloom.

It's directed in almost documentary style with a "Naked City" sort of realism. Holden and the police handle their suspects with realistically rough tactics which further heightens the tense realism of the story. JAN STERLING has a small role as a gun moll (what else?), who lets the police know that Bettger intends to kill the girl once he gets the ransom.

LYLE BETTGER is superb as the snarling villain, easily stealing many of the scenes with his brutally menacing tough guy role. No wonder he played this sort of man in so many films afterwards.

Well worth watching, nice work by Holden and Olson, with faint criticism for Barry Fitzgerald for mumbling much of his heavily accented dialog with that Irish brogue. The only other criticism is that the director allows ALLENE ROBERTS to scream too much, which becomes tiresome and makes Bettger come up with the crack, after slapping her: "For this, he's willing to put up $100,000."

I remember this film shown once on TV. Yes, the story plotline is good and the characters are entertaining, but the REAL star of the movie is the incredible historical Union Station itself. The movie moves throughout portions of the building never before seen by the general public and reveals the enormous scope of Union Station. As a little girl I and family traveled often by train. I remember the beauty of the place, the hustle and bustle of a station which was the base for the only comfortable way to travel by land at that time.Union Station itself compares in size and beauty to any other in the country.This movie was shot during the last hey-days of the railroad passenger trains and I earnestly wish it could be brought back to video.

Union Station is the locale of a kidnapping and in its labyrinth of tunnels that bare no accidental resemblance to the catacombs of Rome, the victim, Allene Roberts, is snatched and held captive by Lyle Bettger.

Allene is the blind daughter of wealthy industrialist Herbert Hayes and since the crime happened on railroad property William Holden as the chief railroad detective has the case. Of course the LAPD is brought in in the person of Barry Fitzgerald.

Holden is alerted to the kidnap by Nancy Olson who is traveling with Roberts. She's Hayes's secretary, but Bettger eludes them. It's a race against time to apprehend him before a payoff is made.

This was Lyle Bettger's third film and the one where he first got notice. During his career, Mr. Bettger played some of the loveliest psychotics ever put on film. This one is one of his best and in his little hideaway where he keeps the terrified Ms. Roberts, Bettger bares no small resemblance to the Phantom of the Opera. Bettger really steals the film from the good guy stars.

Union Station is one tightly constructed film with not a second of wasted footage in it. I wish it were out on VHS or DVD. Don't miss it if TCM ever broadcasts it.

This film is really very good and full of suspense. A woman on a train notices strange behaviour from two men who have just boarded her train and the fact that one has a gun under his coat makes her decide to report to the train conductor. There follows a cliff-hanger of a movie involving a young, blind girl who has been kidnapped and will surely be killed by the psychotic kidnapper (Lyle Bettger) if she is not gotten to on time. There is only one jarring note - I don't think I am alone in wanting to strangle the blind girl every time she appears in the film. The director decided that she should shriek, scream and do a nails-scrapping-down-the-blackboard routine at every possible moment. This film merits more than the 7 I gave it for those who can overlook this irritating performance. Worth watching - you may want to keep the remote handy so that you can easily access the mute button.

Obviously modeled on Jules Dassin's superior THE NAKED CITY (1948) – co-starring Barry Fitzgerald, meticulous police procedural, filmed on actual locations – this film can certainly stand on its own two feet, being a tight and neatly-handled little thriller with plenty of action and suspense. Especially effective is a game of cat-and-mouse on a train between criminal and cop, which must have influenced THE FRENCH CONNECTION (1971)!

While it doesn't quite have the scope of the earlier classic, the film nonetheless makes the most of its situations (revolving around a race-against-the-clock to save a kidnapped blind girl) and settings (the majority of the action taking place, naturally, inside the titular location – with the tunnels underneath the station itself providing the backdrop for the climax, and which may well have been inspired by ending of THE THIRD MAN [1949]).

Fitzgerald is once again excellent though, here, he rather plays second-fiddle to the nominal stars – this being a Paramount film, it couldn't but be contract players (William Holden and Nancy Olson in the second of their four teamings). Lyle Bettger is appropriately menacing as the sly chief kidnapper, while Jan Sterling appears as his soft-hearted girlfriend (who suffers the consequences for demonstrating compassion towards her charge).

I noticed that one of the other reviewers mentioned how he hated the kidnap victim, as she was very annoying. Yes, the kidnapped girl is annoying...very annoying. She screams and screams so much, I was hoping eventually that the bad guys shot her to shut her up!! Despite this, it's still a pretty good crime film.

