Director: Tom Gries
Starring: Charles Bronson, Richard Crenna, Jill Ireland, Ed Lauter, Ben Johnson, Charles Durning
Running Time: 95 minutes
Synopsis: In the 1870s, a military train is on its way to Fort Humboldt ostensibly to deliver essential medical supplies. The mission leader is Governor Richard Fairchild (Richard Crenna), accompanied by his lover Marica (Jill Ireland), while Major Claremont (Ed Lauter) commands the military escort unit. At a rest stop, U.S. Marshal Pearce (Ben Johnson) and his prisoner John Deakin (Charles Bronson) join the train trip. But all is not what it seems, and soon murders and mishaps threaten to derail the journey.
What Works Well: Alistair MacLean adapts his own book and director Tom Gries enjoys constructing an Agatha Christie-type mystery in a western milieu, assisted by a lithe Charles Bronson and a supporting cast deep in talent. The final 30 minutes finally kick into gear and deliver a rousing climax, including a harrowing train-top battle to the death choreographed by veteran stuntman Yakima Canutt. The exterior vistas of the train traversing the landscape are elegant, augmented by a magnanimous Jerry Goldsmith music score.
What Does Not Work As Well: The first hour is more annoying than enthralling, the lack of clarity around plot and motivations leaving the characters dangling. Even once revealed, the conspiracy lands somewhere between incomprehensible and unnecessarily convoluted. For a wanted criminal finally captured by the law, Bronson's John Deakin is afforded a remarkable amount of freedom to skulk around.
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