Dark Command (1940)

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

This old B/W Republic movie gives us a great cast, in some unusual roles. A young John Wayne is working his way West with his sidekick, "Gabby" Hayes, with Wayne getting into fights so that Gaby, acting as a western dentist, can pull people's teeth, at 2 bits a tooth, after Wayne knocks them loose.As Bob Seton (John Wayne) and his sidekick Doc Grunch (George "Gabby" Hayes) arrive in Lawrence, Kansas in 1859, we begin a movie about "Bleeding Kansas" when both Northerners and Southerners are moving in to help claim this territory—soon to be a state (1861)—as either a future "Slave State" or a "Free State" in keeping with the poorly conceived Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854.Once in Lawrence, the patriotic Texan, Bob Seton, stops to listen to the school children from Will Cantrell's (Walter Pidgeon) class singing "America." When Mary McCloud (Claire Trevor) wants to pass by Cantrell's wagon, Cantrell "takes a liking" to her not realizing that she is the sister of Fletch McCloud (Roy Rogers). Fletch and Will become friends. Mary and Fletch's father is the town's banker and informal leading citizen, Angus McCloud (Porter Hall).Fletch wants to become a cowboy—remember that Roy Rodgers was later known as "The King of the Cowboys"--like Will and starts to emulate him. Will Cantrell wants to marry Mary, but she rebuffs hid advances.As the town grows bigger and more lawless, Angus McCloud decides the town needs a full-time marshal and approaches the local judge, Judge Buckner (Raymond Walburn) with the idea of hiring one. The need for the town of Lawrence to have a full-time marshal leads Bob Seton and Will Cantrell to run against each other for the office. (Though not generally know, Seton is illiterate and had previously sought out Cantrell to teach him to read and write, which had set up the two as friends before the election). But, the competition for town marshal puts a strain in their friendly relationship. When Seton wins the election, Cantrell decides to "follow a different path" than teaching, by making money as quickly as possible. Cantrell joins an illegal run-running guerrilla army and becomes its commander. Without knowing about Cantrell's moving to "the dark side," Mary marries Cantrell's as his mother (Marjorie Main) looks on, knowing that her last son has turned bad just like his brothers before him did. Raymond Walburn, as the town's judge, supplies comic relief to the movie with his confusing and impulsive excitement and bumbling speech. The open screen of this movie tells us that "Some portions of the photoplay are based upon actual incidences in the lives of its principal characters. All other event and characters are fictitious,and any similarity to actual events or person is coincidental." Yet, the true characters portrayed have different names in the movie and, as the IMDb tells us, there were some story changes:"The character of Will Cantrell is loosely based on the real life Confederate guerrilla leader William Quantrill. Like Cantrell, Quantrill was born in Ohio, taught school in Lawrence, Kansas, became a guerrilla fighter on the Confederate side and burned Lawrence to the ground. However, the Confederacy eventually distanced itself from him and later revoked his commission and disowned him, because of his band's propensity for executing prisoners, massacring civilians, looting and raping. The real Quantrill died not at the hands of "Bob Seton" but during an ambush by a Union cavalry unit, Unable to escape on account of a skittish horse, he was shot in the back and paralyzed from the chest down. He was brought by wagon to Louisville, Kentucky and taken to the military prison hospital, located on the north side of Broadway at 10th Street. He died from his wounds on June 6, 1865, at the age of 27."

It still amazes me how many movies they made back then, and how busy a popular actor like John Wayne was. Even though this is a 1940 release, when Wayne was just 33, he already had roles, some uncredited, in upwards of 90 movies.This one is set in Lawrence, Kansas, somewhere in the early 1860s. Abe Lincoln was president but the Civil War had not been fought yet. John Wayne is Texan Bob Seton, not very well educated, but he "can smell out a crook". He gets elected sheriff, beating out the early favorite Walter Pidgeon as Cantrell, very loosely based on a real outlaw. Cantrell was a teacher and mostly a good guy, but when he was defeated he decided he would not be a poor teacher any more and became an outlaw.Much of the movie is about Seaton convincing the people of Lawrence that Cantrell really was the outlaw leader of the rogue band dresses as Southern soldiers, and then the eventual confrontation. Of course the good guys prevail. Claire Trevor is Mary McCloud, the love interest of both men. She actually marries Cantrell but when she fully realizes what a crook he is she agrees to run in Seton's direction. Roy Rogers is her brother Fletch McCloud who gets mixed up with the crooks but he eventually turns on Cantrell and does what is right. It was also fun seeing Gabby' Hayes as Doc Grunch. I remember him well from all the western movies I saw growing up in the 1950s and 1960s. For such an old movie it has held up well, and it was great seeing young Wayne and Rogers in action. I saw this on the "Movies!" channel.