The film begins with a lady on a train (Nancy Olson) noticing a couple guys acting strangely. She alerts the conductor--who seems to think she's crazy. But she insists he contact the police who investigate. Eventually, they discover the lady is right--something IS amiss. It seems they are part of a gang that have kidnapped a rich man's blind daughter. And, it turns out their boss is very blood-thirsty and has no intention of letting the girl go free once he obtains the ransom. Can the good cop (William Holden) catch these big jerks before it's too late? The toughness of the plot and the villain make this a film worth seeing. I noticed another review that complained about the casting of Barry Fitzgerald as the cop heading the investigation. I thought her was fine and played a nearly identical role in "The Naked City"--so similar a person might mistakenly think "Union Station" is a sequel. It's not, but both are very good, taut crime dramas that are worth your time.

I suppose that every movie lover and every film critic has one film that they love which makes everyone else shrug in bewilderment. I remember Barry Norman once publishing a book about his 100 favourite movies, and no-one could fathom why a well-made but totally disposable entry like "Gregory's Girl" was on his list. Similarly, many years ago BBC2 ran a short film series in which famous actors and directors revealed and spoke about their favourite film. Everyone was taken aback when Martin Scorcese came up with "Duel In The Sun" as his choice! Well, for me, the oddity among my list of all-time favourites would have to be Union Station. Since the first time I caught this fantastic crime thriller on Channel 4 one rainy afternoon, I've considered it one of the finest films of its type that I've ever come across. Not only did the story engross me, but the film inspired me to become a lifelong fan of William Holden, and also made me develop a serious crush on the lovely Nancy Olson.

Railway police man William Calhoun (William Holden) is having a fairly routine day at work when he is approached by an apprehensive passenger named Joyce Willecombe (Nancy Olson), who believes that two travellers aboard her train may have been up to no good. It transpires that Joyce is the secretary to a rich man called Henry Murchison (Herbert Hayes), whose blind daughter, Lorna, has been kidnapped and held for ransom. The railway station where Calhoun works has been chosen as the location for the pay-off of the ransom. Calhoun and fellow cop Inspector Donnelly (the atypically-cast Barry Fitzgerald) race against time to find the kidnappers and bring them to heel.

Pacy, exciting, surprisingly violent and very well-acted, Union Station is 80 minutes of terrific entertainment. Sydney Boehm's script is filled with incident, and Rudolph Mate directs the proceedings with a sense of urgency and a real talent for building the suspense. Holden - fresh from his masterpiece Sunset Boulevard - is in fine form and Olson (also from Sunset Boulevard) is an ideal leading lady, who not only gets the hero involved in the action but also pressurises him into not just nailing the bad guys but rescuing the abducted blind girl too. Impressive performances are also to be found from Barry Fitzgerald as Holden's colleague, and (especially) Lyle Bettger as the kidnap mastermind, a snarling and exceptionally nasty villain for a film of this era. The climax, involving a frenzied shootout and a chase through underground tunnels, is truly heart-stopping. Union Station is a first-rate thriller.... if ever a film needed rediscovering, then this surely is it!

I saw this movie on local TV maybe 25 years ago and thought it superb. But Paramount movies, with a few exceptions, aren't shown much anymore. So I was excited to find it resurfacing.

Watching it was a little less exciting. It's not really a film noir. It's a thriller. William Holden is good, very good, but the supporting cast leaves something to be desired.

I've seen Nancy Olson only in this and, also with Holden, in "Sunset Boulevard." She has a quality that can bring June Cleaver into the darkest, most cynical movies.

The actress playing the kidnapped blind girl overdoes it. That may well not have been her fault. It may have been the script and the direction of the usually superb Rudoph Mate'. However, she is played as foolish as well as blind. I wish to state with authority that the two do not go hand-in-hand -- though maybe they were perceived more as doing so in 1950.

The film is suspenseful. Sort of. But I have to say I anticipated its every step -- and not because I'd seen it decades ago: All I remembered before today was that a young blind woman is kidnapped and that it takes place in a train station. There, I was correct.

Oh! And that strange Murchison name appears again. I'd thought this was an MGM in-joke, but here we find it at Paramount too.

This was a bit of a sleeper, better than I thought and not a well-known film to begin with, since it never came out on VHS. William Holden and Nancy Olson both worked on Sunset Boulevard this same year this was released and here are together again. Actually, I like the two a lot better in this film than the much better- known 'Boulevard.'

Yes, some of the scenes are a bit dumb but the story moves well and keeps your interest which is what a good crime story-drama should do. For some reason, I really enjoyed the train station, too. It looked awesome.

Hopefully, some day this movie will be part of a film-noir package on DVD.

