User Reviews

If you are an old movie fan, you might be very surprised to see Walter Pidgeon cast in the role of the villain. That's because during his long tenure at MGM he so often played nice guys like Mr. Miniver or the kindly Minister in HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY. In addition, oddly, Roy Rogers plays a rather ambiguous role--a guy who is both villain and hero. Again, fans of old movies know that Rogers CAN'T be anything other than the hero, but since this was an early film for him, his on-screen persona was not yet set in stone. Also, Marjorie Main plays a surprisingly restrained role--usually she is pretty loud and cantankerous, but here she rather underplays her role as Pidgeon's mother. Now, as for John Wayne, it's no surprise at all that he is the hero--anything else just would have been difficult to accept!

The film itself is a fictionalized variation on the true story of Quantrill's Raiders. Quantrill defied the accepted way of fighting war and waged a form of hit and run gang warfare on the North in the Midwestern US. He and his men were more interested in terrorizing the Northern civilians and making themselves rich off plunder. Because of this, many Southerners hated them and refused to acknowledge that they were on the same side during the war! Eventually, Quantrill and his men were captured and many executed for their actions.

In the case of this film, the leader of the outlaws wearing Confederate uniforms was named "Cantrell" and although there was similarity, there were also many other differences from the true story--such as locating the gang in Kansas and Missouri instead of Kentucky and Ohio (among other places) with Quantrill.

However, despite these differences, this is still a dandy adventure film with the usual ingredients--such as Gabby Hayes for some comic relief, Claire Trevor as the woman who comes between the hero and villain as well as the expected betrayals and final showdown between the two stars (Pidgeon and Wayne). Simple, well acted, predictable (in spots) yet fun--it's similar to other movies such as VIRGINIA CITY or WHISPERING SMITH.

The best of Republic's oaters starring John Wayne. I imagine after the success of "Stagecoach" in 1939 Republic needed to pour in the resources as opposed to the notoriously cheap productions of the thirties, and it shows in this one. This actually is a must see for those interested in several aspects of the genre. wayne is the star but Walter Pigeon has as much screen time. Wayne reunites with director Walsh who gave him his big break in the 1930 epic "The Big Trail". (Walsh was actually going to star in that one but lost an eye prior to production while shooting another movie.) But the best reason to catch this one is the pairing of Wayne with pre Trigger Roy Rogers who callously guns down a guy in a barbershop. Plus, what's up with that strange whoop whoop noise Rogers makes?

With a budget of seven hundred thousand dollars, "Dark Command" was Republic's costliest film, and it wound up being their biggest box office hit. It shows too, the production values are quite good and the entire film is crisp and clean. I've been waiting quite a while to catch this movie on one of the cable channels, so it was easily worth getting up early for a four thirty showing this morning on AMC. The intrigue for me was in the casting of John Wayne and Roy Rogers in their only team up together, and I was actually quite surprised to see how much screen time Rogers had with the bigger box office name at the time. Rogers' character is Fletch McCloud, brother to the story's romantic interest (Claire Trevor) for both Bob Seton (Wayne) and school teacher turned border raider William Cantrell (Walter Pidgeon). Pidgeon's character is nominally based on William Clarke Quantrill, a Confederate sympathizer who led raids on local farms and Union detachments during the days of the Civil War in Kansas. Though not historically accurate in most respects, the picture does hold one's interest, both for it's historical leanings and certainly for it's well staged action scenes.

One of those action scenes is a definite sit up and take notice event. While attempting to escape a Cantrell posse, Seton and Doc Grunch (Gabby Hayes) are faced with nowhere to go at the edge of a cliff facing a river. I'm thinking to myself 'no way', but sure enough, the pair of horses, buckboard, and the daring duo make their way end over tin-cups into the water in a remarkable display. Now it's not unusual to see similar gimmicks in other 'B' Westerns, including some of Wayne's earlier flicks for Lone Star Productions, but this has got to be one of Yakima Canutt's finest efforts. I really can't imagine how they got the horses to do that, unless they were blindfolded. Canutt's handiwork is also evident in one of his signature moves later in the picture, straddling the middle ground underneath another wagon as it careens along.

Because of the nature of the story and Roy Rogers' secondary billing, there aren't any songs here, but that doesn't prevent Roy's frequent screen partner Gabby Hayes from getting into the act. Gabby's sort of a jack of all trades when it comes to the healing arts, and he's got a unique philosophy on the practice of dentistry - Wayne can loosen a tooth with a sock to the jaw while Gabby can finish the job by pulling it out. Hayes teamed with both cowboy stars in his career, so it's not unusual to see him here as Wayne's mentor and partner in the opening scenes.

