There came a point in the movie when I began wondering to myself, how come John Deakin/Murray (Charles Bronson) is running around loose without scrutiny or in the presence of any of the authority figures, like Marshal Pearce (Ben Johnson) or Major Claremont (Ed Lauter). After all, his face was on a Wanted Poster, and he admitted to being an arsonist and murderer. There was only the very loose explanation that the supply train was winding it's way through uninhabited and dangerous wilderness, but a dangerous guy, I think, would have made a break for it at some point.
But Deakin was not the dangerous guy the viewer is set up for. The picture jumps all of it's characters through some hoops so that they turn out to be somewhat different players than how they started. Only Miss Scoville (Jill Ireland) survives the trip unscathed as the same character, but reviled by the idea that her fiancée and Governor (Richard Crenna) is one of the picture's main villains. I always get a kick out of seeing Bronson and Ireland in the same picture, knowing that they were married in real life, and wondering if they played out their movie roles at home. You know, like tying Bronson's hands behind his back and slapping him around for fun.
Probably the most memorable part of the film is the fight scene between Bronson and Archie Moore! on the train roof-top hurtling along though the mountain pass. By this time, Moore didn't look like he could make his weight limit as a light heavyweight, and he didn't have much in the way of a speaking role, but he did look dangerous. I wonder if that's how his ring opponents saw him without a knife.
Overall, a decent time filler for an action flick, more of a mystery than a Western, and suitably outfitted with rugged countryside that complements the characters of the main players. Alistair MacLean wrote the screenplay based on his own novel, utilizing some of the same elements that brought his more heralded war stories to the screen, like "Where Eagles Dare" and "Force 10 From Navarone".
But Deakin was not the dangerous guy the viewer is set up for. The picture jumps all of it's characters through some hoops so that they turn out to be somewhat different players than how they started. Only Miss Scoville (Jill Ireland) survives the trip unscathed as the same character, but reviled by the idea that her fiancée and Governor (Richard Crenna) is one of the picture's main villains. I always get a kick out of seeing Bronson and Ireland in the same picture, knowing that they were married in real life, and wondering if they played out their movie roles at home. You know, like tying Bronson's hands behind his back and slapping him around for fun.
Probably the most memorable part of the film is the fight scene between Bronson and Archie Moore! on the train roof-top hurtling along though the mountain pass. By this time, Moore didn't look like he could make his weight limit as a light heavyweight, and he didn't have much in the way of a speaking role, but he did look dangerous. I wonder if that's how his ring opponents saw him without a knife.
Overall, a decent time filler for an action flick, more of a mystery than a Western, and suitably outfitted with rugged countryside that complements the characters of the main players. Alistair MacLean wrote the screenplay based on his own novel, utilizing some of the same elements that brought his more heralded war stories to the screen, like "Where Eagles Dare" and "Force 10 From Navarone".