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Night Passage is a 1957 American Western film directed by James Neilson and starring James Stewart and Audie Murphy.[2]

Night Passage
1957 theatrical poster by Reynold Brown
Directed by	James Neilson
Written by	Borden Chase based on the novel by Norman A. Fox
Produced by	Aaron Rosenberg
Starring	James Stewart Audie Murphy
Cinematography	William H. Daniels
Edited by	Sherman Todd
Music by	Dimitri Tiomkin
Color process	Technicolor
Production company	Universal Pictures
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release dates	July 17, 1957 (1957-07-17) (Denver, Colorado) July 24, 1957 (1957-07-24) (Los Angeles) July 24, 1957 (1957-07-24) (New York City)
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$2.6 million (US)[1]

Plot

On the way to meet his former boss, railroad tycoon Ben Kimball (Jay C. Flippen), Grant McLaine (Stewart) rescues a young boy, Joey Adams (Brandon deWilde), from Concho (Robert J. Wilke). Ben informs Grant that his payroll has been robbed three times already by a gang led by Whitey Harbin (Dan Duryea) and the Utica Kid (Murphy). If Ben's workers don't get paid soon, they will all leave the end-of-track work camp. Over the objections of Kimball's number 2, Jeff Kurth (Hugh Beaumont) Grant accepts the undercover job of carrying $10,000 to the crew by train. Kurth bets his job that Grant will fail.

When the train is held up again, Grant hides the money in a shoebox carried by Joey. The ploy works, but the young boy turns out to be friends with the Utica Kid, who takes him along with him. When the robbers cannot find the money, Whitey takes Ben's wife Verna (Elaine Stewart) to hold for ransom. Concho, a gang member, pistol-whips Grant, sending him tumbling down the steep embankment unconscious. The train leaves without him.

When Grant wakes up, he trails the gang to an abandoned mining camp. He boldly asks to join up, revealing that he is the Kid's older brother [the Kid's given name is Lee]. Utica is suspicious of his heretofore honest sibling, so Whitey (who dislikes the Kid) accepts him. Concho tries to shoot Grant unexpectedly, but Grant is faster to the draw. Afterwards, he tells the Kid where the money is, in an attempt to reform his brother. It doesn't work. The Kid gives Grant ten minutes to leave before he tells the gang, but Grant calls his bluff.

Then railroad employee Will Renner (Herbert Anderson) shows up to collect his share of the loot. He had been Whitey's informant. He recognises Grant (by the song he sings and plays on his accordion) as the man assigned to deliver the payroll. A gunfight ensues, in and out of the bar room.. Grant and Verna take refuge behind the bar temporarily, as the building is on fire. They manage to drop through the rotten floor behind the bar and escape. In the stable they join Charlotte "Charlie" Drew (Dianne Foster), the Kid's girlfriend, and ride out after Lee and Joey. At the ore mill Grant sends Verna to safety down the mountain in an ore bucket. Charlie stays and reloads Grant's gun. Meanwhile, the Kid plans to quietly ride away with Joey and the money.

When Joey suddenly bolts toward Grant, Whitey shoots and the boy and his horse fall. Grant rushes to Joey's side and throws himself in front of the boy when the Kid rides up, gun aimed—at a gang member. The Kid joins forces with his brother, bantering as they shoot. “Welcome home,” Grant says. They kill all the gang members except Whitey, who crawls up close and shoots the Kid. Grant kills Whitey with their last bullet and holds his brother as he dies. The Kid admits that Grant “hit him hard” with the Bullfrog Line song, their father's favourite. Grant buries his brother, and he and Charlie and the boy ride back to camp with the payroll. Grant refuses Kurth's job, but accepts his old job: it’s a "better fit" for him. Grant sends Joey off to his new job, carrying water at end of track. Grant and Charlie clasp hands. He puts his arm around her shoulders, and she puts hers around his waist as they follow Joey. The final scene is of the locomotive moving down the valley along the river into the foreground, with a men's chorus singing the end of the theme song , "Follow the River back to me.”

Cast

Production background

This film is reminiscent of the popular western collaborations between Stewart and director Anthony Mann. This is largely because the project was slated to be their sixth collaboration in the genre (ninth overall). Mann backed out of the project before production due to other obligations and a disagreement over the casting of Audie Murphy (Mann and Stewart did not work together again). Aaron Rosenberg, who produced many of the Stewart-Mann collaborations, stayed on as producer with new director James Neilson.[3]

Dimitri Tiomkin scored the film, and co-wrote the songs "Follow the River" and "You Can't Get Far Without a Railroad" with Ned Washington, which were performed by James Stewart himself. The film also offered Stewart the rare opportunity to play the accordion, an instrument he had played since childhood. However, his accordion playing was rerecorded by a professional during post-production. The film was the first American production to utilize the Technirama process by Technicolor. This process helped make the blue skies crisper and brighten the autumn footage photographed by cinematographer William H. Daniels.

The railroad scenes were filmed at the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad in Durango, Colorado, using Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad K-28 Class steam locomotive #476 which still operates in excursion service there today.[4] Considerable footage from the railroad scenes was recycled into the 1966 Audie Murphy film Gunpoint.

Co-star Dianne Foster was made aware of Audie Murphy's legendary temper when filming a scene in which his horse would not co-operate and several takes were needed. Murphy was riding his own horse, a quarter-horse named Flying John. Murphy got so angry with the animal that he drew back and punched the horse in the face.[5] This film is one of the few which cast Audie Murphy as villainous.

See also

• List of American films of 1957

References

External links

• Night Passage at Dan Duryea Central
• Night Passage at the TCM Movie Database
• Night Passage at IMDb
• Night Passage at Letterboxd

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