World Premiere
The world premiere of the motion picture took place simultaneously at three different theaters (the Omaha, Orpheum, and Paramount) in Omaha, Nebraska, on April 28, 1939, just three weeks shy of the 70th anniversary of the driving of the real Golden Spike which joined the rails of the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific Railroads at Promontory Summit, UT, on May 10, 1869. The premiere was the center piece of a four-day (April 26–29) combined event called the Golden Spike Days Celebration and Golden Spike Historical Exposition that drew 250,000 people to the city thereby temporarily doubling its population and requiring the National Guard to help keep order.
A special train transported DeMille, Stanwyck, and McCrea from Hollywood to Omaha. The trip took three days and made stops along the way, drawing large crowds. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt inaugurated the overall celebration by pressing a telegraph key at the White House in Washington, DC, which opened the civic auditorium. An ad stated that the premiere, which involved parades, radio broadcasts and a banquet, was the biggest in motion picture history. An antique train continued on a 15-day coast-to-coast promotional tour, stopping at 30 cities around the country.
Read more about this topic: Union Pacific (film)
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