There are few sights better-looking than Errol Flynn. After the opening sequence of Dodge City has shown him to the audience as a scruffy cowboy, he visits the "only bath house between Chicago and Colorado" and gets himself a good shave. The villain Bruce Cabot enters the establishment and demands Alan Hale, Errol's faithful sidekick, leave the bath so he can freshen up. "Wait a minute," says the mystery man under the hot towel. Errol Flynn stands up and shows the camera his freshly shaved and powdered mug, his mustache perfectly trimmed, and his smile perfectly in place.
The confrontation continues long after the pseudo-tense crisis at the bath house, and later on in the film, when Errol sabotage's Bruce's bid on some cattle, he finishes what's supposed to be a gigantic, sneaky win with a slip of his accent. True, at no point in the film has he deviated from his normal, cultured British accent-and let's face it, we wouldn't have put up with a British cowboy if he weren't so handsome-but as he exits the cattle bid, he says, "Good day," to the crowd. If you didn't know he was Australian before this movie, you'll certainly know it now! But it's very cute, and since it's Errol Flynn, we forgive him.
There are ups and downs to this 1939 western. You'll hear some fun, lively music from Max Steiner, but you'll have to sit through some silly saloon songs with Ann Sheridan. You'll get to see the perpetual crier Bobs Watson, but you'll also have to suffer through him meeting a terrible end. If you're particularly attached to adorable children, you might want to skip this one. The story's rather simple, and it's easily a cheap '30s flick, but you'll get to see Guinn "Big Boy" Williams Henry Travers, Victor Jory, Henry O'Neill, and Frank McHugh in the supporting cast. You'll also get to see Ward Bond for a few minutes, and who doesn't like to see Ward Bond for a few minutes?
This one's a keeper, if you like melodramas with damsels on trains and the handsome men on horseback who save them. Especially the handsome men-Errol Flynn is sheer perfection.
The confrontation continues long after the pseudo-tense crisis at the bath house, and later on in the film, when Errol sabotage's Bruce's bid on some cattle, he finishes what's supposed to be a gigantic, sneaky win with a slip of his accent. True, at no point in the film has he deviated from his normal, cultured British accent-and let's face it, we wouldn't have put up with a British cowboy if he weren't so handsome-but as he exits the cattle bid, he says, "Good day," to the crowd. If you didn't know he was Australian before this movie, you'll certainly know it now! But it's very cute, and since it's Errol Flynn, we forgive him.
There are ups and downs to this 1939 western. You'll hear some fun, lively music from Max Steiner, but you'll have to sit through some silly saloon songs with Ann Sheridan. You'll get to see the perpetual crier Bobs Watson, but you'll also have to suffer through him meeting a terrible end. If you're particularly attached to adorable children, you might want to skip this one. The story's rather simple, and it's easily a cheap '30s flick, but you'll get to see Guinn "Big Boy" Williams Henry Travers, Victor Jory, Henry O'Neill, and Frank McHugh in the supporting cast. You'll also get to see Ward Bond for a few minutes, and who doesn't like to see Ward Bond for a few minutes?
This one's a keeper, if you like melodramas with damsels on trains and the handsome men on horseback who save them. Especially the handsome men-Errol Flynn is sheer perfection.