Synopsis
West of Chicago there was no law! West of Dodge City there was no God!
In this epic Western, Wade Hatton, a wagon master turned sheriff, tames a cow town at the end of a railroad line.
1939 Directed by Michael Curtiz
In this epic Western, Wade Hatton, a wagon master turned sheriff, tames a cow town at the end of a railroad line.
Errol Flynn Olivia de Havilland Ann Sheridan Bruce Cabot Frank McHugh Alan Hale John Litel Henry Travers Henry O'Neill Victor Jory William Lundigan Guinn "Big Boy" Williams Bobs Watson Gloria Holden Douglas Fowley Georgia Caine Charles Halton Ward Bond Cora Witherspoon Russell Simpson Monte Blue Hank Bell Clem Bevans George Bloom Chet Brandenburg Wally Brown James Burke Horace B. Carpenter Nat Carr Show All…
Sol Gorss Harvey Parry Herbert Holcombe Yakima Canutt Fred Graham Cliff Lyons Jack Williams Don Turner Ben Corbett Duke Green Gil Perkins Buster Wiles Hurley Breen
Uma Cidade que Surge, De Voortrekkers van het Westen, De Voortrekkers van Dodge City, De Veroveraars, Les conquérants, Herr des Wilden Westens, Les Conquérants, Herr des wilden Westens, Dodge, ciudad sin ley, Gli avventurieri, Додж сити, Додж-сити, A holnap hősei, Uma Cidade Que Surge (Dodge City), Esclavos del oro, 道奇城, 닷지 시티, Kahramanlar Diyarı
What I got outta Dodge...
Six shooters replace swords, merry men are now deputies, and roaring seas give way to the great plains. A different period for the same piece, with everyone's favourite rogue riding high in the saddle, even if it is his usual swashbuckler. The first of Flynn's eight westerns follows the formula for success with Michael Curtiz behind the director's chair, and the lead's unparalleled chemistry with Olivia de Havilland. Part of the 1939 revival of Westerns as lavishly budgeted A picture affairs - Warner joins Fox's Jesse James in using the technicolor hook. The resulting Sol Polito cinematography is gorgeous, with every aspect of the Hal B. Wallis production courting spectacle to the point where its…
Probably would have been a good idea to cast an actor who can pull off an American accent, ‘cause Errol Flynn kinda sounds like David Bowie. Not that there’s anything wrong with sounding like David Bowie—just maybe not when you’re portraying a American cowboy. He even says "g’day" in the broadest Australian accent at one point. He also looks more like a musketeer. Then again he’s such a low-energy dude he’s easy to overlook—as the movie progressed I realized that this is almost a positive trait; he’s no Orson Welles, he doesn’t demand your attention. He’s just kinda there, often on the verge of slumber, and you can just look past him and focus on other things, for example the…
The year 1939 saw several major developments in the Western as a film genre. John Ford made it mythic with Stagecoach. C. B. DeMille made it prestigious with Union Pacific. George Marshall made it comical with Destry Rides Again. And Michael Curtiz made it basically everything else with Dodge City—swashbuckling, romantic, muscular, technicolor, and just the right amount of ridiculous.
With Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland teamed up with Curtiz once again, the trio that gave the world Captain Blood and The Adventures of Robin Hood would set the standard for the rollicking Western adventure film for decades to come (it’s probably no coincidence that Tombstone would borrow about half a dozen story beats some 54 years later). Dodge…
I remembered this as a three-star film, but right from the opening action sequence where a train (the 'iron horse') and a stagecoach race each other, it got me, and that's before Flynn appears.
Not a natural cowboy, with his hat at a rakish angle and pencil moustache, Flynn nevertheless convinces in this quality oater from Michael Curtiz, with vibrant colour, strong action scenes, a couple of nasty villains, a winsome love interest (De Havilland), and men who ride the range.
This was made in cinema's golden year, 1939, and so is often forgotten with the praise heaped on the likes of 'The Wizard of Oz' and 'Gone With The Wind': but it's good, if you're in the right mood. On this rewatch, it gets a fat extra star.
