Night Passage (1957)

James Stewart plays Grant McLaine, a down-on-his-luck cowpoke who plays the accordion for nickels and dimes.

He used to be a railroad detective, but was fired because his boss thought he was in cahoots with an outlaw known as the Utica Kid (Audie Murphy), who just happens to be his brother.

Well, a gang led by Whitey Harbin (Dan Duryea) has been swiping railroad payrolls. With no one else to turn to, rail boss Ben Kimball summons McLaine.

He takes the job. In this case, Kimball wants him to personally carry the payroll money, figuring no one would expect to find it on a man once fired by the very same railroad.

The ploy works. When the gang attempts to rob the train, the money is nowhere to be found.

But Harbin decides to take Kimball’s wife Verna (Elaine Stewart) as hostage until the money can be delivered to him.

Verna is a woman McLaine once hoped to marry. But there’s another complication. Turns out the Harbin gang includes none other than the Utica Kid.

Suddenly, McLaine has a chance to regain his good name and convince his brother to go straight.

James Stewart as Grant McLaine, a railroad employee who lost his job by giving his outlaw brother a break in Night Passage (1957)

Audie Murphy as The Utica Kid, getting the drop on gang leader Whitey Harbin again in Night Passage (1957)

Review:

Well done, with plenty of subplots to keep things interesting. In addition to Elaine Stewart as Verna Kimball, the cast includes Dianne Foster as “Charlie,” who hopes to marry the Utica Kid, if he would ever settle down.

Brandon De Wilde — who played the young boy in “Shane” — has a neat role as a youngster who hangs out with Whitey’s gang. He idolizes the Utica Kid. McLaine tries to put the youngster on the right track, as if to correct his inability to do the same for his brother.

Stewart reportedly liked this role because it gave him an opportunity to show off his musical skills — he sings two numbers, “Follow the River” and “You Can’t Get No Where Without the Railroad.” Also features well-done climatic gun battle at a mining camp.

Elaine Stewart as Verna Kimball, once Grant McLaine’s girl, now married to a railroad executive in Night Passage (1957)

Dianne Foster as Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Drew, the woman who’s been waiting five years for The Utica Kid to go straight in Night Passage (1957)

Directed by:
James Neilson

Cast:
James Stewart … Grant McLaine
Audie Murphy … The Utica Kid
Dan Duryea … Whitey Harbin
Dianne Foster … Charlotte Drew
Elaine Stewart … Verna Kimball
Brandon De Wilde … Joey Adams
Jay Flippen … Ben Kimbell
Jack Elam … Shotgun
Herbert Anderson … Will Renner
Robert J. Wilke … Concho
Tommy Cook … Howdy Sladen
Paul Fix … Mr. Feeney
Olive Carey … Miss Vittles
James Flavin … Tim Riley

Runtime: 92 min.

Title tune: “Follow the River”

Dan Duryea as Whitey Harbin, the man who’s stolen three straight railroad payrolls and wants a fourth in Night Passage (1957)

Brandon De Wilde as Joey Adams, befriending Grant McLaine on a railroad ride in Night Passage (1957)

Memorable lines:

Tim Riley, as a brawl breaks out: “This is the tune your father used to play to keep peace in the house?”
Grant McLaine, putting away his accordion: “I guess I must have squeezed out a couple of wrong notes.”

Grant McLaine to Verna Kimball, on why he doesn’t wonder about what would have happened had they married: “A man likes to know his woman will back him when he’s down. And you didn’t. Ben called me a thief. You went right along with him. It’s as simple as that.”

Grant McLaine to Charlotte Drew: “For five years, I’ve been playing that thing (an accordion) for nickels and dimes that men threw into a hat. For five years, the Utica Kid has been laughing. I may have been wrong, Charlie. I’m not going to make the same mistake twice.”

Jay C. Flippen as Ben Kimball and Hugh Beaumont as Jeff Kurth, railroad executives trying to get a payroll through in Night Passage (1957)

Audie Murphy as The Uticas Kid and Elaine Stewart as Verna Kimball, about to be held for ransom in Night Passage (1957)

Dan Duryea as Whitey Harbin with four members of his gang, including Shotgun (Jack Elam, at right) in Night Passage (1957)

Robert J. Wilke as Concho, one of Whitey Harbin’s gang members, helping in a train holdup in Night Passage (1957)

Olive Carey as Miss Vittles, supplier of goods to miners, introducing herself to Grant McLaine in Night Passage (1957)

Dianne Foster as Charlotte Drew and Brandon De Wilde as Joey watch the results of a climatic shootout in Night Passage (1957)

Audie Murphy as The Utica Kid,’ getting on the nerves of gang leader Whitey Harbin (Dan Duryea) yet again in Night Passage (1957)

James Flaven as Tim Riley, filling in Grant McLaine on the problem facing the railroad in Night Passage (1957)