So it's not a bad film, just an average one with plenty of great action concerning the locomotive chase and some fabulous color photography, but really lacking in a strong plot. This could have been a very important Disney film, but sadly it's not very interesting historically considering that this is based on a real life person who posed as a Confederate, risking his life in the battle for freedom, and not quite succeeding. Fess Parker plays a truly noble man who risks capture and the ramifications for his war crimes against the Confederacy, and he's surrounded by a decent all-male cast which includes Jeffrey Hunter, John Lupton and Slim Pickens.
The title alone wasn't enough to attract me to it because of my interest in railroads, particularly in historical contexts. As stated, I found this a beautiful film to look at, but at times, I found that it failed to completely grab my interest. The use of songs doesn't really add much to the story, nut at least they didn't have an unnecessary romantic subplot to bog it down further. I wouldn't call this a boring film, just an unexciting one, really taking no chances and not as important as it could have been. It's ironic that the only truly great scene Is the final one, making me think that had the script writer given this some more thought, they could have created something more reflective on the historical period rather than the somewhat humdrum disappointment I found it to be.
The title alone wasn't enough to attract me to it because of my interest in railroads, particularly in historical contexts. As stated, I found this a beautiful film to look at, but at times, I found that it failed to completely grab my interest. The use of songs doesn't really add much to the story, nut at least they didn't have an unnecessary romantic subplot to bog it down further. I wouldn't call this a boring film, just an unexciting one, really taking no chances and not as important as it could have been. It's ironic that the only truly great scene Is the final one, making me think that had the script writer given this some more thought, they could have created something more reflective on the historical period rather than the somewhat humdrum disappointment I found it to be.