“Emperor of the North” (1973) directed by Robert Aldrich; starring Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine and Keith Carradine / Z-View
Emperor of the North (1973)
Director: Robert Aldrich
Screenplay: Christopher Knopf
Stars: Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Keith Carradine, Charles Tyner, Malcolm Atterbury, Simon Oakland, Harry Caesar, Hal Baylor, Matt Clark, Joe Di Reda, Liam Dunn, Robert Foulk, Jim Goodwin, Sid Haig, Karl Lukas and Elisha Cook Jr.
Tagline: You can ride Shack’s train and live you will be Emperor of the North
The Plot…
The Great Depression is in full swing. A sub-culture of hobos travel the country by freight-hopping. That is, they jump on trains without paying and hide in freight cars. These vagabonds would often help themselves to whatever was being transported.
In an effort to keep the drifters off their trains, the railroad companies hired thuggish conductors. These de facto enforcers would throw the hobos off the trains usually after a good beating. If the bums were lucky they lived with just bruises or broken bones.
The meanest and toughest of all railroad conductors was a brute known as Shack. No hobo ever was able to ride the #19. Most didn’t even try. Shack carried a hammer as a matter of course. He also had other tricks he used to maim or kill anyone who dared try to ride his train. His reputation was perfect.
Then A-#1 came along. Word was A-#1 got the best of Shack and rode the #19. Of course no one was sure. Especially since a young drifter, who called himself Cigaret was claiming it wasn’t A-#1 who outsmarted Shack. It was him.
Now A-#1 has put out word that he’s going to ride the #19 all the way to Portland. Shack’s heard. He and his hammer will be waiting.
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
Emperor of the North was originally titled Emperor of the North Pole. The title was changed because studio execs thought people would think it was a Christmas movie. Emperor of the North Pole was a hobo term explained in the movie.
Some posters for the movie had the tagline “Lee Marvin & Ernest Borgnine meet in the fight of the century”. Their fight lives up to the tagline. It is one of the most brutal movie fights up to that time.
Emperor of the North is underrated.
Emperor of the North (1973) rates 4 of 5 stars