Western Union

Movie Review: Western Union

Year of Release: 1941
Country of Origin: USA
Director: Fritz Lang
Cast: Robert Young, Randolph Scott, Dean Jagger, Virginia Gilmore, John Carradine

Plot outline: An outlaw goes straight to work for the telegraph company, which puts him in conflict with his lawless brother (IMDb).

Few would guess that this historical western about the spread of telegraph lines across the American frontier was directed by Fritz Lang, an iconic director known primarily for his noir dramas and atmospheric visuals. Loosely based on a story by Zane Grey, Lang apparently wanted to alter the screenplay, but was not given permission to do so; the result is a narrative which never quite rises above mediocrity, and is too often played for laughs. While Randolph Scott’s central dilemma - whether to betray his brother or not - is compelling, it’s constantly interrupted by inane subplots, particularly the underdeveloped “love triangle” between Scott, Young, and Gilmore. As in Lang’s first western (The Return of Frank James), the storyline here is almost entirely fictional; Lang himself noted that “in reality, nothing happened during the entire building of the line except that they ran out of wood for the telegraph poles, and the only other thing that disturbed the laying of the line was the ticks on the buffaloes; the buffaloes got itchy and rubbed themselves against the poles, and the poles tumbled. And that was all that happened.” Personally, I wouldn’t have minded seeing the buffaloes … (FF)

My judgement: **1/2 out of 4 stars