Mustn't forget Claire Trevor, who's actually top billed over Wayne. This was their second screen pairing following the previous year's "Stagecoach" which turned out to be Wayne's 'overnight' success film after appearing in over fifty prior movies, mostly Westerns. Mary McCloud's (Trevor) allegiance swings between villain Cantrell and sheriff Seton over the course of the story. I was actually a little surprised that Wayne's character propositioned Mary to run off with him while still married to Cantrell, taking some of the bloom off the hero persona he otherwise conveyed. Not a big thing, but something to think about. Something else I thought about after hearing some of John Wayne's dialog was how patriotic his character was. During an early scuffle between pro and anti-slave factions in Lawrence, Wayne intervenes remarking - "A man born in this country is an American". That might be the first instance in one of his pictures where he champions America, along with individual freedom and liberty.

If you enjoyed "Dark Command", you might want to try a couple more films with a similar setting and theme. 1940's "Santa Fe Trail" is a take on John Brown's abolitionist movement and it's parallel dissolve into lawlessness, also set in pre-War Kansas. 1950's "Kansas Raiders" deals with Quantrill and his band, and stars Audie Murphy in a somewhat dubious role as Jesse James riding with Quantrill. That story has an interesting cast, but the story itself is a bit of a mess, so if faced with a choice, stick with Wayne and Rogers.

Although the American Civil War officially broke out in 1861, armed hostilities between supporters and opponents of slavery had been going on for several years prior to that in some parts of the USA, especially in Missouri and Kansas, which became known as "bleeding Kansas". "Dark Command" is a film which explores this period of American history.

The main character is a young man named Bob Seton who arrives in the town of Lawrence, Kansas some time in the late 1850s. The first part of the film is dull and slow-moving, dealing with Seton's unsuccessful courtship of Mary McCloud, the pretty daughter of the town's Scottish- born banker, and his attempt to start a political career by running for Marshal. He also makes the acquaintance of the local schoolmaster William Cantrell who is his rival in both love and politics. Things start to get more exciting when Seton wins the election; John Wayne was always more convincing as an action hero than as a screen lover and as Marshal Seton has plenty of work on his plate. Disappointed by the failure of his hopes for a career in law enforcement, Cantrell decides to take up a career in law breaking and forms his own gang of outlaws to terrorise the district. He is careful, however, to ensure that his identity is never discovered so remains a mild-mannered teacher by day, an audacious bandit chief by night. (Cantrell, as his name might suggest, is based on a real historical figure, William Quantrill).

The area is sharply divided between pro-Northern and pro-Southern factions, and matters come to a head when Mary's hot-headed pro-slavery brother Fletcher shoots a man dead in an argument about politics. Mary offers to marry Seton if he will grant her brother bail, but he has too much integrity to agree, knowing that Fletcher will abscond if given the chance. In desperation Mary turns to Cantrell who manages to secure Fletcher's acquittal, partly through his eloquence but mostly through the simpler expedient of intimidating the jurymen.

Most films from this period with a Civil War theme tended to sit on the fence politically in order to avoid alienating either Northern or Southern audiences; an exception is "Belle Starr" from the following year which is quite disgracefully pro-Southern. "Dark Command" is never quite as biased, but even so the film-makers tend to distort history to make their film more acceptable south of the Mason-Dixon Line. The real Quantrill was a Rebel guerrilla whose activities were initially sanctioned by the Confederate high command. (They eventually disowned him because of his brutal methods). Here Cantrell is simply an opportunist robber with no connection to the Confederate forces but who dresses his men in stolen Confederate uniforms as a disguise. The murderous Fletcher McCloud, who for a time joins Cantrell's gang, is allowed to redeem himself by joining the good guys. (A rare example, during the Production Code era, of a murderer getting away with his crime unpunished and a rare example of the normally clean-cut Roy Rogers playing a criminal). The hero Seton himself turns out to be from Texas, although Wayne does not attempt a Texan accent. (Rogers does give Fletcher a Southern accent, but his efforts are undermined by the fact that Claire Trevor as his supposed sister sounds Northern and Porter Hall as their father Angus is definitely Scottish).

