As Good As It Gets

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

The acting in this movie is really good.

It's always good when a movie is filmed on location, as this is. Well, wait a minute. It's sort of filmed on location. The real incidents on which this film is based took place on the eastern edge of the Rockies, on the Royal Gorge Route of the railway. This was filmed mostly near Durango, on the western side of Colorado's Rockies. Okay, not bad, just about 220 miles off, but if you know Colorado, it makes a difference. The Royal Gorge area is relatively arid, while the Durango area is not arid, so the look is all wrong.Nevertheless, this is a pretty good fictionalized story about a real incident in Colorado railroad history. Incidentally, you can still ride part of the Royal Gorge Route out of Canon City, Colorado, and it's a swell journey about an authentic train.This was a Paramount flick, and a rather big budget production from a company that didn't typically make very many Westerns. It isn't the smoothest production you'll ever watch, but it's still an above average Western. And, the train collision is very well done and looks very real...not sure how they did it.The male star is Edmond O'Brien. O'Brien was usually a supporting actor, but occasionally showed up in a leading role. I always liked him, but he probably missed the A list simply because he was a bit chunky. Sterling Hayden was the lead bad guy, and does fairly well here. I always liked Dean Jagger, who plays General Palmer, the railroad owner here, but this is not one of his better portrayals. Kasey Rogers is the chief female actor here, a decidedly B list actress, but she does fairly well as a woman torn between revenge and loyalty. Lyle Bettger plays the real heavy here, and I have to say, after watching him a couple of years ago during the same year in "The Greatest Show On Earth", he was a bit of a cornball as an all too bad villain -- overacting in both roles, to the point of being the caricature of villainy. J. Carrol Naish was a good character actor, and does nicely here as the engineer (as in construction) of the railway. Zasu Pitts and Paul Fix are along for a few laughs as a rather dowdy romantic couple.I can't make up my mind whether this film is a very, very good B Western, or a so-so A Western. But if you like Westerns at all, this one -- based on real history -- is well worth watching at least once.

There were some weak points to this film that could have easily been fixed or edited and they probably should of. First of all the way Nelson is killed- how can you be convinced you shot someone when you were fist fighting them? Second of all the fact that Linda was the sister of Bob Nelson should have been saved to be revealed to the audience when it was revealed to Jim Vesser after the trains crashed. It would keep the audience in suspense and wondering where she's riding off to and why. And finally the head on collision between two old narrow gauge steam locomotives. Since they were capturing such an amazing scene the filming makers should have set up multiple cameras to capture that awesome crash. A couple close up shots would have been so much better than the single shot from far away. All in all I love this movie. Even though the script was empty at times the work put in to get those spectacular shots of the trains and the mountains made up for it.

What we have here is the typical western shoot-up between two rival railway companies attempting to build through the Colorado Rockies. What makes this film somewhat unique is the head-on collision of two trains engineered by the "bad guys." The collision is for real! The Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad provided two narrow-gage trains that we destined for the scrap-heap for the Big Scene. With adequate dynamite placed on the engines, the crash was carried off. There were, obviously, no re-takes. After close-ups, the engines were hauled off to the steel-mills at Pueblo. A good Western that rail buffs will appreciate.

Pretty standard 50's action-western with a railroading theme. Edmund O'Brien's team of men are trying to build a rail line through the mountains, and dirty-dealing Sterling Hayden's men are trying to build their line first by sabotaging the other group. Lots of trains and mountain scenery, and not much else.Landslides, robberies and shootings abound, but despite the action the poor actors can't do much with the dead-end script. Dean Jagger is always good, and Paul Fix and Zasu Pitts are the comic relief as the broadly Irish train engineer and the camp cook who keeps trying to get Fix to propose to her. If you like trains and beautiful scenery, this is a decent movie.