While surveying a telegraph line in 1861, Western Union engineer Edward Creighton (Dean Jagger) is severely injured in an accident. He is discovered by Vance Shaw (Randolph Scott), an outlaw on the run from a posse. Forced to travel on foot after his horse was hurt, Shaw at first considers stealing Creighton's horse, but changes his mind and takes the man with him, saving his life.
Sometime later, following his recovery, Creighton returns to Omaha, Nebraska and plans the construction of a telegraph line from Omaha to Salt Lake City, Utah. Facing considerable opposition to the line from Confederate soldiers, Indians, and outlaws, Creighton elicits the help of his sister Sue (Virginia Gilmore), foreman Pat Grogan (Minor Watson), and assistant Homer Kettle (Chill Wills).
Looking to put his outlaw past behind him, Shaw arrives at Creighton's Western Union office looking for honest work and is hired as a scout by Grogan who is unaware of his past. Creighton recognizes him among the men and allows him to stay despite his suspicions. Creighton also hires tenderfoot Richard Blake (Robert Young), a Harvard-educated engineer as a favor to Blake's father. Shaw and Blake are both attracted to Sue and vie for her attention, but their romantic rivalry is cut short when construction of the telegraph line starts on July 4, 1861.
After work commences on the line, one of the men is killed apparently by a mysterious band of cattle-rustling Indians. Unconvinced that Indians are to blame, Shaw rides out to investigate and follows the rustlers' trail to the camp of Jack Slade, a former friend and cohort, whose gang committed the killing disguised as Indians—the gang Shaw left following his last bank robbery. Slade reveals that they are working for the Confederacy to disrupt Western Union because they believe the telegraph service will help the Union. Shaw rides away and returns to the line. Not wanting to turn in his former friends, Shaw tells Creighton that a large band of Dakota Indians stole the cattle, and recommends that they simply replace the herd and not risk a fight with the Indians.
Sometime later, a confrontation takes place between men working on the forward line and a band of drunken Indians. When one of the Indians tries to steal some equipment, a nervous Blake shoots him, ignoring Shaw's order to remain calm. After word arrives that the main camp is under attack by other Indians, the Western Union men rush back to help with the defense. At the main camp, Slade's men, who are again disguised as Indians, steal the Western Union horses. The company discover the ruse when one of the wounded Indians turns out to be a white man. Forced to buy back their stolen horses from Slade, Creighton becomes suspicious of Shaw's involvement, especially when he admits to knowing the gang.
Soon the U.S. Army arrives and announces the Indians have now refused to allow the telegraph lines to go through their territory in response to Blake's shooting of the drunken Indian. Creighton, Shaw, and Blake ride out to convince Chief Spotted Horse to allow them to build the line through Indian territory, even though the man Blake wounded was Spotted Horse's son. Creighton is finally able to persuade the Indians to allow them passage, and work continues until the company approaches Salt Lake City.
Sometime later, Shaw receives word that Jack Slade wants to meet with him. On the way to see Slade, Shaw is captured and bound by Slade's men. Slade says his group is going to burn down the Western Union camp and they don't want Shaw to interfere. After Slade and his men ride off, Shaw escapes from his ropes but arrives back too late to prevent the fire. He helps rescue some of the Western Union men from the flames and burns his hands in the process.
After the fire, Creighton confronts Shaw for an explanation, but Shaw does not reveal what he knows and is fired by Creighton. As Shaw leaves the camp, he tells Blake that Slade is actually Shaw's brother and that he, Shaw, will find Slade's gang and stop them from interfering with the telegraph project. Shaw rides off and finds Slade and his men in a nearby town. At the barber shop, Shaw confronts his brother, whose gun is concealed under the barber's sheet. Slade shoots Shaw through the sheet. Shaw fights back in spite of his wound, killing some of the gang members, and then dies. Blake arrives and continues the fight with Slade who dies from his wounds. Soon after, the Western Union line is completed and the workers celebrate. When Sue laments the absence of Shaw, Creighton tells her that Shaw can hear them.
