Western Union

Western Union is a 1941 American Western film directed by Fritz Lang and starring Robert Young, Randolph Scott, and Dean Jagger. Filmed in Technicolor on location in Arizona and Utah. In Western Union, Scott plays a reformed outlaw who tries to make good by joining the team wiring the Great Plains for telegraph service in 1861. Conflicts arise between the man and his former gang, as well as between the team stringing the wires and the Native Americans through whose land the new lines must run. In this regard, the film is not historically accurate; Edward Creighton was known for his honest and humane treatment of the tribes along the right of way and this was rewarded on the part of the Indians by their trust and cooperation with Creighton and his workers. The installation of telegraph wires was met with protest from no one. The film is based on the 1939 novel Western Union by Zane Grey, although there are significant differences between the two plots. Plot While surveying a telegraph line in 1861, Western Union engineer Edward Creighton is severely injured in an accident. He is discovered by Vance Shaw, an outlaw on the run from a posse. Forced to travel on foot after his horse was hurt, Shaw at first considers stealing Creighton's horse, but changes his mind and takes the man with him, saving his life. Sometime later, following his recovery, Creighton returns to Omaha, Nebraska and plans the construction of a telegraph line from Omaha to Salt Lake City, Utah. Facing considerable opposition to the line from Confederate soldiers, Indians, and outlaws, Creighton elicits the help of his sister Sue, foreman Pat Grogan, and assistant Homer Kettle.