The Return of Casey Jones is a 1933 American

Pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorshi ...

action adventure film directed by

John P. McCarthy John P. McCarthy (March 17, 1884 – September 4, 1962), also known as J.P. McCarthy or simply as John McCarthy, was an American director and screenwriter of the 1920s through 1945. He began in the film industry in front of the camera, as an ac ...

, written by

Harry L. Fraser Harry L. Fraser (31 March 1889 – 8 April 1974) was an American film director and screenplay writer. Biography Born in 1889 in San Francisco, Fraser directed over 80 films between 1925 and 1951, including the 1934 John Wayne film '' Randy Rid ...

and starring

Charles Starrett Charles Robert Starrett (March 28, 1903 – March 22, 1986) was an American actor, best known for his starring role in the ''Durango Kid'' westerns. Starrett still holds the record for starring in the longest series of theatrical features: ...

and Ruth Hall. The film is based on the story of the same name by John Johns, published in the April 1933 issue of ''Railroad Stories'' magazine (reprinted in 2019 by

Bold Venture Press In typography, emphasis is the strengthening of words in a text with a font in a different style from the rest of the text, to highlight them. It is the equivalent of prosody stress in speech. Methods and use The most common methods in W ...

in their Railroad Stories reprint collection). The film was a Monogram Pictures Corporation production.

Plot

A young boy named Jimmy is devastated after learning of the death of famed train engineer Casey Jones with whom he was good friends. In the following years, he grows up to be a train engineer, too. One morning, as Jimmy is piloting his train the brakes lose their air pressure, and the train roars along unable to be slowed or stopped. Jimmy tells the mechanic to fix it, but knowing that there is a sharp curve coming up soon and that the train will go off the tracks the mechanic jumps off the train instead. Jimmy then grabs a wrench and climbs out onto the side of the engine to try to fix it himself, but while stretching to reach the loose hose connection he is jostled and falls off the train just moments before it goes off the tracks at the curve. Unfortunately, gossip around town is that Jimmy jumped off his train two and a half miles before the curve, which was untrue, and he is branded a coward. Worse, he did not let other trains know, and as a result he is let go as engineer. The fact that Jimmy did not sign up and volunteer for army duty, as many other boys did at the time, also rankled many and added heavily to the idea that he was a coward. Actually, he had planned to sign up, but his mother had a heart attack and the doctor told him if he did his mother would likely have another heart attack and it would be fatal this time. One of Jimmy's closest coworkers, who trusts him implicitly and doesn't believe the gossip, convinces the railroad to rehire him, though they will not make him an engineer again. The best they offer is a position as fireman on the train engineered by his friend (who humbly denies to Jimmy that he had anything to do with getting him back in). One dark night as their train is roaring along it loses its air pressure the same way Jimmy's had before. The engineer stoically – or more likely in shock – stands mute at the controls prepared to go all the way with the train, but Jimmy grabs a wrench and climbs out onto the engine to fix it. He succeeds and then carries the limp engineer off the train. After that he is re-branded as a hero and offered his old position as engineer again.

Cast

– Jim Martin * Ruth Hall – Nona Winters *

George "Gabby" Hayes George Francis "Gabby" Hayes (7 May 1885 – 9 February 1969) was an American actor. He began as something of a leading man and a character player, but he was best known for his numerous appearances in B-Western film series as the bewhiskered, c ...

– Timothy Shine *Robert Elliott – Casey Jones *

Margaret Seddon Margaret Seddon (November 18, 1872 – April 17, 1968) was an American stage and film actress. Biography She appeared in more than 100 films between 1915 and 1951. Her most memorable role was perhaps as one of The Pixilated Sisters, a come ...

– Mrs. Mary Martin *

Jackie Searl John E. Searl (July 7, 1921 – April 29, 1991) was an American actor. He portrayed bratty kids in several films, and often had only small roles, such as "Robin Figg" in 1934's '' Strictly Dynamite''. Early years His name is sometimes writte ...

– Jimmy Martin as a Boy *

George Walsh George Frederick Walsh (March 16, 1889 – June 13, 1981) was an American actor. An all-around athlete, who became an actor and later returned to sport, he enjoyed 40 years of fame and was a performer with dual appeal, with women loving hi ...

– Wild Bill Bronson *

Gordon De Main Gordon De Main (born Floyd Wood; September 28, 1886 – March 5, 1954)''Who Was Who on Screen'', p. 119 c.1977 by Evelyn Mack Truitt *note his publication claims his date of birth as 1897-March 5, 1967/ref> was an American film actor. He ...

– Ike MacFarland

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Return of Casey Jones 1933 films 1933 adventure films American black-and-white films Monogram Pictures films American adventure films Films based on short fiction Cultural depictions of Casey Jones Films with screenplays by Harry L. Fraser Films directed by John P. McCarthy 1930s English-language films 1930s American films