So I'm thinking to myself as the story approaches it's dramatic conclusion - here's John Wayne engineering a locomotive to the middle of a hundred yard high trestle, presumably to provide more stability in the face of a raging flood heading it's way. Do I have that right? Turns out it was a bad decision, with the whole train toppling over in the storm, and the bridge's center span lost as well. So does Johnny Munroe (Wayne) get fired and run out of town? Instead, he makes up with the boss (Cedric Hardwicke), his band of construction jocks become the new board of directors, and Munroe goes on his honeymoon with the boss's daughter (Laraine Day). This just doesn't make sense on so many levels.
One can also question some of the events leading up to the finale as well. There was the initial decision to go through the mountain with a railroad instead of a bridge. Johnny Munroe was proved right on that score, but at what cost? It seems to me that Frederic Alexander wasted more money following bad advice from his board than by listening to the crew doing the job. Anthony Quinn had a rather dubious role in all of this as basically Alexander's yes man with little regard for his own instincts in fulfilling the project.
Another thing that struck me was that as Wayne got older, the romantic lead in his films remained a girl in her twenties. As another example, you have Gail Russell opposite Wayne in 1947's "Angel and the Badman". Here, Laraine Day's character is mentioned as being twenty years old. She's quite attractive in her role, with wardrobe changes that would get her pegged as a fashionista today. With that in mind, this is one of the few pictures you'll see in which John Wayne sports a suit, and a white one at that! He did it some years earlier in 1931's "His Private Secretary", perhaps the only two times in his movie career that he might have done so.
So even though this film is panned pretty much across the board, there are some worthwhile things to find if you tune in and pay attention. It's just that most of them don't have anything to do with the story itself. Loyal John Wayne fans at least should take a look, just as little Chico (Fernando Alvarado) stayed true to the big lug through thick and thin.
One can also question some of the events leading up to the finale as well. There was the initial decision to go through the mountain with a railroad instead of a bridge. Johnny Munroe was proved right on that score, but at what cost? It seems to me that Frederic Alexander wasted more money following bad advice from his board than by listening to the crew doing the job. Anthony Quinn had a rather dubious role in all of this as basically Alexander's yes man with little regard for his own instincts in fulfilling the project.
Another thing that struck me was that as Wayne got older, the romantic lead in his films remained a girl in her twenties. As another example, you have Gail Russell opposite Wayne in 1947's "Angel and the Badman". Here, Laraine Day's character is mentioned as being twenty years old. She's quite attractive in her role, with wardrobe changes that would get her pegged as a fashionista today. With that in mind, this is one of the few pictures you'll see in which John Wayne sports a suit, and a white one at that! He did it some years earlier in 1931's "His Private Secretary", perhaps the only two times in his movie career that he might have done so.
So even though this film is panned pretty much across the board, there are some worthwhile things to find if you tune in and pay attention. It's just that most of them don't have anything to do with the story itself. Loyal John Wayne fans at least should take a look, just as little Chico (Fernando Alvarado) stayed true to the big lug through thick and thin.