San Antonio (1945)

Very well executed

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Despite being an Aussie, Warner Brothers had Errol Flynn play in many westerns over the years. Here, in a further effort to confuse the crap out of the audience, the casting gurus at the studio included Hungarian Cuddles Sakal and Belgian Victor Francen in this odd little western. Despite completely off the wall casting, the film is a pretty typical Flynn/Warners effort--worth seeing but not especially memorable.The film begins with Flynn returning to San Antonio after having been driven away from the evil boss-man, Paul Kelly. Almost EVERY western of the era has a rich boss-man who is intent on running a particularly town, county or state and this one is no different. And, because Flynn is the handsome good guy, you know that by the end of the film he'll have defeated Kelly and his minions AND gotten the girl, Alexis Smith. None of it comes as any surprise at all...but, as usual, the acting and production values are very nice--nice enough that you can excuse Flynn's odd presence.Decent dialog, a very repetitious theme song which was Oscar-nominated (it was a slow year) and decent acting. This is far from a must-see but also will no doubt please fans of classic Hollywood films.By the way, the ending with Kelly's defeat is odd. While it looks like he might have died, this was far from certain AND Flynn didn't even bother to check! Odd, very odd.

Hard to believe this was Flynn's highest grossing film but war-weary patrons were looking for any form of escapism. Sharp Technicolor production, nice use of Warner's Calabasas Ranch plus razor sharp costumes for Alexis Smith make this film watchable but not much else. Flynn smiles his way through the proceedings but looks rather silly in the red bandanna and toy gun.Nevertheless, his scenes with Alexis generate smiles. Was there anybody better than Flynn? I think not. His riding a horse then dismounting into the window of the stage is a nice touch. Unfortunately, this tepid movie plods along until the anti-climatic saloon fight scene. All stunts, prate-falls and special effects look so staged it's distracting. By the end you're left thinking: let's wrap this up! I'm a huge Flynn fan but San Antonio entertainment isn't as big as Texas. Dodge City, Virginia City and even Rocky Mountain are better bets.Note: Some stunts done with Horses would never see the light of day now. One scene has Flynn chasing Paul Kelly across a bridge, Flynn jumps onto Kelly's white horse with both taking a big fall into the river. It's one of the more dramatic moments in the entire film. Speaking of Kelly, his personal life was almost as drama filled as Flynn's.

Unlike some of the other comments above, I will give this movie great marks for plot, main actors, character actors, story line, suspense, technical proficiency of the director and beauty of the scenery and sets. Admittedly, maybe not Errol Flynn's best, but nothing to be ashamed of either. I saw other comments that Alexis Smith dubbed her singing, don't know how that was known, but my opinion is that this was her own work. You never lose interest from start to finish. The colors in this Technicolor feature are the best I've ever seen of the time period. Great movie. I have it on VHS, would like to get it on DVD but it seems to have disappeared from the marketplace.

Once it was established that ERROL FLYNN could fit the mold of a western hero (even with his Australian/British accent), his studio wasted no time in putting him through the paces of several westerns, the best of which was DODGE CITY ('39). By the time he did SAN ANTONIO, all the western clichés were pretty well used up, so what we have here is a routine storyline that gives Flynn a chance to play another one of his suave western heroes who romances the local dance hall girl (ALEXIS SMITH) so we get a chance to hear a couple of pretty tunes along the way.It's a shame that Warners had so little faith in Alexis' singing prowess that they dubbed her voice for the musical interludes. She went on to become an accomplished dancer/singer on Broadway in the years ahead. Nicest number is "Some Sunday Morning" which actually got an Oscar nomination as Best Song.The usual cast of competent Warner contract players is evident once again: John Litel, S.Z. Sakall, Paul Kelly, Tom Tyler (wasted in a small role), Florence Bates and Victor Francen. Conspicuously missing is Alan Hale, who usually played Flynn's sidekick.With a jaunty score by Max Steiner (who borrows his own title theme from DODGE CITY), this is the kind of western you've seen many times before, but enhanced by some of the nicest Technicolor and set decorations to be seen in any Warner film of this period.Errol Flynn fans will enjoy it as one of his lesser excursions into the western genre. Fast moving and breezy entertainment.