Dark Command [Blu-ray]

Overview

Set in the years leading up to the Civil War and its outbreak, Dark Command tells a fictionalized version of the story of William Clarke Quantrill, the schoolteacher-turned-renegade, whose raids -- ostensibly on behalf of the Confederacy -- turned Kansas into a charnel house. John Wayne plays Bob Setton, a young Texan who arrives in Lawrence, KS, in 1859 on his way west, partnered with George "Gabby" Hayes. He meets Marie McCloud (Claire Trevor) and her younger brother, Fletch (Roy Rogers), and takes a liking to them, especially Marie. His only competition for her is William Cantrell (Walter Pidgeon), the local schoolteacher, who has big ambitions in life. He is nominated for town marshal and seems a shoo-in, especially as his only rival is Bob Setton, who admits he knows nothing about the law and can't even read, but Setton wins with his honest, unpretentious speech. At the time, Kansas is riven by strife, as settlers from the North opposed to slavery and those from the South supporting it pour into the territory, and Setton has his hands full. His most difficult personal moment comes when he must arrest Fletch for shooting an anti-slavery farmer (Trevor Bardette) to death. Cantrell leads a campaign of terror against the jury, however, which finds the young man not guilty just as the Civil War breaks out. In the months that follow, Setton and his posse go after the raiders who are stealing and destroying huge amounts of property in Kansas on behalf of the Confederacy. He suspects Cantrell is their leader, but can't prove it, and has to tread carefully. As the raids worsen, and the war drags on -- even Marie's pro-Confederacy banker father is murdered during a run on his bank -- their conflict comes to a violent end as Cantrell launches an attack on Lawrence, vowing to destroy the town, with only Bob Setton and Cantrell's own mother (Marjorie Main) standing in his way.

Product Details

Release Date:	05/28/2013
UPC:	0887090066204
Original Release:	1940
Rating:	NR
Source:	Olive
Presentation:	[B&W]
Language:	English
Time:	1:34:00
Sales rank:	17,266

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Walter Pidgeon	Actor
John Wayne	Actor
Claire Trevor	Actor
Roy Rogers	Actor
George "Gabby" Hayes	Doc Grunch,Actor,Actor
Porter Hall	Angus McCloud
Marjorie Main	Mrs. Cantrell
Raymond Walburn	Buckner
Joe Sawyer	Bushropp
Helen MacKellar	Mrs. Hale
J. Farrell MacDonald	Dave
Trevor Bardette	Hale
Alan Bridge	Bandit Leader,Slave trader
Ferris Taylor	Banker,Actor
Ernie Adams	Wiry Man,Townsman
Harry Cording	Killer
Edward Hearn	Juryman
Edmund Cobb	Juryman
Frank Hagney	Actor,Actor
Glenn Strange	Tough
Mildred Gover	Ellie
Tom London	Messenger
Cliff Lyons	Actor
Richard Alexander	Sentry,Actor
Jack Rockwell	Assassin
Harry Woods	Dental Patient
Dick Rich	Cantrell Man
John Merton	Cantrell Man
John Dilson	Actor
Clinton Rosemond	Actor
Budd Buster	Actor
Howard Hickman	Actor
Jack Low	Actor
Edward Earle	Actor
Joe McGuinn	Actor
Harry Strang	Actor
Yakima Canutt	Townsman
Tex Cooper	Actor
Jack Montgomery	Actor
Hal Taliaferro	Vigilante
Victor Young	Composer

Technical Credits

Lionel Houser

Grover Jones

Raoul Walsh	Director
Sol C. Siegel	Producer
Cliff Lyons	Stunts
Lionel Houser	Screenwriter
Grover Jones	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

Dark Command, budgeted at over 700,000 dollars, was only the second "A" feature ever made by Republic Pictures, and it proved that the studio, known for its B-Westerns and serials, could deliver a movie as high in quality in all departments as the best work of Warner Bros. or Paramount. John Wayne had just become a major star in Stagecoach and Republic felt compelled to come up with a vehicle to do justice to his new fame and audience. The studio bought the rights to a book about the life of notorious Civil War-era renegade William Clarke Quantrill written by W.R. Burnett, borrowed Walter Pidgeon from MGM, and acquired the services of Raoul Walsh (then the top action director at Warner Bros.), and threw in the services of two of its top B-Western talents, Roy Rogers and George "Gabby" Hayes. The resulting film was, along with John Ford's Rio Grande, one of the finest action films ever to come out of Republic (or any other studio in 1940), and, along with Ford's The Sun Shines Bright, also one of the studio's best dramas in terms of the quality of the acting. John Wayne retains the quiet energy that he showed as the Ringo Kid in Stagecoach, in a complex role that shows him evolving convincingly from an impetuous roughneck into a respectable, duty-bound enforcer of the law, torn by his own feelings for the people around him who are sometimes hurt by his actions. Walter Pidgeon gives one of the best performances of his career as schoolteacher who hides a streak of megalomania and psychosis. Claire Trevor gives a surprisingly gritty performance as a selfish woman who outgrows her lusts and prejudices. Roy Rogers turns in the best acting performance of his career as a spoiled, headstrong rich boy who discovers that there's more to life and living than he thought. Marjorie Main almost steals the movie from all of them as a conscience-stricken mother, tortured by what her son has done. Even George "Gabby" Hayes rises to the occasion with a performance that treads a fine line between comedy and drama. What's more, director Walsh and the Republic production team have forged a movie that is not only exciting from beginning to end, but manages to intersect, in plot, characterization, and images, with the best elements of Santa Fe Trail, Gone With the Wind, and even Birth of a Nation. Indeed, much of Dark Command crosses paths with the plot of Santa Fe Trail, without the latter movie's awkward jumps from drama to comedy, or any of its pretentions, either.

All Movie Guide - Bruce Eder