爵爷只要在自导的电影中不出镜，电影的观感就能有所提升。况且这次他的技法相比之前的作品也更加娴熟，所以这部在许多人看来是“效仿之作”的电影中，我还是感受到了他本人内心中对于故乡和童年生活真诚的爱恋之情。以小孩的视角去展开叙事，无疑是最能把握住观众心理的，但布拉纳好像在执行层面出了点差错，因为他想通过宗教这一层面去展现出夹杂于其中的母爱，亲情和爱情，但“宗教”这个引子却又被提及的不明显，所以才导致于整部电影看下来就是个感情记事簿，没有啥可以值得单独拎出来的情感迸发点。所以尽管我对于本片的观感很喜欢，但还是认为它在某些地方理应值得做得更好。 小男主有时候给我的感觉也太像“乔乔”罗曼·格里芬·戴维斯了。
给五星有点过了，整体显得匠气了些，但无疑是个可爱又真诚的片子。朱迪·丹奇演得实在太好。乡愁真的是太容易击中人了。
有詹米多南就是烂片无疑。
非常独特的视角。大时代下个人细微的感情和牵挂，反倒深深的打动我
第一眼真的很《罗马》 黑白片讲乡愁 但对标未免质量差太多 毕竟罗马也不仅仅讲得这些 表演上小男孩挺灵 喜欢妈妈和爷爷的表演 氮气没什么发挥空间 爸爸的....咱们就是说 没提SAG都是有原因的 KB的电影还是有距离感 我可能体会不到他的电影乐趣了 但好在他自己没在里面演个角色 可能也没有合适的角色吧
太过于自我了，不是每条道路都通《罗马》，情感要有，技术也要有
摄影很好，但是我对于这部和罗马真的完全不感冒
【8】一个地域内新旧宗教的更迭与冲突，以及由其造成的各种混乱的社会现象，聚焦于具体的一个家庭内，甚至是一个小男孩，这种处理让全片的感情变得更加真挚，黑白片独有的精妙构图和光影也是锦上添花，在平淡中细腻、动人的一部片子。
这个广角大景和个色视角畸变的构图实在太像一个我喜欢不来的合作摄像的习惯了看得受伤。剪辑和调度也是跳来跳去，故事本身也没有多吸引人，感觉在看一个片场…
say nothing, and tell everything of softly love to your family. 片子可能至多三星了 不过今夜观影私人感受beyond expression, 就因此 没法客观打分
好喜欢这部片子的质感和基调。可能没讲什么大道理，但是导演对家乡的依恋从一首首老歌，一幢幢老楼间流露出来，即使岁月变迁，即使时局动荡，贝尔法斯特永远以一个温馨美丽的地方永远留在一个可爱男孩的心里。我虽然不是爱尔兰人，对于那里的风土人情和政治历史不太熟悉，但是这部片子可以勾起每一个人的童年记忆，那个熟悉的院子，一群熟悉的伙伴，成为我永远的印记。For the ones who stayed.For the ones who left.For the ones who lost.
爵爷卸甲归田拍了这部半自传，有些地方拍的还是蛮魔幻，北爱冲突也没描写的太惨烈，目的就是为了给故乡的情书保持温暖的基调吧。小时候我对宗教能引发冲突也会觉得不可思议，现在老了逐步能体会到复杂性。
被感动到了。很符合疫情当下动乱的世界，多少人留下，多少人离开，多少人迷失……
有一种很强的色彩，去留住记忆中的故乡的感觉。里面有家人，有大的时代环境，有悲欢离合……
如果不是迫不得已，谁愿意背井离乡，家乡千百般落后与混乱，却在街头巷尾有同样的熟悉与温暖。年轻的人，可以轻易启程另一段人生。老去的人，只能选择与回忆相伴留守，叫他们不要回头。
一部包装很漂亮的电影，至于里面没，真就一般般。
有人提到，这部电影就是布拉纳的『罗马』，的确，不管是题材还是黑白影像的运用，本片似乎与阿方索·卡隆的『罗马』有着异曲同工之妙，但看完全片你就会发现，这是一部精致工整但缺乏感染力的作品，电影对影像和配乐的运用确实特别考究，黑白影像增加了历史质感，拍摄的角度和构图也堪称教科书级，但在故事和情感表达上，却存在很大缺陷，很多私人情感与时代背景割裂，让人很难找到连接，不可否认会有小感动，但难有大共鸣。与『罗马』给我带来的触动相比，这样的落差也许不仅是因为地域、文化、信仰的差异。当然，导演也不只是夹带自我情感的私货，也借着片中父亲对男孩的教导，道明了自己对这段动荡时期的反思：不管是信仰什么，只要他是个正直善良的人，都可以成为朋友。总的来说，比『罗马』差了不止一个档次，庆幸时长适中，不至于冗长乏味。三星
结尾有些匠气与不够自然，摄影和配乐都很好。即使是不了解的历史事件，里面对于童年的怀念，对于父母的依赖，以及祖父祖母的智慧慈爱与牺牲，是共通的。人生总要面对别离的。
一开场就是《罗马》名场面，也不得不带着对比的眼光看下去了，孩子的视角纯真可爱，小演员演技担当是本片之福，但因为视角所限，社会的动乱和父母的争执都是断裂的叙述，无从知道动乱从何来，也不清楚母亲在洗衣粉事件之前是怎么同意移居的，全片只有淡淡的忧伤情绪是完满的，而怀旧歌曲和彩色光影密度之高，说是导演私人化的讲述不为过，感觉就像一篇小学生日记。（想了两天改不及格）
6.5/10 摄影尤其是构图当然很精致，也描绘出自己对贝尔法斯特难以割舍的情怀，一个充满人情味的城镇跃然幕上，但终究还是太私人了，或许会因为某一段的纯真与质朴发笑，但远远未能达到入戏的程度。
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