Emperor of the North

Originally titled and marketed (confusingly to audiences) as Emperor of the North Pole, Robert Aldrich’s tale of train-traveling hobos vs. a bloodthirsty railroad conductor is never less than interesting. Every movie Aldrich made in his 35-year long career is worth seeing once and Emperor of the North, though imperfect, had me mesmerized in a recent viewing (I saw the film in its initial release at a drive-in theater. Looking at comments posted in various film forums, I see I was far from the only one who saw it at that age at a drive-in).

Lee Marvin plays A-No.-1, King of The Road, perhaps the most experienced and seasoned hobo “riding the rails” in 1933, a hero to the hobo community. He’s first introduced fighting off three strangers with a live chicken! Appearing to steal that chicken from him, challenge him and learn from him, is the young Cigaret (Keith Carradine, looking astonishingly young after seeing his recent turns as Wild Bill Hickok in Deadwood and Lou Solverson in the series Fargo). Ernest Borgnine froths and seeths as their nemesis, Shack, a company man so intent on disallowing freeloaders that he maintains an arsenal of hammers, chains and lethal metal pins. Imagine Full Metal Jacket‘s R. Lee Ermey as a railroad man, times five: I’m surprised the raging, eye-popping Borgnine didn’t have a heart attack making this film. Its prelude shows Shack slamming a freeloader over the head with a hammer, knocking him down underneath the racing train where he’s cut in half on the track. All in a day’s work.

Although taking place during the depression, Emperor of the North used as its inspiration two earlier books: The Road, Jack London’s 1907 memoir, an account of his experiences as a hobo in the 1890’s depression, and From Coast to Coast with Jack London (1917), by Leon (A-No.-1) Ray Livingston. Jack London also used the name Cigaret on the road. Emperor shows how hobo challenges are marked on a train station water tower, resulting in bets being placed far and wide on who will “win” the dangerous game: Shack or the hobo challenger.

The world Aldrich shows is a man’s world (women only appear in two very short scenes, and only for the protagonists to ogle at). He uses detailed, glistening close-ups as if desperate to get inside these characters’ souls. The only sense of community shown is the business of railroading and the hobo communities, some of which look stereotypical, as if they walked in from Lewis Milestone’s 1933 Hallelujah, I’m a Bum!  On the other hand, Aldrich utilizes a wealth of character actors, including Vic Tayback, Elisha Cook, Jr., John Steadman and Simon Oakland, making Emperor a joy to watch on that level.

Made in the pre-CGI era, with little or no blue screening, nearly every shot in Emperor looks convincing, with the three leads doing much of their own stunt work. A penultimate scene involving a chain and a hatchet on a moving train will have you fearing for these actors careers.

~MOVIE TRIVIA~
Ernest Borgnine played the voice of Carface in All Dogs Go to Heaven 2 (1996) and the All Dogs Go to Heaven TV series—a role Emperor of the North character actor Vic Tayback had previously played.Emperor of the North also benefits from beautiful location shooting in Oregon, the same area Buster Keaton used for his great train film, The General (1927). Perhaps thinking along those lines, Aldrich made the unfortunate decision to mimic the silent film era in places, utilizing broad, “comedic” acting and honky-tonk piano in a scene attempting to be funny. (This was a trend in the 60’s and onward: awkwardly mimicking what were perceived to be the tropes of the silent era in comedic scenes, probably starting with Tony Richardson’s 1963 Tom Jones and trickling upward to A Christmas Story (1983). Knowledge of what the silent film era really was like has fortunately grown since then). The overwrought Frank De Vol score in general is a detriment to the film, as is the embarrassing Hal David/Frank De Vol theme song, A Man and a Train (sample lyrics: “A man and a train, a train and a man/They both tried to run as far/And as fast as they can/But a man’s not a train and a train’s not a man/A man can do things that a train never can.”).

—Michael R. Neno, 2018 Apr 22