The Great Locomotive Chase

Fess Parker started acting in earnest in the early 50's and caught a break when he became a contract actor for Warner Bros. He played bit parts for a few years and then graduated to being a weekly contract actor until he received a call from destiny. By destiny I mean the Walt Disney company. Parker had taken the advice of his agent to star in the sci-fi movie, Them!, a role that only demanded that he be on the set one day. His character had a very small role, that of a pilot put in an insane asylum because he claimed his plane had been taken down by giant flying bugs. Disney was looking for someone to play Davy Crockett in a new mini-series for TV he had been planning. James Arness, who had a much bigger role in Them!, was the frontrunner for the part. Disney went to Them! in theaters and he looked right passed Arness's character and zeroed in on Parker's pilot. Disney was impressed by Parker's ability to portray a man that was unswerving in his belief in what he saw despite the forces of authority against him. As mentioned before, Parker was called to come meet with Disney himself. Parker brought a guitar to the interview and sang Disney a song. It must have been a good song because Parker was chosen over Arness and Buddy Ebsen, who would go on to play Crockett's sidekick, Georgie Russell. The Davy Crockett mini-series was presented in five episodes that were released periodically between 1954 and 1955. The first three episodes, which were released within three months of each other, proved to be extremely popular (this is an understatement). Disney had the episodes packaged together and released it as Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier for theaters later in 1955. The last two episodes would be made into a second package film, Davy Crockett and the River Pirates that released the following year in 1956. Parker's star rose very quickly, becoming a household name thanks to the mini-series. He was quickly signed on to be a contract actor for Disney, and would star in four movies for the company, the first being The Great Locomotive Chase. Disney was going to milk the sudden popularity that Fess Parker enjoyed for all it was worth, so you'll notice that Parker will be a part of most of next few Disney movies.

Story Background

Disney decided to follow up the massively successful 20,000 Leagues with a movie that would cost much less to produce and therefore wouldn't hurt them too bad if it flopped: The Great Locomotive Chase. Based on an actual event that took place during the American Civil War, it details the story of union soldiers  and two civilians that attempted to sabotage the Confederate railroad by stealing one of their trains. The main goal was to keep Confederate forces in Atlanta, Georgia from being able to send resources to Chattanooga, the city the Union was trying to seize. Led by civilian scout James J. Andrews, the group commandeered Confederate train, the General near Marietta, Georgia. The Union men went northward and cut telegraph lines and destroyed train tracks when they could. William Fuller, the General's conductor, and two other men chased after the Union raiders, using everything from a handcar, to several other locomotives, even running on foot, to catch their stolen train. Andrews and his men experienced some bad luck, including the raid getting delayed by a day thanks to rain, which in turn made the wood they were going to use to burn bridges too wet to keep a flame. They also were held up at a train station for over an hour before they could continue on. The track they were traversing was between Atlanta and Chattanooga, infamous for it's hills, thus making the ride that much slower. Fuller took command of the Texas, though having to run it backward, and was finally able to put a message ahead by telegraph before Andrews and his men could cut the line to that station. The General eventually ran out of fuel and the Union men scattered. All raiders were caught within two weeks and a were put on trial for being unlawful combatants and spies. Eight men total were executed by hanging soon after the trial, with Andrews and the only other civilian, William Hunter Campbell, being among them. Eight more escaped, fearing they would also be executed. The rest were eventually exchanged for Confederate prisoners. Most of the men received the Medal of Honor for their work in disrupting the Confederate lines, some posthumously. Both Andrews and Campbell were not eligible since they were not in the military. I'm giving the briefest of run-throughs of the event, so if you would like to know more, I would highly recommend looking up some articles on it!

