Union Depot (1932)

the audience applauded

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

There is a lot to like about this 65 minute pre-Code film from 1932. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. is charming as a hobo who finds some money and befriends a chorus girl (Joan Blondell) who needs money for a train ticket. Blondell is brilliant and the relationship that develops between the two of them is touching. Director Alfred E. Green tells a great story – introducing the area of a train station with scenes of sassiness and levity, and then using lots of fluid camera movement while keeping almost all of the action there. Peppered throughout the film are salacious little moments that keep it lively without going over-the-top, and little touches such as the railway employee melodiously yelling "All Aboard!". It's not a heavy drama or anything, but as criminals and the cops close in while trying to find counterfeit money, there are moments of tension. The chase through the train yard is excellent, and in one moment it actually appears as though a train bumps Alan Hale. The ending was a very nice touch and I loved it so much I bumped my rating up, but won't spoil it. Very entertaining.

Union Depot is a 1932 precode film starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Guy Kibbee, and Joan Blondell.Chick (Fairbanks) and Scrap Iron Scratch (Kibbee) are two hobos during the Depression, hungry and hanging around Union Depot to beg for money and look for opportunities to get money.The first opportunity comes in the form of a conductor's uniform hanging in the mens room, which Chick steals by sticking a pole through the mens room window. Then he gets a real windfall - a man (Frank McHugh) leaves his suitcase in the mens room. Chick chases him to return it, but the man is gone. Inside is everything Chick will need to look like the handsome man that he is: a suit, shaving cream, shaver. He emerges from the mens room looking great. He also has money that was in the suit pocket.He goes to a diner and orders soup to nuts and racks up a huge bill of $1.75. I can't believe the prices in those days. He sees a forlorn looking young woman in the station. It's Ruth (Joan Blondell) who needs $64 to get to Salt Lake City to join a show that she was in before she broke her ankle. And she'll do anything to get it. That's fine with Chick. He takes her to a private dining room and makes a pass. She tries, but she can't go through with it. She finally tells Chick her full story, that besides needing to get to the show, she's running from a creep that lived in her rooming house. Chick believes her and says he'll buy her ticket.Somewhere along the line, he meets up with Scratch, who has found a wallet with a pawn ticket. The pawn ticket is for a violin in a case. Chick takes it to the pawnbroker across the way. While the pawnbroker is taking care of another customer, Chick opens the violin and finds $13,000 -- the equivalent of nearly a quarter of a million dollars today. Frankly, I could use the $13,000 now, and it's over 80 years later.Chick hides the violin case and leaves Scratch in charge of it and takes some of the money with him. And there the fun begins.This is a fast-moving, entertaining story that leaves one with a tinge of sadness. I am a huge fan of Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. I think he was a very underrated actor. He's marvelous here, as effective as a hobo as he is as a dapper gentleman. Both his comedy and dramatic work are marvelous. Joan Blondell is adorable -- so pretty and sweet, but with an edge that shows that the character has been through hard times.Precode has a more liberal view of sex. People have it, for one thing. And you don't have to be married. Fairbanks is fairly cavalier about it and angry when Blondell doesn't come across.Very good movie - if you see that it's on TCM, don't miss it. I would have liked a less downbeat ending, but hey, it was the Depression.

At a busy train station, handsome hobo Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (as Charles "Chic" Miller) finds an abandoned piece of luggage with a perfectly fitting suit and shave case. After changing and shaving, Mr. Fairbanks finds a wad of money in a suit pocket. He gets a good meal and decides to enjoy sex with a prostitute, mistaking pretty blonde chorus girl Joan Blondell (as Ruth Collins) for a train station whore. She's "been around," but is basically "decent," Ms. Blondell tells Fairbanks. Naturally, Fairbanks decides to help Blondell. She needed fare to get to Salt Lake City for a job, and is also being chased by a sleazy limping George Rosener (as Bernardi). Meanwhile, Fairbanks' scruffy companion Guy Kibbee (as Scrap Iron Scratch) finds a discarded claim check, which he gives Fairbanks to redeem - it's for a fiddle case full of cash...Lurking around among the travelers are suspicious-looking Alan Hale (as Bushy Sloan) and agents David Landau and Earle Foxe. Everything comes together quite neatly and suspenseful, arguably with the exception of Blondell's pursuer, who could have been more fully examined. "Union Station" was reportedly inspired by the book "Grand Hotel" and came out before the movie. The setting is a rich playground for director Alfred E. Green, but it's not quite an "ensemble" of drama. Fairbanks is clearly the central figure and the film could have been titled "Gentleman for a Day" after one of his closing lines. He is excellent in the role, by the way. Co-star Blondell beautifully leads the Warner Bros. supporting cast of characters. The pace, performances and excitement levels head off some production creakiness. The ending is surprisingly effective.******* Union Depot (1/14/32) Alfred E. Green ~ Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Joan Blondell, Guy Kibbee, Alan Hale

Union Depot starts with an exterior crane shot that slowly zooms into the train station from above, with no noticeable break as camera goes through the wall into the lobby of the station. Alfred Green, the director of this and many other Warner Bros. movies in the 1930s, keeps things hopping as two homeless men, played by Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Guy Kibbee, come into some money accidentally. Joan Blondell, always a welcome addition to any movie, enters the picture as jobless young woman who meets Fairbanks while at the station, running away from a sex maniac played by George Rosener, usually a screenwriter. Someone figured he looked right for the part. Union Depot, with its cynical view of life and its casual approach to sex, stands up better than the synthetic movies made after the strict Production Code took effect in July, 1934. The stars, the off-beat story and Alfred Green's fluid direction make this dated movie fine entertainment.