DODGE CITY

US, 104 minutes, Colour.
Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Bruce Cabot, Ann Sheridan, Victor Jory, Henry O'Neill, Alan Hale, Frank Mc Hugh, William Lundigan, Henry Travers, Guinn Williams, Gloria Holden.
Directed by Michael Curtiz.

Dodge City is a big, exciting, entertaining, sprawling western. It was one of the early westerns made in colour. Errol Flynn is the dashing hero, his usual style. He is matched by Olivia de Havilland with whom he had appeared in a number of films including The Charge of the Light Brigade, Captain Blood, The Adventures of Robin Hood. Bruce Cabot is a snarling villain. There are the usual Warner Bros. characters forming a good supporting gallery. Direction is by Michael Curtiz, who directed Flynn in Captain Blood, The Charge of the Light Brigade and a number of other action features.

Some of the film footage was used as stock material for westerns in the '40s and '50s.

1. Entertaining western? The American heritage? A film of the '30s? Warner Bros production?

2. Early colour photography? Locations? The Max Steiner score? Editing and pace? The stars?

3. The information about the west: law and order, the absence of God and law? The pioneers? The early towns?
A piece of Americana?

4. The railroad? Stagecoaches?

5. The title the founding of the city? The railway, the race between the train and the stagecoach? Cattle, exploitation, fear, deaths, lawlessness, newspapers, the need for cleaning up Dodge City? The final moving towards Virginia City to repeat the same process for Nevada?

5. Surrett and the buffalo? His henchmen? The city and the cattle? The double deals? The killing of Cole? Dancy and his doing Surrett's dirty work? The saloon, Ruby? The pressure? The clashes? Wade? Clemens dying? The escape? The shoot-out? Yancy and his anger with Surrett? The character of Surrett? The contrast with Wade? Tough? Violence? Death? Law and order?

6. Errol Flynn's style as Wade, the Civil War, the South, pals, the buffalo, the clash with Surrett and the arrest? His work leading the pioneers, the clash with Lee and his drunkenness, the shooting, the cattle stampede? Abbie and her resentment? His position in the town, his refusing to be the law administrator? The death of the boy and the shooting and his change of heart? His relationship with the citizens? With Abbie and her hostility, the gradual breaking down of the hostility, falling in love? The newspapers? Clemens' death and the papers about Surrett? His cleaning up the town? His pals? The wedding? The decision to go to Virginia City? A hero of the West?

7. Wade's pals, Rusty, drinking, Rusty and the Temperance meeting, the bar brawl? Their helping of Wade? Administering law and order?

8. Abbie and Lee, on the wagon train, Lee and his drinking, shooting, not being able to be told, death? Abbie's resentment towards Wade? The stampede? Into the city, her anger, resentment towards Wade, change of heart?, Falling in love, work for the paper? The romantic scenes together? The wedding? Her decision to go to Virginia City?

9. Clemens and his expose of Surrett, the role of the newspapers, evidence, his death? The doctor and his wife, their support? Cole, the murder, his boy? The death of the boy? Mrs. Cole?

10. Ruby, the saloon, her songs? cover-ups for Surrett and Dancy? The card games, deaths, witnesses?

11. The establishing of the western towns, anger, lynching parties, justice, juries?

12. Action, shoot-outs, the fire? Future? The themes of the American violent West?