Edmond O’Brien is Jim Vesser, supervisor of construction of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad.
His line is in a race with the Canyon City and San Juan Railroad to cross the Rockies first, and the construction foreman for that line — Sterling Hayden as McCabe– will stoop to any low trick to win that race.
In fact, in the film’s opening minutes, McCabe and crony Johnny Buff (Lyle Bettger) try to frame Vesser for killing one of their men. Vesser beats the charge, but resigns his position because he’s tired of violence.
Of course, his absence doesn’t end that violence, so he returns from his self-imposed exile to resume control of the Denver and Rio Grande construction project just when the situation looks its bleakest, vowing to give the competing line a taste of its own medicine.
Not helping matters is the fact that a key employees of the railroad — Linda Prescott (Kasey Rogers) — happens to be the sister of the man Vesser supposedly killed.
Looking for vengeance, she doesn’t hesitate to slip key information about Denver and Rio Grande activities to McCabe.
But no matter what the bosses of the Canyon City and San Juan try, Vesser is up to the task at hand.
Edmond O’Brien as Jim Vesser, questioning Linda Prescott about her afternoon rides in The Denver and Rio Grande (1952)
Kasey Rogers as Linda Prescott, coming across two victims of Jim Vesser’s six-gun in The Denver and Rio Grande (1952)
Review:
You get what you would expect with a Western where the leads are played by Edmond O’Brien and Sterling Hayden and the plot is a tired ol’ building of the railroad yarn.
And that’s a bland film, enlivened only by some large-scale special effects, including a head-on collision between two trains.
Kasey Rogers’ character comes off as one of the most gullible, dim-witted heroines in the history of Westerns. It takes her forever to realize that McCabe could care less about helping her get revenge against Vesser and that his key motivation is bringing down the railroad she works for.
A supposedly humorous subplot about the romance of train engineer Monyhan and Jane Dwyer (Zasu Pitts) doesn’t help matters either.
Sterling Hayden ad McCabe, questioning Linda Prescott’s loyalty to the cause in The Denver and Rio Grande (1952)
Lyle Bettger as Johnny Buff, leading a payroll robbery in The Denver and Rio Grande (1952)
Directed by:
Byron Haskins
Cast:
Edmond O’Brien … Jim Vesser
Sterling Hayden … McCabe
Lyle Bettger … Johnny Buff
Kasey Rogers … Linda Prescott
J. Carroll Naish … Gil Harkness
Zasu Pitts … Jane Dwyer
Paul Fix … Engineer Monyhan
Robert Barrat … Haskins
Dean Jagger … Gen. William Palmer
Tom Powers … Sloan
Don Haggerty … Bob Nelson
James Burke … Sheriff Johnson
Runtime: 89 min.
Dean Jagger as Gen. William Palmer, a railroad executive in a race to cross the Rockies first in The Denver and Rio Grande (1952)
J. Carroll Naish as Gil Harkness, trying to convince Jim Vesser to return to his job as railroad crew boss in The Denver and Rio Grande (1952)
Memorable lines:
Denver and Rio Grande railway assistant about an injunction threatening to put the railroad out of business: “What do the lawyers say?”
Gen. Palmer: “Full of high-sounding legal talk. Suppose to comfort you. Scares me. Like a doctor telling you you’ve got hay fever in Latin.”
Gil Harkness: “We didn’t get this (barricade) finished a minute too soon. Bees have been buzzing around since noon.”
Jim Vesser: “Yeh, lead bees.”
Paul Fix as Monyhan, a railroad engineer romancing Jane with the help of his guitar in The Denver and Rio Grande (1952)
Zasu Pitts as Jane Dwyer, a cook for the railroad crew in The Denver and Rio Grande (1952)
Sterling Hayden as McCabe and Don Haggerty as Bob Nelson, debating rights of way with Jim Vesser in The Denver and Rio Grande (1952)
Kasey Rogers as Linda Prescott, realizing she recognizes one of the men involved in a train robbery in The Denver and Rio Grande (1952)
Edmund O’Brien as Jim Vesser, confronting Linda about her divided loyalties in The Denver and Rio Grande (1952)
J. Carroll Naish as Gil Harkness, consoling Jim Vesser (Edmond O’Brien) after an accidental death in The Denver and Rio Grande (1952)
){kind=link}