Production Background

It's not hard to see why Walt Disney was attracted to a story that centered completely on steam trains. The story had been on the slate for production since Disney started making live action movies. Like with Robin Hood and His Merrie Men, Disney wanted to film where the action took place, but in this case it wasn't feasible. The original track that the chase took place on had been modernized and was, unfortunately for Disney, very much in use. Disney had to settle for the shortline Tallulah Falls Railroad which located fifty miles east. The line had been bustling at one time, used to transport vacationers to Tallulah Falls, but when the resorts went bust in the area, the train line eventually was used only to haul freight. Since the train only ran once a day, it was perfect for shooting Disney's new movie. Not only was the line mostly unused, it was also winding and had not been updated, so it fit the look of the story perfectly. Disney reached out to B&O Railroad to cast the most important players in the movie: the trains. The William Mason would play the General, while the Lafayette would portray the Yonah, one of the trains that Fuller commandeers to chase the General. Disney also borrowed two Civil War era couches, a baggage car, and two ammunition cars. To get the train to portray the Texas, Disney reached out to Paramount Pictures, who sent them the Inyo. Filming started in late September of 1955 and went on for about six weeks. The production provided a much needed economical boom to the towns surrounding the Tallulah Falls line. All of the workers on the line were part of the production, though most had to run the train lying down while the actors were doing their scenes. Walt himself was there for the production for a few weeks, delighting all those he met. Many of the surviving businesses in the area have photos hanging on the wall with Walt and their overjoyed proprietors. Walt had considered buying the Tallulah Falls Railroad and turning into a scenic tour, though was dissuaded when he learned that the Railroad owed millions in accumulated debt and back taxes. The film would unfortunately not save the sleepy railroad, as it would close six years later.

Cast

Fess Parker, in his first Disney leading role that didn't involve Davy Crockett, portrayed the doomed civilian leader of the raiders, James J. Andrews. Disney apparently wanted to use as many actors from the Davy Crockett show as possible and used Kenneth Toby, Don Megowan, and most notably Mike Fink's actor Jeff York, who in this film portrays William Campbell. Campbell in this version of the story is a Union soldier as opposed to a civilian. The other big name attached to the film, and one that wasn't in Davy Crockett, was Jeffrey Hunter, who played the determined Confederate conductor William H. Fuller. Hunter is probably best known for his role as Martin Pawley in The Searchers.

Critical Reception

Walt Disney grew up in Marceline, Missouri, and when the town contacted him in the mid-50's asking permission to name their new park and swimming pool after him, it lead to one of the most notable events in the town's history. Not only would Walt, along with his brother Roy and their wives, come to dedicate the new park and pool, they would also give Marceline the gift of a movie premiere. The Great Locomotive Chase would make its Midwest premiere in a small town in Missouri. On July 4th, 1956, a crowd of mostly children crowded the Uptown Theatre, but Walt and Roy made sure to shake hands and greet each one that entered to see their new movie. Before the movie started, Walt gave a speech about how much Marceline meant to him, and also spoke about how much he enjoyed reading about the Union raider's exploits as a boy. The film was shown continuously until 1:30 the next morning, with all the citizens of Marceline getting in for free.The Uptown Theatre still stands today, though it closed in 2014, being purchased by the local historical society to renovate the aging theater.

Released in June of 1956, The Great Locomotive Chase received mixed reviews from critics. Audiences apparently weren't in the mood for a historical train thriller because the movie only made $1.7 million against a $2.5 million budget. The lack of gross can most likely be chalked up to the anti-climactic ending of the film. Many critics pointed out that the movie basically ends once the men abandon the train. After that it's just people trying to escape and a good portion, including the main character, getting hanged. Audiences apparently didn't like movies that had a sad ending in the 50's. Walt was disappointed in the performance of the film, but since it wasn't 20,000 leagues level of money put into the film, it wouldn't sink the company.

Perhaps the most famous version of the Great Locomotive Chase is Buster Keaton's silent film, The General. Made in 1926, the film was a comedy, with Keaton basically a Confederate that chases after the General, though more because the love of his life is onboard and is an unwitting captor of the Union soldiers. Like The Great Locomotive Chase, The General wasn't a hit when it came out, critically or financially. Unlike The Great Locomotive Chase, The General was re-evaluated later and is now considered one of the best movies ever made.I guess Disney should have slipped some slapstick into their movie!



Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Locomotive_Chase
https://www.waltdisney.org/blog/making-great-locomotive-chase
https://www.waltdisney.org/blog/hollywood-premiere-marceline-great-locomotive-chase