This was the only film which Wayne and Rogers, both major Western icons, made together. It was also the only film Wayne made with director Raoul Walsh apart from "The Big Trail", Wayne's first leading role, from ten years earlier. It has its moments such as the scene near the end when Cantrell's gang attack the town of Lawrence, recreating an actual attack by Quantrill's Raiders. Too much time, however, is taken up with the romantic subplot, especially as Mary never seems a very sympathetic character. Seton may be prepared to overlook her obvious flaws such as her blatant attempts to pervert the course of justice to save her worthless brother or the lack of judgement which leads her to accept Cantrell as a husband. Audiences may be less charitable. In my view this will never really count as a major entry in Wayne's filmography. 5/10

"Dark Command", is a film I can recommend as a good example of the Western genre, and stars some of film Western's icons plus Walter Pidgeon, a solid professional actor, but not one usually associated with Westerns...As others have commented on the strengths/weaknesses/history, I'd like to confine my comments to some of the actors and their portrayals.

In order of Billing:

Claire Trevor as Miss Mary McCloud. Ms. Trevor was a fine actress and a beautiful lady, and here, Ms. Trevor gives a solid and respectable effort as a haughty lady brought down by the circumstances of her seeing the folly of her rejection of the suit of principled, Bob Seton (John Wayne), for the superficially charming, but fatally ambitious and unprincipled William Cantrell (Walter Pidgeon). Ms. Trevor speaks with her normal New York accent.

John Wayne as Bob Seton. Mr. Wayne has the role of hayseed drifter/hero here. Mr. Wayne does as well as he can with this role. By nature, Heroes are almost always more bland and limited than are Villains. Here, Mr. Wayne projects solidness, forthrightness, honesty, social clumsiness, and an intellectual awkwardness, that is countered by a native shrewdness. What color he adds to his portrayal, much like Jimmy Stewart's in "Destry Rides Again", are the homespun anecdotes he tells of life in Texas. Wayne uses his normal manner of speaking with a touch of western drawl.

Walter Pidgeon as William Cantrell. Mr. Pidgeon was on loan from MGM for this film. Pidgeon is the villain of the piece, beginning as merely a romantic rival, and escalating to full-blown vindictive monster. Pidgeon textures his role by starting as a charming, decent, even good natured, fellow with dreams of improving his station in life. He even offers to educate Wayne's Seton, to level the field for their suit for Ms. McCloud's hand. But with his defeat in the election for Sheriff, to that same uneducated "cowboy", his shattered dreams turn bitter and vindictive, as he starts down the road to his destruction, although it is his plan to take as many as he can along that same road. IMO, Pidgeon is pitch perfect in his characterization. He speaks with his normal, rich, voice.

Spoiler Warning!

Roy Rogers as Fletcher "Fletch" McCloud. Mr. Rogers plays Mary McCloud's good natured (almost goofy) cowboy wannabe brother. After the truly out of character gunning down of a man with differing political outlook, the Fletch McCloud character forces a crisis of conscience for John Wayne's Bob Seton, as Trevor's Mary McCloud pleads with Wayne to abandon his principles and allow the clearly guilty Fletch McCloud to escape punishment. Later, as second in command of Cantrell's raiders, Fletch has an unexplained change of heart about the "low-down bushwhacker's" he has fallen in with. Basically, I felt that this character and his motivations were too arbitrary and underdeveloped...basically Roger's McCloud was a Deus ex Machina when the screenwriters had no clear path to continue the narrative. In the role, Mr. Rogers seems "lightweight" when compared to the other leads. Ultimately, unsatisfyingly (and I don't know how this got by the Board of Film Review), McCloud, never has to pay for his crimes. (note: this is not to always agree with the heavy handed Review Board, just a comment that it was unusual for a period film to allow a character to "get away with murder"...however, I was so annoyed by Rogers in this performance, having him self-sacrifice to allow Bob/Mary's escape would not have been unwelcome.) Throughout this film Rogers speaks with a "Hey Howdy!" affected Texas accent...Incongruent with his sister's Northern accent or his father's Scot's accent.

George "Gabby" Hayes as "Doc" Gunch, practitioner of Arts both Dental and Medical. Plays his archetype as an irascible, shrewd, slightly clumsy, comic-relief sidekick. He has the sidekick camaraderie thing down with Wayne, as they had played friends and sidekicks from long before George became "Gabby". For instance, see the Lone Star film, "Blue Steel", to see Hayes playing a role as sidekick "pre-Gabby", others have mentioned Tall in the Saddle for classic Wayne/Gabby. Here Hayes is a little more grounded as a reasonable, intelligent Gabby type. Hayes routinely was a scenery chewer, but, here he is second place to...

Another SPOILER WARNING!

