Western Union 

1941. USA. Directed by Fritz Lang. Screenplay by Robert Carson, based on the novel by Zane Grey. With Randolph Scott, Robert Young, Dean Jagger, John Carradine. A dramatic account of the laying of the first telegraph line across the American frontier, Western Union drew upon Lang's research into cowboy culture and Indian folklore. (He had lived briefly with the Navajo in Arizona.) Edward Cronjager's beautifully subtle Technicolor cinematography contributes to the film's moral shadings and bleak fatalism. Preserved by Twentieth Century Fox. 96 min.