Product Description
Drawing inspiration from Jack London's adventures traveling with hobos aboard trains throughout the U.S., this gritty Depression-era drama features outstanding performances from Lee Marvin, Keith Carradine, and Ernest Borgnine. Shack (Borgnine) is a cruel railroad agent who makes it his personal mission to rid the world of hobos out for a free ride. Legendary tough-guy hobo A-1 (Marvin) vows to ride Shack's train to it's destination and survive, which would earn him the title of "Emperor of the North Pole." Director Robert Aldrich Star Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Keith Carradine Special Features: Widescreen Audio: (unspecified) - English Runtime: 120 minutes Year of Release: 1973.
Amazon.com
Emperor of the North, a vivid Depression-era drama, opens with a friendly, down-home song that doesn't prepare the audience for what follows: The brutal killing of a train-hopping bum at the hands of a cruel conductor named Shack (Ernest Borgnine, Marty, The Poseidon Adventure). A hobo called A-No. 1 (Lee Marvin, Cat Ballou, The Big Heat) rises to the challenge of catching a ride on Shack's train--but his heels are dogged by a tenderfoot (Keith Carradine, Deadwood, Nashville), whose inexperience may get them both killed. Director Robert Aldrich (The Dirty Dozen, Kiss Me Deadly) has a sure feel for male behavior driven by pride, boredom, and desperation. The swagger gets a little overblown at times, but more often Emperor of the North has a gritty realism, peppered with flashes of sardonic humor and surprising compassion. Aldrich has a gift for a loose yet always watchable story, filled with engaging bit parts and offbeat incidents that flesh out the world and make the main storyline all the more compelling. Marvin and Borgnine--craggy-faced character actors deluxe--are in excellent form, but Carradine steals the movie with his bitter, callow arrogance. (Originally titled Emperor of the North Pole, a bit of hobo lingo.) --Bret Fetzer
- Aspect Ratio : 1.85:1
- Is Discontinued By Manufacturer : No
- MPAA rating : PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
- Product Dimensions : 0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 2.4 ounces
- Director : Robert Aldrich
- Media Format : Multiple Formats, Widescreen, NTSC, Color
- Run time : 1 hour and 58 minutes
- Release date : June 6, 2006
- Actors : Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Keith Carradine, Charles Tyner, Malcolm Atterbury
- Subtitles: : English, Spanish
- Language : English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), English (Dolby Digital 1.0), Spanish (Dolby Digital 1.0), French (Dolby Digital 1.0)
- Studio : 20th Century Fox
- Writers : Christopher Knopf, Jack London
- Number of discs : 1
