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.
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.