EMPEROR OF THE NORTH (1973)

[The Burgomaster]

Also known as EMPEROR OF THE NORTH POLE.

I just added this DVD to my collection.  Here are my thoughts:

This is a fairly entertaining movie directed by Robert Aldrich.  It is set in the American Northwest in 1933.  The country is in the midst of the Great Depression, and hobos are traveling from state-to-state looking for work, food, shelter . . . whatever.  In order to get around, they sneak aboard trains and try to avoid getting caught.

Ernest Borgnine plays "Shack," a railroad man whose motto is, "No hobo rides my train for free!"  Lee Marvin plays "A #1," a hobo who intends to prove that he CAN ride Shack's train for free.  He is accompanied by a young, arrogant hobo named "Cigaret," played by Keith Carradine.

The highlight is a fight (which is fairly violent for a PG movie) between Shack and A #1 atop the speeding train.  They pummel each other with various weapons, including a sledge hammer, an axe, a chain, and a piece of lumber.

The supporting cast includes some very well-known character actors:  Simon Oakland, Elisha Cook, Jr., Sid Haig, Liam Dunn, Vic Tayback, Harry Caesar, and Charles Tyner.

[Shadowphile]

Any movie with those two in it has to be worth watching.

[trekgeezer]

I did a short review of this a while back here. The A#1 character was based on a real hobo legend, the writing on the water towers was some what like the old "Kilroy was here" legend.


Like I said in my review, Borgnine was always great at playing sweet guys or really mean, sadistic  bastards like Shack. Just watch "Marty" for which he won an academy award and then watch him as Sgt. Fatso torturing Frank Sinatra  in "From Here to Eternity".

The fight at the end is really good, but I would have ditched the annoying Cigaret long before Marvin did.

[Fearless Freep]

All I could think of when I saw the photos here was "Earnest Borgnine - Action Hero"

a strange juxtaposition

[peter johnson]

The thing I remember most about this film were the times that Borgnine runs this bouncing ship's weight on a rope under the cars to knock off anyone hanging onto the undercarriages, and the look of glee on his face when he does it -- "That weight'll break your bones before it knocks you off -- if you're lucky, you'll get cut in 2 by the wheels".
Creepy ol' bashturd --
peter johnson/denny crane

[Scott]

This film has come a few times over the years on the messageboard and always a pleasure being reminded of it when someone post about EMPEROR OF THE NORTH. A very fine movie.