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Post by wmcclain on Jan 6, 2020 12:16:08 GMT
Dodge City (1939), directed by Michael Curtiz. A cattleman (big hat, lots of cattle) and his pals don't want to take law jobs cleaning up Dodge, but when a little boy is killed-- that's just too much. The villains murdered the boy's father earlier; this is actually a bit brutal for an action/adventure western of this type. It has rich detail, but still more fantasy gloss than the more realistic titles from John Ford, Raoul Walsh or Howard Hawks. Errol Flynn is -- again -- in pursuit of Olivia de Havilland, who hammers him unmercifully during the first three-quarters of the film. As usual, they have good chemistry. Here is a photo of the two actors (holding hands!) during a tour. I imagine she is saying something like "I care about you but you need to dial down the crazy...": Ann Sheridan wears dance-hall outfits and sings, but doesn't have much else to do. The ending is a bit abrupt: the bad guys should have ridden out of rifle range. Misc notes: - In this story the good guys are ex-Confederate and the villains Union.
- A pre-Casablanca (1942) moment: the battling saloon singers, the selections this time being "Marching Through Georgia" vs "Dixie".
- The huge ensuing bar fight used every stuntman in town.
- I love the helpful townspeople: they let the killers run wild but form an instant lynch mob when one is in jail.
- I recall that when drinking with Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams ("Tex") you were at risk of real bar fights.
- Trivia: the country/rock band Pure Prairie League is named for the fictional temperance organization in this film.
Max Steiner score. Photographed by Sol Polito. Available on Blu-ray. The image is often quite good, and the whole disc a great upgrade over the DVD, where the Technicolor registration was so off you could see prismatic fringes on every edge.
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biker1
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Post by biker1 on Jan 6, 2020 13:19:47 GMT
Watched it heaps. 1939 really was a big year for the Western. Love the technicolor.
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Post by Doghouse6 on Jan 6, 2020 14:28:01 GMT
Watched it heaps. 1939 really was a big year for the Western. Love the technicolor. Olivia de Havilland must have been the unofficial Queen Of Technicolor at the time. Including Dodge City, she had five films in release in '38 - '39 in glorious Technicolor (the others were Gold Is Where You Find It, The Adventures Of Robin Hood, The Private Lives Of Elizabeth and Essex, and an obscure little production called Gone With the Wind). Interspersed among them during those two years were four other films as well. Busy young woman. And now, in her 104th year, a very durable one.
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biker1
Junior Member
@biker1
Posts: 1,804
Likes: 743
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Post by biker1 on Jan 6, 2020 15:02:22 GMT
Watched it heaps. 1939 really was a big year for the Western. Love the technicolor. Olivia de Havilland must have been the unofficial Queen Of Technicolor at the time. Including Dodge City, she had five films in release in '38 - '39 in glorious Technicolor (the others were Gold Is Where You Find It, The Adventures Of Robin Hood, The Private Lives Of Elizabeth and Essex, and an obscure little production called Gone With the Wind). Interspersed among them during those two years were four other films as well. Busy young woman. And now, in her 104th year, a very durable one. yep, seen those. I'll watch anything in technicolor. And anything with de Havilland. Technicolor glowboy at FOX, Tyrone Power, also did the technicolor western jesse james in 1939.
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Post by Doghouse6 on Jan 6, 2020 15:17:33 GMT
Olivia de Havilland must have been the unofficial Queen Of Technicolor at the time. Including Dodge City, she had five films in release in '38 - '39 in glorious Technicolor (the others were Gold Is Where You Find It, The Adventures Of Robin Hood, The Private Lives Of Elizabeth and Essex, and an obscure little production called Gone With the Wind). Interspersed among them during those two years were four other films as well. Busy young woman. And now, in her 104th year, a very durable one. yep, seen those. I'll watch anything in technicolor. And anything with de Havilland. Technicolor glowboy at FOX, Tyrone Power, also did the technicolor western jesse james in 1939. I'm with you on both de Havilland and Technicolor. Jesse James costar Henry Fonda also spent more time than most before Technicolor cameras in that period: Trail Of the Lonesome Pine, Drums Along the Mohawk and The Return Of Frank James.
