Kansas Pacific *** (1953, Sterling Hayden, Eve Miller, Barton MacLane, Reed Hadley, Harry Shannon, Tom Fadden, Douglas Fowley) – Classic Movie Review 13,401

The bright and brisk 1953 Western film Kansas Pacific is written by Daniel B Ullman, stars Sterling Hayden, Eve Miller, Barton MacLane, and Reed Hadley. Producer Walter Wanger was in jail at the time, though he got billing, salary and profit participation.

Director Ray Nazarro’s bright and brisk 1953 Western film Kansas Pacific is written by Daniel B Ullman, stars Sterling Hayden, Eve Miller, and Barton MacLane, along with Reed Hadley, Harry Shannon, Tom Fadden, and Douglas Fowley.

Sterling Hayden gives his usual dependable turn as US Army engineer Captain John Nelson, who is despatched to supervise the building of the Kansas Pacific railway just before the US Civil War.

There is romance when he falls for Barbara Bruce (Eve Miller), the lovely daughter of his predecessor Cal Bruce (Barton MacLane) and drama when he has to fend off the Confederate bad guy Bill Quantrill (Reed Hadley) and his raiders who want to stop the railway’s completion.

Produced by Walter Wanger, and released by Allied Artists at a short running 73 minutes, Kansas Pacific is a low-budget but very tolerable Western, with the decent cast, Harry Neumann’s lovely colour photography (Cinecolor) and Ray Nazarro’s fast-moving direction all big assets. And, yes, Hayden, of course, gives a Sterling performance. He is in his prime.

It is shot at the Iverson Movie Ranch and the Sierra Railroad.

Eve Miller is the sole female. Lone Ranger star Clayton Moore plays as Stone. Famed Westerns director Andrew V McLaglen, just starting out, is credited as assistant director.

Release date: February 22, 1953.

The film is in the public domain.

Producer Walter Wanger was in jail at the time for shooting agent Jennings Lang, whom he believed to be having an affair with his film star wife Joan Bennett. Walter Mirisch of Allied Artists gave Wanger a producer’s on-screen billing, salary and profit participation.

The cast

The cast are Sterling Hayden as Captain John Nelson, Eve Miller as Barbara Bruce, Barton MacLane as Cal Bruce, Reed Hadley as William Quantrill, Irving Bacon as Casey, James Griffith as Joeh Farley, Douglas Fowley as Max Janus, Harry Shannon as Smokestack, Myron Healey as Morey, Clayton Moore as Stone, Robert Keys [Bob Keys] as Lieutenant Stanton, Tom Fadden as Gus Gustavson, Jonathan Hale as Sherman Johnson, Lane Bradford as Max, Fred Graham as Corvin, I Stanford Jolley, Riley Hill, and Roy Gordon.

© Derek Winnert 2025 – Classic Movie Review 13,401

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