The Great Locomotive Chase

1862, the Civil War. James Andrews, a Union spy, and a group of volunteer soldiers slip into Southern territory in civilian clothes. The aim is to seize a train and put the railway between Atlanta and Chattanooga out of use. They steal the train. But the train's conductor, William Fuller, will not let them go; he chases them first on foot, then on a handcar, then with another locomotive. The events are real and are known as Andrews' Raid. The same episode had been filmed once before, thirty years earlier: Buster Keaton's The General tells the same chase from the Southern side and as comedy. This Disney production looks at it from the Northern side and in a serious tone. Fess Parker plays Andrews and Jeffrey Hunter one of the soldiers. Francis D. Lyon directed. Eighty-five minutes. The film's ending stays faithful to how the real raid ended.