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Post by bravomailer on Jan 6, 2020 16:34:39 GMT
Curtiz reworked this scene into Casablanca.
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Post by politicidal on Jan 6, 2020 23:50:46 GMT
Highly entertaining western. 8/10.
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Post by koskiewicz on Jan 9, 2020 17:39:56 GMT
Errol Flynn as a cowboy, makes about as much sense as Omar Sharif (an Egyptian cowboy) as "Colorado" in "McKenna's Gold."
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Post by petrolino on Jan 11, 2020 2:24:39 GMT
Fun movie.
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Post by Prime etc. on Jan 11, 2020 2:47:31 GMT
The color problem was a bit hard on the eyes.
I thought Bruce Cabot made an effective bad guy for Flynn.
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Post by nutsberryfarm π on Jan 15, 2020 23:50:12 GMT
sounds great---thanks!
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Post by hitchcockthelegend on Jan 20, 2020 23:05:01 GMT
Well, well. So this is Dodge City, huh? Sort of smells like Fort Worth, don't it?
"Dodge City, Kansas - 1872. Longhorn cattle center of the world and wide-open Babylon of the American frontier - packed with settlers, thieves and gunmen".
"Dodge City... rolling in wealth from the great Texas trail-herds... the town that knew no ethics but cash and killing".
Enter trail boss Wade Hatton, cunningly disguised as a dashing Errol Flynn...
Dodge City, an all action Western from start to finish, finds Errol Flynn (in his first Western outing) on tip top form. Based around the story of Wyatt Earp, Michael Curtiz's expensively assembled film charms as much today as it did to audiences back in 1939. All the genre staples are holding the piece together, dastardly villains, pretty gals, wagon train, cattle drive, iron horse, Civil War, shoot outs, fist fights and of course an heroic Sheriff. All neatly folded by the astute and impressive Curtiz. Aided by Sol Polito's fluid Technicolor enhanced photography, and Max Steiner's breezy score, Curtiz's set pieces shine as much as they enthral. A burning runaway train and the finest saloon brawl in cinema are the stand outs, but there are many other high points on which to hang the hat of praise.
Very much a male dominated film, it's with the ladies that Dodge City fails to reach greater heights. Olivia de Havilland, who is always a feast for the eyes in Technicolor, disliked her role as Abbie Irving, and it's not hard to see why. There is not much for her to get her teeth into, it's a simple role that demands nothing other than saying the lines and to look pretty. Ann Sheridan as Ruby Gilman gets the more sparky role, but she sadly doesn't get that much screen time. Which is a shame because what little there is of Sheridan is really rather great.
Those problems aside, it's with the guys where the film is rightly remembered. Flynn attacks the role of Hatton with gusto and a glint in his eye. When he straps on the Sheriff badge for the first time it's akin to Clark Kent shredding his suit to become Superman. Yes it's that exciting. Bruce Cabot and Victor Jory are growly and great villains, while comedy relief comes in the fine form of side-kickers Alan Hale and Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams. Picture sets out to entertain, and entertain it does. In a year that saw other notable and lauded Westerns also released (Stagecoach, Jesse James and Destry Rides Again) give credit where credit is due, for Dodge City deserves its place amongst those other genre offerings - and most assuredly so as well. 8/10
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Post by Feologild Oakes on Jan 20, 2020 23:25:12 GMT
Its a good movie
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Post by BATouttaheck on Jan 21, 2020 0:20:14 GMT
Well, well. So this is Dodge City, huh? Sort of smells like Fort Worth, don't it? I went to Dodge city recently β¦ it is one of THE Worst smelling cities! It is surrounded by feed lots and REEKS of cattle and all the smells that accompany them. Admittedly, the weather had stagnated there for a few days (maybe weeks ?) and the odor was more than normal BUT could not wait to get out of there .,. didn't even do the touristy things that are available β¦ Boot Hill, saloons etc. AND it wasn't even summer β¦
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Post by Prime etc. on Jan 21, 2020 6:24:45 GMT
Ann Sheridan as Ruby Gilman gets the more sparky role, but she sadly doesn't get that much screen time. Which is a shame because what little there is of Sheridan is really rather great. Daffy Duck: "Sufferin' succotash! It's Ann Sheridan!"
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