Holden and Olson went from the set of the magnificent classic "Sunset Blvd." to this routine drama about the kidnapping of a young blind woman. Although the film seems to have the elements for a tense thriller, including a chase in an underground railroad tunnel and a nice film noir look, the plot is somewhat muddled and the narrative is not well sustained. Holden and Olson are fine, working well together in the second of four films they would co-star in between 1950 and 1951, and Bettger makes a good villain. However, Fitzgerald, with his Irish brogue, is rather annoying, as is Roberts as the perpetually shrieking victim.

Director Rudolph Maté's "Union Station", from Thomas Walsh's novel, again pairs William Holden with Nancy Olson following their triumph with "Sunset Blvd." While both stars are solid here, the step-down to genre shtick (particularly for Holden) is disheartening. After seeing what Holden was truly capable of, he's reduced here to the old cops-and-kidnappers formula, with barely a personality beneath his badge. Olson plays a worrisome secretary who spots some desperate-looking men on her train; after reporting them to the authorities, it's discovered--in an outrageous coincidence--the men have just kidnapped the blind daughter of Olson's wealthy employer. Aside from some uncommon brutalities, and a sadistically funny game of good cop-bad cop between detective Holden, chief inspector Barry Fitzgerald and one of the crooks, this paste-up case is pretty cut and dry. The train station surroundings are fun, but the victim (a real screamer) is a sad sack, as are the dopey villains. Olson has little to do but wring her hands, but she certainly comes out better than Jan Sterling, playing sweetheart to the bad guys. Sterling, after being forced to roll about in the gutter, later gets one of those Hollywood hospital scenes which doesn't even show her off to any great advantage. The picture is smoothly steady, but rather a no-brainer. ** from ****

Back when America took the train for out-of-town travel, depots were full of hustling, bustling travelers, rather like today's airports. Judging from the opening scenes, you might think half the folks in those stations were petty criminals and the other half were there to catch them. Actually, the movie's a pretty good thriller. The railroad cops are led by Holden who's after a kidnapping gang who've grabbed a blind girl (Allene Roberts), while Barry Fitzgerald heads the local cop contingent.

There are some good imaginative touches, such as the stockyard scene, and the final chase through an underground tunnel. These, along with some good location photography and a documentary style approach, help build a general air of suspense. However, the documentary style is also interrupted by rather obvious studio sets, a none-too-convincing romance between Olson and Holden, and the un-cop like musings of Fitzgerald as comedy relief. Thus we're also reminded at critical points that this is, after all, only a movie.

The film has gone down in history books for one particularly memorable scene. In the train station, the cops have caught a gang confederate and need to make him tell the where-abouts of the kidnapped girl. At first, the suspect feigns innocence. Now, in standard films of the day, sentencing pressure would have been brought to bear-- how the guy risks execution should harm befall the girl, along with maybe some mild pushing around.

Not here. Instead, the guy is hauled into a back room and rather brutally beaten-- already a big departure from the norm. When he still refuses to talk, he's dragged out onto the tracks, where Holden and company dangle him before an on-rushing locomotive. Wild now with fright, the suspect spills his guts. To my knowledge, this is either one of the only films of the time, if not the only one, to show cops not only beating a suspect, but torturing him as well. It comes as a startling departure from what audiences had come to expect from the forces of law and order. How it got past the censors is beyond me.

Of course, we already know the guy is a gang member, so we may want to excuse the extreme police methods. But keep in mind that movies are inherently a medium of manipulation. A good film-maker can make an audience root for almost anything or anybody if he loads the deck correctly. Suppose in this case the movie hadn't tipped us off early about the guy's guilt, and suppose the guy turned out to be innocent instead. Would we feel the same way about the police methods. I doubt it, but however you respond, this remains an entertaining 90 minutes with a particularly fine performance from Roberts as the trapped blind girl.

1950's "Union Station" offers a fascinating look at LA's famed title structure in its busy heyday, built in 1939. Time and travel have moved on over the years, but here the exact locale is deliberately unspecified, rather appearing to be New York or (especially) Chicago. In the wake of their previous teaming in "Sunset Blvd." William Holden and Nancy Olson play the investigator and the secretary who puts him on the trail of vicious kidnapper Lyle Bettger, holding a helpless blind girl (Allene Roberts) in exchange for $100,000 from her wealthy father (Herbert Heyes). Best of all is lovable Barry Fitzgerald as the veteran Inspector Donnelly, teaming nicely with Holden while showing an intentional disregard for suspects refusing to confess. In only his second film, Lyle Bettger shows why he became such a popular movie villain for two decades, in a truly terrifying characterization, while longtime veteran Robert Cornthwaite makes his screen debut in the emergency room, one line of dialogue with his back to the camera (soon to star in "The Thing from Another World"). In regards to its lone appearance on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater, paired with second feature "She Demons" (Jan 10 1970), that was the one season which saw adult oriented dramas and comedies as the first part of the weekly double bill, running 32 consecutive weeks before returning to the usual horror/sci fi format. It must be said that "Union Station" at least supplied its share of suspense for viewers that night, which no one can say for its notorious Richard Cunha co-feature!

