Laikals The greatest movie ever made..!

StunnaKrypto Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

boblipton A first I thought this was an Allied Artists production: overblown script about the building of the titular railroad, Edmond O'Brien in the lead.... but no, it was a Paramount production, one of their A Westerns that seem overblown, despite an appealing cast, including Dean Jagger, personal favorite Zasu Pitts, Sterling Hayden (at the start of his "I'll say the line, but don't expect me to care" phase) and a spectacular railroad crash that used two actual engines. Ka-boom! Cute ingenue Kasey Rogers is spying for bad-guy Hayden (for a competing line) because she thinks D&RG people killed her brother, but she and O'Brien keep making goo-goo eyes at each other when they think the other isn't looking.I wasn't terribly impressed. It looked like a DeMille Western epic from the 1930s, but without the mythic characters, and it's too visually perfect, shot on site in the clean air of Colorado by former cameraman Byron Haskins and ace Technicolor specialist Ray Rennahan, meant to show off the the bright, accurate colors of fresh paint and clean clothes and green leaves that Technicolor could bring to the screen, like a mid-30s Warner Brothers short. I'm more interested in story and character than sheer spectacle, and the story and characters here are standard, while the spectacle (train crash aside) had all been done before. That leaves the outdoor photography around the tracks, and while the natural scenery is frequently beautiful, an hour and a half is pretty long for a travelogue. Despite the talent and effort, it winds up a pompous, overblown B Western.

dougdoepke Rousing locomotor from Paramount (can't call it an oater since there are no horses). The action rarely lets up as two railroad companies compete for most scenic rail line in the mountain west. Jim (O'Brien) works for the D&RG, while McCabe heads up the CC&SJ (Canon City & San Juan). Trouble is McCabe's outfit doesn't care what they have to do to win. Plus, they've got a spy in Jim's camp, so they've got a big advantage. But don't count out the D&RG, since Jim's road gang knows how to fight back, and is headed up by a general, no less.Pudgy O'Brien may look more like a San Francisco barfly (DOA {1950}) than a leader of men, but he's plenty spirited. And get a load of that great mountain scenery. I may be mistaken, but I think the whole time is spent along the rail line, so we get lots of alpine views. Clearly, the producers knew what the draw was. Sure, developments are sometimes either obscure or don't make much sense. But the action quickly moves on, so it's hard to get stuck. The centerpiece head-on between two speeding locomotives remains an eye-catcher, even though the enhancing explosives are pretty apparent.All in all, the 80-some minutes add up to a visual treat, but don't expect much in the way of extended dialogue. The language here is action, not words.(In passing-- There's a commemorative statue of General Palmer, founder of the D&RG, astride a steed in downtown Colorado Springs. Thus his name remains well known in the area.)

James M. Haugh There is a promotional film for "America's last narrow gauge passenger train" that includes scenes on the making of this film. The film is titled "Journey to Yesterday" and does not seem to be listed on the IMDb. Starting in Durango, this film follows the tourist train on it's journey to yesterday. At one point it reaches the location where the "Denver and Rio Grande" movie is being made. It has extensive coverage of the actors at work and especially the "day for night" cinematography being used for some of the movie's night scenes. It also shows the preparation work for the filming of the train collision right up to the collision itself. During the 1990's this film was available on video tape but a recent (2009) check of Amazon.com indicates that this tape is no longer available.

bkoganbing The Denver and the Rio Grande is purportedly the story of the construction of that line financed by Dean Jagger, designed by J. Carrol Naish and constructed by Edmond O'Brien. They meet some stiff opposition from the the bad railroad where Sterling Hayden and Lyle Bettger run things.With some elements taken from films like Union Pacific and Saratoga Trunk, Denver and the Rio Grande is entertaining, but not consistently. Part of the plot is where the baddies convince Edmond O'Brien he killed Don Haggerty. They do a weak job of it in my opinion. Unfortunately that weakness leads to some rather silly motivation on the part of other characters.What is nice is the good Rocky Mountain location photography and two very good performances by Zasu Pitts and Paul Fix in sidekick roles. They have a very cute romance going and at times they're better than the leads.