It's time for another "Movie Trivia" 

Name the Film and Actor from these four scenes (this is a toughy): 

        Maybe too tough.  Here's a couple clues: This "scary" film was released in 1953 by Universal Studios. The guy jumping out of bed in his long underwear is always the straight man of a very popular comedy duo of the 1940's and 50's.  You know him if you are of a certain age!

Riden' the Rails (in long red flannel Underwear)

This past year, I read a wonderfully entertaining book by Michael Crichton, an outstanding author, now deceased. His 1975 novel was based on a true 1855 incident in London. His book is titled The Great Train Robbery.  I learned he subsequently wrote the screenplay too, first released in England in 1978. Upon completion, the film co-starred one of my very favorite actors, Donald Sutherland. Sutherland played Robert Agar, a petty crook and pickpocket. The film starred Sean Connery too as Edward Pierce, the main character. Starling Films produced this movie which was distributed by United Artists. 

The real life Pierce was actually a well known 19th century socialite. He was never convicted of planning and executing the theft of a very large gold shipment from a major British railroad. His was an elaborate scheme to obtain that immense treasure.

Part of the procedure was to smuggle his acquaintance, Agar, into the baggage car where the gold was stored. He convinced Agar to hide within a coffin which would be dispatched to a train, placed inside the baggage car with mail, packages and, most importantly, the prearranged gold shipment. Pierce was to secure a place within an elegant and comfortable private train car cabin. 

On the train trip transferring the gold, Pierce climbed up and out of his cabin window, made his way rapidly across the top of several train cars, and back finally to the baggage car. For his trouble, he was covered from head to toe in soot from the coal fired engine. By the time he got to his destination, his clothes were ruined.

After great effort, he was able to ingeniously break into the baggage car from the outside. He broke the exterior lock, hanging from the side of the train. He then slid aside the door joining Agar, who by then held the baggage attendant at gun point. The malefactors quickly replaced the gold with bars of lead. They then threw the bags of gold out through the car doors to the ground at a predetermined country place. The train continued to the town of their destination. Pierce and Agar planned to return later to retrieve their bounty. But...

...it dawned on Pierce that he could not return to his cabin in ruined clothes. So, he told Agar he'd need to give up his clothes to him in order to complete the theft without drawing suspicion from the other passengers and authorities. Hagar cursed Pierce, but then reluctantly stripped off his attire, leaving him in nothing but a red union suit for the remainder of the trip. 

 

 

With help from Agar which involved using a rope inside the baggage car, Pierce exited the area, closed the door, and made his way back to safety with Agar's clothes securely bundled under his arm.

Assisted by the guard who promised not to divulge the grand larceny, 

Agar climbed back into his coffin, wearing now only his long red underwear:

 

 He lay down and awaited the end of the line 

while the coffin lid closed down upon him.

My thanks to Starling Films and United Artists for producing this very entertaining film. You'll want to see this one.

Rural Long Johns

After posting Ian Sanderson's memoir and family pictures of him as a little boy in rural Wyoming this past December 10, 2024, I heard from several of you. Seems a fair number grew up on farms and ranches, wearing union suits to bed rather than pajamas, just like Ian. 

For example, Barry from rural Johnson County, Iowa emailed that he wore union suits as a boy on his family farm. He wore them "around the clock," a good part of the year, including to bed. Barry mentioned he remembered seeing a farmer in his union suit in the original Back to the Future film. The farmer and his family were awakened late at night when Marty's DeLorean accidently crashed into their barn!

Although I had forgotten this farm scene in the original movie, I surmised that Marty McFly was not the first person to appear in a union suit in the classic Back to the Future trilogy.  Here he is having just woken up in the old west, practicing for a shoot out after climbing out of bed in this long-handled union suit: Back to the Future III (see my posting of October 31, 2023):

In the original Back to the Future, the farmer before rushing out of his farm house, threw on a bathrobe over this red union suit. The family accompanied him out the door in their various forms of night time dress. 

Barry suggested I work up a posting based on this scene in one of his favortite films. With a little research, I captured a few shots of the family's night time adventure as they appeared in the 1985 Universal Pictures' classic, written and directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd.

Marty, having jumped in Doc's DeLorean in haste, left the JC Penney parking lot after being chased by terrorists. He ended up himself "back to the future" - 1955. He raced down a country highway and into farm land, running into a barn before he could get the DeLorean under control! The loud commotion woke up the farm family who shortly came running out of the house. 

 

The farmer's son was the first one out of the house. Before, he ran outside, the boy had thrown on his overalls over his yellow plaid nightshirt, under which he wore a union suit. The farmer took time to pull on his bathrobe and boots before following his son out the front door towards the barn. His wife and daughter soon followed the men folk to see what woke them up. 

The four of them carefully made their way to the barn.... 

 

What's this?!?!  

 

Secure in his bathrobe and long red underwear, the farmer held 

his lantern up high and gazed with the family into the barn...

Oh my gosh....Ahhhhhhhh!!!?!

Could it be an alien from outer space?! 

Or a space zombie from Pluto?!

This scene for many, including me, has been long forgotten unless you've happened to have viewed this movie recently. If you haven't seen it lately, take another look.  You'll catch a glimpse of rural life in the 1950's.

A Special Thanks to Universal Pictures, the director and actors, 

and to Barry for bringing this to Union Suit Fan.