Porter Hall as Angus McCloud, banker, and father to the hero's love interest. I can see where Alan Young and the Disney Cartoon studio got the idea for "Scrooge McDuck". Hall's grasping banker with a tremendous Scot's accent was completely over the top...including a death scene that Burton or Olivier would have a hard time outdoing. Hall demands attention when he is on screen, and this, IMO, to the movie's detriment. I mentioned before my observations on the accents that the actors chose to use, perhaps it is just me, but the scenes with the three McCloud family members together are marred by Hall's and Roger's battling accents next to Trevor's completely unmatching manner of speech.

LAST SPOILER WARNING!

Marjorie Main as Mrs. Adams, William Cantrell's Housekeeper. Others have noted that this character plays William Cantrell's missing conscience, as his mother that he presents as his Housekeeper for reasons of pride and vanity that are only briefly touched upon early in the film. Main plays it somber and sober as a disappointed mother, who sees her last child, who she had hopes would rise above unnamed sibling's disappointments, choose his ultimately destructive path. Main is the also screenwriter's answer to the final climax with an unexpected solution to the final Cliffhanger where the now completely evil and unbalanced Cantrell has the drop on Seton and Mary McCloud Cantrell, with no apparent way to escape. Dark and brooding, Main makes the most of her small, vital, part.

In summary ,a film that is worth viewing, yet, does contain some flaws in plot and characterization.

The plot is decent, the acting is good. The historical accuracy is terrible. John Wayne plays a guy named Seton who runs for and is elected sheriff over Walter Pidgeon, who plays the infamous butcher Cantrell, (not the correct spelling). Cantrell starts out with apparently high ideals but is drawn down by his defeat for sheriff. The fact that the real Quantrill was a scum sucking, back shooting, woman and children killing, monster is not shown in this movie. Claire Trevor, with the strange voice, plays the love interest for both of the main protagonists and of course John Wayne's character wins her. This further estranges Cantrell from, I guess, reality. Finally there is the end scene, however wrong it was, where Lawrence, Kansas is spared, unlike in history. This is not a bad movie other than the many historical inaccuracies.

In saying misleading, what I'm referring to is that for a Republic Pictures film, this is pretty good. But if we were comparing this to something from one of the big studios...well, average. There are holes in the plot that just don't make sense, particularly in the relationship between Roy Rogers' character and Walter Pidgeon's character. And the reason those holes exist is because of questionable writing for films skills. That also shows up in Claire Trevor's dialogs, which are just sort of flat for much of the early part of the picture.

What is top notch here is the cast. Walter Pidgeon very loosely disguised as William Quantrill, the infamous "Southern" raider (here named William Cantrell...ahem); Roy Rogers (damn he was handsome); John Wayne; Claire Trevor; the wonderful Gabby Hayes; and the also wonderful Marjorie Main. But make no mistake, this is a step above the typical Roy Rogers-Gabby Hayes pictures that Republic also put out. In fact, while Gabby Hayes is Gabby Hayes-ish in the first part of the film, later he becomes a more serious actor as his characters revives his skills as a doctor. Similarly, this is a very dramatic role for Marjorie Main...about as far from Ma Kettle as you can get.

For all the faults of the early part of the film, which seems to meander around a lot, the second half of the film is darned good. The scene with the horse, wagon, and men going over the cliff into the water...a stunner (although I must admit that animal cruelty was pretty evident in this film). And the finale, with the escape (I'll leave it at that) and the burning of Lawrence, Kansas is top notch.

So, despite some real weaknesses, particularly in the first half of the film, overall this a good "Western" and well worth watching.

Running for town Marshall, lawyer/schoolteacher Walter Pidgeon loses out to John Wayne and begins running guns. When the Civil War breaks out, he begins raiding both sides for personal gain, eventually settling on the side of the south and clashing again with Wayne, this time on a field of battle.

A fairly big-budget Republic Pictures production, Dark Command starts off light-hearted, with Wayne traveling with frontier dentist Gabby Hayes. Soon however, the situation get complicated and pretty intense for the duration of the movie, with sub-plots involving Wayne and Pigdeon's love-triangle with Claire Trevor and the murder trial of Trevor's younger brother Roy Rogers.

Wayne is quite appealing and his political speech near the beginning is quite a hoot. However, Pidgeon is the real standout as the deeply ambitious villain.

Roy Rogers never seemed very youthful in his starring pictures, even the early ones. Seeing him here playing a teenager, serves to remind one just how young he really was.

This is a great film. However, I wish it would have been made a bit later in Cinemascope and Technicolor, with maybe an extra hour to expand and elaborate on the story. It could have transcended "great" and become an event!