Emperor of the North

PG

1973

1h 58m

Adventure

List

63%

Tomatometer

8 Reviews

85%

Audience Score

1,000+ Ratings

A legendary hobo, A No.1 (Lee Marvin) is renowned for his expertise in riding the rails for free, but he meets his match with Shack (Ernest Borgnine), a fierce railroad conductor who mercilessly kicks stowaways off of his train. Joined by brash young hobo Cigaret (Keith Carradine), A No.1 manages to elude Shack but issues a challenge to the heavily armed conductor, announcing that he will ride the train for its entire route, leading to a violent showdown between the two strong-willed men.

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Judith Crist

New York Magazine/Vulture

Robert Aldrich's The Emperor of the North Pole, is hard, contrived, pointless in its thesis, repulsive in its people, singularly joyless and, above all, incredible in its concoction.

Jun 29, 2020

Full Review

Vincent Canby

New York Times

The suspense of the film (which is so hugely violent that its PG rating is a mystery), is unrelenting and the performances first-rate.

Rated: 3.5/5

May 20, 2006

Full Review

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

The movie itself isn't sure where the basic conflict lies. Is it between Marvin and Borgnine, or between Marvin and the young punk he travels with? Even in the movie's key fight scene this confusion remains.

Rated: 2.5/4

Oct 23, 2004

Full Review

Dick Lochte

Los Angeles Free Press

Christopher Knopf's script is so arid, its dialogue so mountainous when silence would suffice, that we are very quickly lulled into a complete lack of interest.

Dec 31, 2019

Full Review

Bernard Drew

Gannett News Service

I can't recall ever seeing Marvin better. He plays a man with no past, little future and a shaky present, his every word and gesture indicates larger reserves of feeling, held in abeyance for a better day and a world which may receive it.

Jul 22, 2019

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Creative Loafing

Doesn't match the high-octane likes of such Aldrich efforts as The Dirty Dozen, The Longest Yard or even the offbeat, early-career twofer of The Big Knife and Ten Seconds to Hell, but it's a compelling piece of tough-guy strutting in a minimalist setting.

Rated: 3/4

Sep 26, 2015

Full Review

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CodyZamboni

Quasi watchable comedy drama about the king of the hobos. Nice Oregon location cinematography and lots of famous faces in supporting roles. Strong but not empathetic performances by Lee Marvin and Ketih Carridine, as the hobo king and his wannabe hobo. But what makes the film is the mad dog , brutal, vicious performance by Ernest Borginine. He blows everyone off the screen.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

09/12/23

Full Review

j f

Best hobo movie I've ever seen.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

Full Review

Ashley H

Emperor of the North is a decent film. It is about a legendary hobo who is renowned for his expertise in riding the rails for free, but he meets his match in a fierce railroad conductor. Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine give good performances. The screenplay is a little slow in places. Robert Aldrich did an alright job directing this movie. I liked this motion picture because of the adventure and drama.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/05/23

Full Review

deke p

Awesome! Loved it. From the first time I saw it, on the tv set, yars ago, I thot it was riveting. And it's on The Movie Channel again today, 4.2.22. (posted to RT with max 5 stars). Sadistic train engineer Borgnine fights king of the train-riding hoboes LEE MARVIN. + keith CARRADINE

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

It has some flaws, the comedy isn't very funny, the sound design sounds cheap sometimes, and the story doesn't always feel like it flows so smooth, but I thought Emperor of the North was an entertaining action-thriller with some intense scenes, dangerous looking stunt work pulled off by the actors, and good performances by Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

Full Review

delysid d

i would love to be a hobo. drinking wine, sleeping under bridges, campfires, beans!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/17/20

Full Review

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Robert Aldrich

Director

Lee Marvin

A No. 1

Ernest Borgnine

Shack

Keith Carradine

Cigaret

Charles Tyner

Cracker

Harry Caesar

Coaly

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Synopsis

A legendary hobo, A No.1 (Lee Marvin) is renowned for his expertise in riding the rails for free, but he meets his match with Shack (Ernest Borgnine), a fierce railroad conductor who mercilessly kicks stowaways off of his train. Joined by brash young hobo Cigaret (Keith Carradine), A No.1 manages to elude Shack but issues a challenge to the heavily armed conductor, announcing that he will ride the train for its entire route, leading to a violent showdown between the two strong-willed men.

Director: Robert Aldrich
Producer: Stanley Hough
Screenwriter: Christopher Knopf
Rating: PG
Genre: Adventure
Original Language: English
Release Date (DVD): Jun 6, 2006
Runtime: 1h 58m