Run For Cover - A Grande Western

Run For Cover, a Paramount Pictures western was put into wide release on this day in 1955. It stars Jimmy Cagney as a drifter intent on giving a grown orphan (played by John Derek) a chance as a partner in a western town. In the early part of the story, Cagney's and Derek's characters are mistaken for robbers holding up the train. Enter the starlet of the picture, the highline of the Silverton Train. I say starlet because her time on the screen is all too brief! Nary a foot of extra film is spared for Mikado 473 and the entire holdup sequence is tightly covered. It may be a Grande film, but it's still one on a budget.

Matt Dow (James Cagney, left) and Davey Bishop (John Derek, right) talk over trains and rumors of hold-ups while old Number 7 (Denver & Rio Grande Western 473 center) simmers on the high line near Rockwood, Colorado [under Fair Use]

Silverton, however, gets broad coverage under the more ambiguous name of Madison, and most if not all of the town sequences were filmed there. Even the most recent visitors to Silverton would be able to spot the depot and some of the buildings used, and certainly most of the outdoor shots have Sultan Mountain, Galena or Kendall in the background. Cagney even chases a thief over the yard tracks east of the town. With the exception of the climactic chase, it's Silverton or a small farm, likely in a valley nearby.

Number 7 of the Rio Grande (played ostensibly by K-28, 473) rounds the bend before the erstwhile ambush of two gunmen, Dow and Bishop. Barely on the screen for two passes, it doesn't seem nearly long enough for a railfan. [under Fair Use]

Cagney is a legend in early Hollywood, an established star in the firmament of the Golden Age in his last few years as a leading man. John Derek was a younger heartthrob at the time, but most of us would probably recognize his fourth wife, Bo. If you're into westerns, Run For Cover would certainly pass for the second of a double feature evening, or as main fare if you're planning to ride and hope to spot the holdup location in the next few days. As a railfan, the train itself is not given nearly enough time, but then, when is enough ever enough for such a grande place? Nevertheless, it's worth noting that not only was the Rio Grande among those railroads that built the west, but it took a central role in creating the myth of the Old West in film and story.⚒

Run For Cover on Wikipedia
...on iMDb

The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad where most of the film took place