Emperor of the North

"If you can ride Shack's Train and Live - You'll be..."

1973 1h 58m EN

👍

6.9

SOLID

🍅

67%

FRESH

⭐

7.2

IMDB

★6.9TMDB · 151🍅67%Rotten Tomatoes★7.2IMDB · 7,444

AdventureDramaActionThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Hobos encounter a sadistic railway conductor that will not let anyone "ride the rails" for free.

“If you can ride Shack's Train and Live - You'll be...”

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Cast

Lee Marvin
A No. 1
Ernest Borgnine
Shack
Keith Carradine
Cigaret
Charles Tyner
Cracker
Malcolm Atterbury
Hogger
Simon Oakland
Policeman
Harry Caesar
Coaly
Hal Baylor
Yardman's Helper

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Robert Aldrich
Writers: Christopher Knopf, Jack London
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

53 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Robert Aldrich, shot by Joseph F. Biroc. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Frank De Vol. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Michael Luciano shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine and Keith Carradine carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "If you can ride Shack's Train and Live - You'll be...".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0070030 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Robert Aldrich directs. Joseph F. Biroc behind the camera. Frank De Vol scores. Michael Luciano cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

153 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Directed by Robert Aldrich, shot by Joseph F. Biroc. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Frank De Vol. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Michael Luciano shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine and Keith Carradine carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "If you can ride Shack's Train and Live - You'll be...".
7IMDB entry: tt0070030 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Joseph F. Biroc
Original score: Frank De Vol
Editing: Michael Luciano
Makeup / hair: William Turner
Sound: Theodore Soderberg
Runtime: 118 min · 1h 58m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Emperor of the North (1973)
Rotten Tomatoes: 67% 🍅 Fresh
IMDB rating: 7.2/10 · 7,444 votes
MPAA: PG

Also by

Robert Aldrich

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2014-09-25
★ 9/10
Nobody gets a free ride on this train! It's the great depression and the US is now home to many homeless hobos. Shack is a particularly nasty piece of work, devoid of any compassion for the homeless, he prides himself on not letting any one ride free aboard the train he conducts upon. But in the midst is hobo supreme, A No. 1, a man who is never afraid to take up a challenge, so along with Cigaret, a young wannabe legend, he sets about destroying Shack's reputation whilst furthering his own. Make no bones about it, Emperor Of The North Pole is unashamedly macho, director Robert Aldrich filling his picture with machismo beefcakes and molding a story of brawn versus brawn aboard the unlikely setting of a steam train journey. Boasting Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine (both excellent) as the twin main leads signals the films intent, yet the picture offers more than just egotistical bluster. We get a very engrossing feel of a most depressing time in history, a time when men wanted to be men but were struck down by misfortune. Some of the dialogue is very sharp, listen to Marvin's A No. 1's wry observations on the world and you know that this film has quite a bit to say. The other major thing to note is that some of the technical work is brilliant, the photography from Joseph F. Biroc is priceless, and some of the train sequences are feasts for the eyes. Aldrich's undervalued flair for action also comes to the fore here, from a near miss train crash to the defining confrontation between our two pit bull protagonists, it really is a most accomplished piece across the board. Even young Keith Carradine as Cigaret comes out with much credit, it would have been easy for him to have been lost under the sheer weight of the beef talent around him, but he holds his own and is integral to the picture's ultimate success. It's a difficult one to recommend with any great confidence because it has kind of got an acquired taste to it, but to me it remains one of the 70s hidden treasures. Simply put it's a film that I'm always going to have the utmost regard for. 9/10

Production companies