Even tho most of the shooting locations are listed as in California, the film is clearly a story based in Chicago!

The Foley footage used in the train chase sequence, and the stations the conductor calls out, are part of the old Stockyards Branch of the Chicago Transit Authority system (LONG ago defunct and demolished).

According to the book by Bruce Moffat, FORTY FEET BELOW, this film is the only movie presentation of the old Chicago Tunnel and Transport Company tunnel system under Chicago... which, about a decade ago, flooded when a piling was accidentally driven thru the roof of a tunnel under the Chicago River.

The tunnel system was used to move freight and packages around The Loop, and haul away the ashes from the coal fired furnaces that heated the stores along State Street.

For railroad buffs, that unique footage shot in the tunnel system is MORE than enough incentive to see the film.

Unjustly over-looked B-movie kidnap caper marred by geographical heresy. Although landmark title locale is unmistakably famous downtown Los Angeles train station of same name, other scenes supposedly occurring in same vicinity involve elevated railways and nearby stockyards with no connection to actual LA landscape. Sort of like titling a movie Empire State Building, then having sequences take place in surrounding deserts, ski resorts and palm-studded sandy beaches. Had Paramount simply called it something like Train Station Confidential, this wouldn't have been an issue.

Great location photography, though, and a terrific (if somewhat tritely used) cast including William Holden, Nancy Olsen, Barry Fitzpatrick, Lyle Bettger, Jan Sterling and solid roster of supporting players of the era. (With notable exception of justly-obscure one-note actress who portrays kidnap victim at the top of her lungs.)

Well worth a look for film noir fans, LA history buffs and architecture aficiandos.

Tight drama in which surly transport cop Bill Holden attempts to foil the plans of sleazy kidnapper Lyle Bettger. The plot hinges on at least one unlikely coincidence, but is a solid watch nevertheless.

This film reminded me of others from the late '40's up to 1950, of "D.O.A.", in some ways, with its tense realism. The cold, merciless criminal mastermind played by Lyle Bettger was a (considerably) more balanced version of the sinister characters portrayed by James Cagney in "White Heat" or Richard Widmark in "Kiss of Death".

This is an early police procedural, with the railway cops working closely with the New York City police. According to Leslie Halliwell, "Naked City" -- which I've somehow managed never to see -- is the prototype for all the films of this type. The style eventually became overfamiliar, and very diluted, on television with shows like "Dragnet". "Naked City" cast Barry Fitzgerald unexpectedly as the lead detective, and he repeats that role here.

The two principal stars of "Union Station" are William Holden and Nancy Olson, who also co-starred in "Sunset Boulevard" this same year, 1950. Nancy plays Bill's conscience, constantly concerned that the interests of the kidnap victim don't get overlooked in the hunt for the criminals.

Holden is quite good -- he really started to come into his own at this time -- indicating more depth than was strictly required for the stalwart hero in a crime story. Bettger shows calculated menace. The two make worthy opponents.

Observant train passenger Joyce Willecombe (Nancy Olson) spots two suspicious men getting on board. She tells the ticket collector who reluctantly passes the information on to train police Lt. William Calhoun (William Holden). It turns out to be a kidnapping case with connection to Joyce.

It's noir with a fair bit of cynicism. I like the premise and the start. I don't like the way the case is connected to Joyce. I know that they want Joyce to stay in the story. Maybe she could try to follow the two men on her own and get kidnapped as well. Otherwise, it's a cool noir story. Going back and forth between the various characters do disrupt the flow and thereby reduce the tension. There is still a lot to like in this movie.

Kidnap movie cops win.

I found this whole movie fairly amateurish many of the scenes fake looking e.g. the cows breaking down their gate.

The kidnap victim is a blind girl a hokey and sickeningly sweet attempt to elicit pathos that failed.

In fact her and the nosy obnoxious secretary make you cheer for the bad guys.

However the gangsters were hapless.

As another reviewer called it shtick.... low budget boiler plate.

OK give it a 4

Watch only if nothing better around.