Antonius Block There is a lot to like about this 65 minute pre-Code film from 1932. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. is charming as a hobo who finds some money and befriends a chorus girl (Joan Blondell) who needs money for a train ticket. Blondell is brilliant and the relationship that develops between the two of them is touching. Director Alfred E. Green tells a great story – introducing the area of a train station with scenes of sassiness and levity, and then using lots of fluid camera movement while keeping almost all of the action there. Peppered throughout the film are salacious little moments that keep it lively without going over-the-top, and little touches such as the railway employee melodiously yelling "All Aboard!". It's not a heavy drama or anything, but as criminals and the cops close in while trying to find counterfeit money, there are moments of tension. The chase through the train yard is excellent, and in one moment it actually appears as though a train bumps Alan Hale. The ending was a very nice touch and I loved it so much I bumped my rating up, but won't spoil it. Very entertaining.

utgard14 Interesting Pre-Code movie about a hobo (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) at a train station who finds a bag with money and clothes that he uses to transform himself into a gentleman, at least on the outside. He meets a woman (Joan Blondell) who's down on her luck and, after initially treating her pretty rough, decides to try and help her out. There are other characters with their own stories and eventually they all intersect.Doug Fairbanks is good in a role that's hard to like at first. He has nice chemistry with Joan Blondell. Joan's both sexy and cute, playing slightly against the types of parts she was normally playing then. Guy Kibbee is fun as Fairbanks' friend Scrap Iron. Frank McHugh has an amusing bit as a drunk, Alan Hale is a counterfeiter, David Landau a tough cop, and George Rosener a perverted weirdo after Blondell. The movie moves along at a quick pace and gets the most out of its 67 minutes. Colorful characters and a snappy script with some laughs, drama, and even action. It's solid entertainment but also has some interest for those curious about Depression-era America.

calvinnme ...why would Ruth Collins (Joan Blondell) take desperate measures - and in the case of women in 1932 that could mean only one thing - to get that 64 dollars? The setting is a train station - "Union Depot" - during the Depression. At the beginning the camera goes back and forth over travelers that ultimately do not have much to do with the story - immigrant families speaking in foreign languages, a mother walking along with her four children tied together like a caravan, a sailor trying to make it with a street wise girl and getting nowhere, a woman saying goodbye to her Pullman porter husband and when he is out of sight embracing her lover with the good news - he's gone for a week! Into this hustle and bustle walk two hungry vagrants - Scrap Iron Scratch (Guy Kibbee) and young Chick Miller (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.). Scratch has retained his sense of humor but you can tell he has given up on life giving him a break. Chick is a quick thinking good looking fellow that in better times could have gone up any corporate ladder, but this is the Depression and it's all about your next meal and survival for these two and many others.They, along with Ruth, have a one day adventure at the station that involves G-Men on the look-out for counterfeiters, the counterfeiters themselves, a violin-case stuffed with fake cash, and just for good measure, a villain in the classic sense - Dr. Bernardi that doesn't have anything to do with these other villains. He's a dirty old man with failing eyesight and a bad leg, yet he thinks he's up to physically overpowering a young healthy woman like Ruth? Despite Clint Eastwood's timeless true warning that a man's got to know his limitations, the villain still pursues her.There's plenty of action in a place that is dangerous for any kind of action - Union Depot's train yards as locomotives exit and enter at high speed, and there's that great Depression slice of life that Warner Brothers was so good at during the pre-code years. Also look out for Frank McHugh in a small but important role as a man who in his drunken state can't tell a member of the armed forces from an information desk manager and whose forgetfulness in leaving his bag behind in the men's washroom - complete with new suit and shaving kit - is a piece of good luck for Chick. Or maybe it's ultimately bad luck? Watch and find out which. It will definitely hold your interest.

mukava991 UNION DEPOT is a must see for all fans of Pre-Code Hollywood movies! Its chief attractions are fluid camera movement, a fast moving plot involving hardboiled Warner Bros-type characters from the lower rungs of society, as well as plenty of sexual situations, humor, suspense and action. ***POSSIBLE SPOILER*** One may notice that after Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Alan Hale engage in a train yard fight - jumping off boxcars, crawling through gravel, rolling around over oily tracks, getting kicked and punched - they emerge inside the station a moment later looking perfectly intact! Not even a smear of grime on their cheeks or a disheveled lock of hair or a rip in the fabric of their garments! ***END OF POSSIBLE SPOILER***One can, of course, suspend disbelief like mad because the movie is so splendidly entertaining and colorfully cast. Joan Blondell has never been more charming or attractive, playing a "decent" girl who by economic necessity must mix with indecent people. And the ending is harsh and rather sad. What a refreshing piece of work!