Uniting stars Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland with director Michael Curtiz for (I believe) the fifth time, Dodge City isn't quite as good as their most famous collaboration The Adventures of Robin Hood but is nevertheless a pretty fun Western. The story, characters, and setting are all really typical of the genre and it's undeniable that the film barely does anything new with those genre trappings, but what matters here is that the execution is swift and the entertainment value is high. In the role of the hero, Flynn is as lively as always, filling the part convincingly as he has such a likable presence that lends to these types of noble, yet charming, characters so well. Curtiz also…
I've seen some pretty good Westerns during my trip through nearly 90 years of the genre. Dodge City was directed by Michael Curtiz and released in the April of 1939, the same year as Henry King's Jesse James, the oldest film from the genre that I'd seen. The difference between them however is chalk and cheese, with King's film a more studious black and white production compared to this flamboyant and rather thrilling Western starring Errol Flynn. Saddled up alongside Olivia de Havilland once again, Curtiz sure did know how to play to both of their strengths.
Dodge City sees Errol Flynn as a Texas cattle agent who arrives to witness the lawlessness of Dodge City, and is eventually forced…
I had a wonderful time watching Dodge City (1939)! So great to see the 1930s westerns finally get the treatment they deserve after a decade long slump. And since A-list starts are now doing wild west movies, it's time for the full Errol Flynn treatment! A wonderful adventure epic in magical Technicolor! Bringing Olivia de Havilland with him out Dodge, continuing the long string of impressive action films consisting of Captain Blood (1935), The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), The Prince and the Pauper (1937) and of course The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938).
This is the type of western that simply mixes everything in one massive package! The wagon train, the lawless city, the big bar fights, the…
It's been a fairly shitty day in the life of the Family of Mr. Bali Hai. The missus's oldest sister was killed last Friday in a very bizarre car accident, and we attended her funeral today, which was an old-school affair featuring an open casket and a Catholic funeral mass, along with a 4-hour round-trip to the church. Fun was not had by all. When we got home, Mrs. BH experienced a weird optical migraine, which was kind of the shit icing on the shit cake.
So after all of that, I was more than ready to just lie back in the Barco-Lounger with a couple of fingers of Hawaiian Okolehau moonshine and watch something relatively brainless, and this Western…
☆"...packed with settlers, thieves and gunmen...the town that knew no ethics but cash and killing."☆
March to the West -- film #3 of 31
In the middle of March, I plan on organizing the films here into theme weeks. Ought to be fun; one for John Ford, one for John Wayne, one for comedies. But during the rest of the time, I have to just watch whatever else is on the list, so tonight's random pick is one of the oldest movies there, from 1939 it's Dodge City from director Michael Curtiz. You might have heard of him! He directed Casablanca. Yep.
In the cattle town of Dodge City, Kansas, lawlessness and chaos has descended on the Plains locale. Colonel…
Olivia de Havilland looks so damn gorgeous in this, I cannot function 😍
Good solid movie, great performances, Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland are a terrific pairing, I adore them. I enjoyed this film a lot.
Template Western, a blockbuster in its time but impossible to take at face value these days with its neo-confederate subtext. Richard Pryor and Mel Brooks hilariously tore that aspect of it apart in Blazing Saddles. But it is beautifully shot in Technicolor, with enjoyable star turns by Errol Flynn and Olivia De Havilland, and it has a couple of classic action sequences, most notably the definitive barroom brawl, parodied by Blake Edwards in The Great Race and the aforementioned Mel Brooks film. Flynn pretends to be Irish but is clearly Australian (undermining his Confederacy credentials) and does his usual dance with Olivia, who really did glow in Technicolor. Ann Sheridan is a singing, dancing bargirl; she looks smashing but isn’t…
Not the most exciting western for The Flynn/Curtiz team, but it would be worth it even if it was only for the technicolor cinematography.