Wandering Texas cowpoke Bob Seton (John Wayne) and a bewhiskered dentist, Dr. Grunch (George 'Gabby' Hayes), have a neat racket going for them when they ride into Lawrence, Kansas. You see, Bob baits people into brawls, usually about politics, slugs them, and they wind up going to see Dr. Grunch to have their damaged teeth pulled. When they ride into Lawrence, Bob has been assuring Grunch that he wants to see mountains. No sooner has Bob made himself clear about his destination than he lays his eyes on pretty Mary McCloud (Claire Trevor of "Stagecoach") as she is trying to cross the street. As it turns out, Bob and Dr. Grunch are blocking her way because they have paused at the local school house. Bob loves the sound of children warbling a patriotic song. The local school teacher William Cantrell (Walter Pidgeon) leaves his class room to see Mary. Suddenly, Bob's itchy-footed desire to go west is vanquished by Mary's beauty. She is the daughter of the local banker, Angus McCloud (Porter Hall), and she and Cantrell are sweethearts. Meanwhile, trouble is brewing in Lawrence between the anti-slavery fraction and the pro-slavery fraction. This contentiousness prompts the town to seek a sheriff. The literate Cantrell runs for office and Mary believes that he will triumph over the opposition, Bob Seton, who is illiterate. Initially, Bob goes to Cantrell to get him to teach him. During the political campaign, Cantrell boasts about Bob's honesty and courage, but Bob knows that he is just trying to make himself look like a more appealing candidate. Bob tells the populace that Cantrell has paid him a left-handed compliment, and explains that Cantrell is referring to his illiteracy. Bob turns the tables on Cantrell and uses simple, homespun humor to win the election. An embittered Cantrell decides to hit the outlaw trail rather than remain honest. Eventually, when he isn't freeing slaves and having his henchmen resell the over the border, Cantrell goes into the gun-running business. At one point, Cantrell's men confiscate uniforms for the Fifth Confederate Army, and they wear the outfits when they mount their marauding campaign of terrorism against the locals. Mary's brother Fletch (Roy Rogers) shoots a man during a fight, and Cantrell defends him at trial. Before the jury has a chance to bring in a verdict, Cantrell has scoured the countryside and threatened everything with death and violence if they don't bring in the correct verdict to free him. Late, in this 94 minute Raoul Walsh directed western, Cantrell and Bob shoot it out in his home after his mother has died. Nevertheless, Lawrence, Kansas, goes up in flames. This historical opus qualifies as an above-average sagebrusher. Walsh also directed Wayne in his first starring role in "The Big Trail" back in 1930.

I have always liked westerns and this is a great one. Older westerns were closer in time to the events portrayed and even where the production values were not as stunning as those evident in newer film, these older westerns often brought an understanding of the people and the circumstances that is not the same thing as historical accuracy. It may have a character use the wrong kind of gun or an event portrayed may have ended differently but, as to the important things, older westerns get it right and that includes the nature of the people and the cadence of their lives. This is a wonderful movie and a portrayal of the mid-nineteenth century American that resonates even now. The older I get the more I enjoy and appreciate John Wayne's film persona. Whatever his real life behavior,the character he consistently portrayed was the kind of man who did build this country and is the kind of man I would have wanted to know and to introduce to my children. By speech and action, he was decent, gallant and manly --all in short supply in current film. This is a movie that deserves our time and our respect.