"UNION PACIFIC."

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 47, 24 August 1939, Page 7

"UNION PACIFIC."

DeMille's Latest Picture.

Cecil B. DeMille's latest big production, "Union Pacific." which was previewed here recently, is a thrilling I film. The general idea of Mr. DeMille's work is as follows: —First he thought [of a good plausible story. Then the Paramount research department ploughed through hundreds of books, [maps, and photographs, went through voluminous magazine files in various languages, and compiled about twenty scrapbooks for presentation to Mr. DeMille and his production assistants. j Mr. DeMille then sent five writers to Omaha and in the vaults of a railroad office they opened up bales of old letters. Amongst their discoveries, lending assistance to such a task as a production of a motion picture dealing | with the times, was a letter from an engine-driver telling of a hold-up by 'Indians. Another described the type lof directors at a banquet. Another, i pay-rolls and freight bills on paper yellowed with age. Freight bills revealed the type of merchandise transported by the earliest Union Pacific railway. Other letters revealed the autographs of statesmen and bankers of those years. Some of the discoveries were curious. Four years before the Union Pacific was started, camels hauled mail and supplies. In signing legislative Bills that had to do with railroads. Abraham Lincoln wrote nis .name in furl, not just "A. Lincoln." Indians left telegraph wires alone after three were killed by lightning as they were holding a coil they had stolen. The average Irish tracklayer could put down 123 tons of rails a day. The Union Pacific was swanky on its opening day. It dressed up the band in uniforms from London at a cost of £240. In all. research for "Union Pacific" cost Mr. DeMille and in turn Paramount Pictures about £20.000. Mr. DeMille says: "If newsreel cameras had been cranking while the railroad was being made, research would not have cost more than £200." "Union Pacific" is certainly one of the finest productions produced by Mr. DeMille. who has been responsible for such memorable pictures as "The Ten Commandments," "Sign of the Cross," "The Crusades," "The Plainsman," and many others. The star players giving splen did character performances in "Union Pacific" are Barbara Stanwyck. Joel McCrea, Robert Preston, Akim Tamiroff, and Lynne Overman. The supporting cast numbers very nearly one thousand. According to Paramount's local office. "Union Pacific" is to be released at the St. James Theatre.