Product Details

• Actors: Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Joan Blondell, Guy Kibbee, Alan Hale, David Landau
• Directors: Alfred E. Green
• Format: Black & White, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: WB
• DVD Release Date: February 16, 2006
• Run Time: 68 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0040BJGZU
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #170,625 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Finders keepers. Amid the comings and goings at Union Depot, on-the-grift Chic and his pal Scrap Iron retrieve a dropped baggage-claim ticket. They redeem it for a violin case - and open it to find a fortune in cash. Now Chic can put on airs and impress the doll-faced, down-on-her-luck chorus girl he meets at the station. And maybe she can travel to her next show on his dime (and flee a deviant stalker, to boot). Meanwhile, detectives can close in on the pair for passing around a lot of counterfeit dough. With top Talkie Era stars (Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Joan Blondell) and come-hither pre-Code élan and innuendo, Union Depot is the place for "great fun, brimming with early-1930s flavor" (Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent pre-code Warner's melodrama, August 7, 2010

By 

Douglas M - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

"Union Depot" is a very impressive Warner Brothers production from 1932. This is a more lavish production than normal with an enormous and detailed set of a railroad station. The film has a documentary feel starting with the opening credits which are spartan, listing only the stars Douglas Fairbanks Jnr and Joan Blondell. The camera floats down from the Union Depot sign to the entrance, follows 2 men through the door then floats back up to an expansive view of the interior, teeming with extras. It then continues to dolly in and out of individuals with snatches of dialogue, providing vignettes of the inhabitants - prostitutes on the make (note the hilarious put down of a sailor), a father farewelling his family with a subtle look of relief when they have gone, ethnic groups etc and since this is pre-code Hollywood, there is a pronounced emphasis on sex in a variety of combinations. The first 5 minutes of the film are brilliant - the use of the camera, the script, the sheer creativity on view. The director was the journeyman Alfred E Green! What a surprise.

The film eventually introduces the unemployed leads, Fairbanks as a hobo and Blondell as a chorus girl, being pursued by a lecherous and kinky sugar daddy. Fairbanks is smart and slick and Blondell is appealing and vulnerable, by no means the knowing dame she normally played. The film intertwines various subplots very cleverly in the manner of the much more famous "Grand Hotel". It does not matter that the story is melodramatic. The dialogue is what counts.

This is a Warner's Archive release meaning the print is unrestored, there are no extras and the DVD is very expensive. In this case, the print is at least in good condition.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Early Warner Brothers, June 8, 2010

By 

C.A. Arthur (Tacoma, Washington) - See all my reviews

This is a 1931 quickie starring two future super-stars Joan Blondell and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Both were 22. The story is rather bad melodrama, the camera work is still shaky at times, and a good many bit players seem still learning how to act. But for fans of Thirties flicks, this is an excellent example of how Warner Brothers was developing an assembly line of films in the early years of the Depression. From 1930 to 1937, Blondell made 47 movies; this was Fairbanks'28th film. In short, Union Depot is for students of the era. People seeking entertainment should look elsewhere in this rich genre.

By the way, the DVD print is fine, if highly overpriced.