The Great Locomotive Chase is a 1956 historical action drama produced by Disney and based on a true story of The American Civil War. Fess Parker stars as James J. Andrews, a Union spy who leads a group of soldiers behind enemy lines to hijack a Confederate train and use it to sabotage the Confederate railways. However, the plan encounters disaster in the form of a Villainous Underdog railroad man and loyal Confederate played by Jeffrey Hunter.
The film is based on the story that inspired the (far less historically accurate) Buster Keaton film The General.
Tropes in this film:
- The Cavalry: Played darkly when Confederate cavalrymen arrive to assist the villains against the Union heroes at a key moment, forcing them to run for their lives when they had been in a position of strength seconds before.
- Failure Hero: The heroic Union saboteurs are captured before accomplishing a single objective of their mission. Their only triumph is pulling off The Great Escape (with Andrews and Campbell remaining behind to Hold the Line)note before they can be executed as spies, and even then, several of them are recaptured and hanged as well.
- Noble Confederate Soldier: While the ruthlessness of the Confederate leadership is referenced, every Confederate soldier or civilian aiding the war effort to appear onscreen is portrayed as an extremely brave Nice Guy who conveniently never talks about the ugly truths of what really motivated the Confederacy.
- One-Man Army: Campbell The Big Guy is said to be worth several men in a fight and proves it when he spends a while holding his own against several Confederate soldiers trying to Zerg Rush him in the final action scene.
- Southern Gentleman: Union spy Andrews is a well-dressed Kentuckian (although, historically, he had a lower-class background) who is extremely courteous and sympathetic to friends and enemies alike even when it isn't required for him to keep his cover.
- Villainous Underdog: Conductor William A. Fuller is an unabashed Confederate supporter whose train Andrews and his large, well-armed group of Union soldiers steal as part of their sabotage mission. Aided by just two other railroad employees (an older Non-Action Guy and another man who eventually gets too tired to go on), Fuller chases them dozens of miles, first on foot, then in a handcar, then in an assortment of other trains that he comes across, while recruiting their crews and passengers to join the chase. He prevails completely, leaving Andrews as a Failure Hero. Andrews views him as a Worthy Opponent, although Fuller only grudgingly reciprocates this feeling in his final scene.
