Emperor of the North (1973)

Excellent, a Must See

A Disappointing Continuation

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

I saw this at the famous Genesee in Waukegan, IL when I was a wee lad and its had a mystical allure ever since. Maybe because as a wee lad, a movie about hobos riding the rails is an off-kilter idea. It kind of stuck with me and I've always wanted to see it again but never got around to it. Then lo and behold it was on AMC or TMC a few weekends ago. No boy was all extra happy was he. However, this time it was a bit of a let down. The story follows two hobos, A-No 1 (Marvin) and a rookie (Carradine) who are trying to ride a mean conductor's (Borginine) train to Portland. The conductor, named Shack, is renowned among rail riding hobos as the meanest SOB there is and has no qualms about murdering the freeloader if he has to. He uses various weapons to keep the hobos off his train, some of which are quite ingenious, like tying a window weight to a rope and feed it under the car to bounce off the ties and pummel a man who is riding under a box car. Plot wise, there isn't much to the movie. Just the three guys playing cat and mouse on the train and meeting all sorts of hobo folk along the way. What makes this movie worth checking out is seeing Borginine busting a blue vein when he gets ticked off. He turns from an old grump to a ornery old cuss bent on destruction. Gotta love it. One thing that struck me, and I'm not sure what it is about movies made in the 70s and set in the 30s, but the 1930s catch phrases sound very awkward coming out of the actors mouths. This is also the case if you listen to some of the dialogue in The Sting. Anyway, taken as a whole, this one is mildly entertaining with a few worthwhile scenes but nothing to rave about.

Fans of "Emperor Of The North" may disagree on whether this film is superficial or deep, and they may enjoy it for different reasons.Fans who like this movie on a "superficial" level will certainly enjoy the sometimes slapstick comedy, and the gags that are perpetrated by the hobos in their quest to ride the railroad trains for free. It is certainly legitimate to see the movie as primarily an elaborate, albeit thoroughly enjoyable, bar room joke.Fans who like this movie on a "deeper" level will see the battle between Shack (Ernest Borgnine) and A No. 1 (Lee Marvin) as a classic struggle between the "haves" and the "have nots," the "cops" and the "robbers," the "establishment" and the "rebels," or as the ultimate battle for Alpha Male supremacy.However you view this movie, it is a worthwhile look at life during the Great Depression, and how it plays out for a large portion of the population who became homeless through little or no fault of their own.

This 1970s classic has hardly aged a day. Viewed in 2010, it looks like it could have been released last week. Bushy-browed Ernest Borgnine stars as a Depression-era railroad conductor who'll be damned if he'll allow hoboes to ride his train. Lee Marvin is a hobo and Borgnine's main nemesis, who decides late in the film to take on Borgnine. A very young Keith Carradine is Marvin's unwanted "student." Borgnne is incredibly ruthless dealing with not just the hoboes, but his fellow workers as well. Marvin is an unusual hobo,an introspective fella who is not like his fellow rail riders. Carradine's character is wet behind the wears, and due for a lesson in harsh reality, which he gets. The stunt fights are amazing -- no CGI crap back then -- and the interludes between fights are very entertaining. They are reminiscent of scenes from "Cool Hand Luke," at least to me. The location photography is magnificent. Director Aldrich draws the line at any graphic gore -- the blood looks like plain old red paint -- but the fights are damned convincing nonetheless. A real joy, and truly ageless.

Basically a three character cat and mouse game revolving around trains during the Great Depression. Sometimes a little over the top, but with good acting and dialog. Ernest Borgnine plays the deluded conductor obsessed with keeping hobos off his train. Lee Marvin is the number one hobo, who vows to ride Borgnines train all the way to Portland, and Keith Carradine, full of bravura, tries to dethrone Marvin by catching the same ride. Along the way, a sort of mutual admiration develops as the two hobos deal with the sadistic Borgnine. Great Oregon scenery and a realistic depression era setting adds immeasurably. The fact that there is minimal background information about the three protagonists was a slight disappointment. - MERK