User reviews

Errol Flynn in his autobiography said he never understood his popularity in westerns. He never felt he was suited for them in the way Johnny Wayne was (that's right, that's how he referred to the Duke), but that he went with the flow at Warner Brothers.

In addition to giving Flynn technicolor and his favorite leading lady Olivia DeHavilland, Warner Brothers gave him a script with an Indian attack, a wagon train, a saloon brawl, a cattle drive and the usual results when at the end of a cattle drive the cowboys start celebrating and one blazing railroad train. Lots of western clichés, but served up very well indeed.

Bruce Cabot the town boss of Dodge City and henchman Victory Jory make some big money in many ways by keeping the town as rough and wild as possible. These two guys are pretty standard villains for westerns, but they play it with style.

Since this was Flynn's first of eight westerns, Warner Brothers felt it necessary to explain his Aussie accent by saying he was an international soldier of fortune from Ireland. Later westerns wouldn't even bother.

The climax involves Flynn, DeHavilland, and Alan Hale in a burning railroad car shooting it out with the bad guys. You can see it a hundred times and still be thrilled with how our intrepid heroes deal with their situation.

Mention has been made before of the saloon brawl. Possibly one of the biggest filmed on screen. Stock footage was used from it for years in subsequent Warner Brothers films.

Olivia DeHavilland hated this when it was first being made. She was trying at the time to escape playing the crinoline heroine to Errol Flynn and other stars. In truth that's what she is here. She fought for and eventually got the roles worthy of her talents.

But she related on an interview I saw with her that she was at a revival of this and of Robin Hood and seeing both of them again some forty years later and commenting on how well the audience responded, she felt a pride in the work she did. As well she should.

"Dodge City, Kansas - 1872. Longhorn cattle center of the world and wide-open Babylon of the American frontier - packed with settlers, thieves and gunmen".

"Dodge City... rolling in wealth from the great Texas trail-herds... the town that knew no ethics but cash and killing".

Enter trail boss Wade Hatton, cunningly disguised as a dashing Errol Flynn........

Dodge City, an all action Western from start to finish, finds Errol Flynn {in his first Western outing} on tip top form. Based around the story of Wyatt Earp, Michael Curtiz's expensively assembled film charms as much today as it did to audiences back in 1939. All the genre staples are holding the piece together, dastardly villains, pretty gals, wagon train, cattle drive, iron horse, Civil War, shoot outs, fist fights and of course an heroic Sheriff. All neatly folded by the astute and impressive Curtiz. Aided by Sol Polito's fluid Technicolor enhanced photography, and Max Steiner's breezy score, Curtiz's set pieces shine as much as they enthral. A burning runaway train and the finest saloon brawl in cinema are the stand outs, but there are many other high points on which to hang the hat of praise.

Very much a male dominated film, it's with the ladies that Dodge City fails to reach greater heights. Olivia de Havilland, who is always a feast for the eyes in Technicolor, disliked her role as Abbie Irving, and it's not hard to see why. There is not much for her to get her teeth into, it's a simple role that demands nothing other than saying the lines and to look pretty. Ann Sheridan as Ruby Gilman gets the more sparky role, but she sadly doesn't get that much screen time. Which is a shame because what little there is of Sheridan is really rather great.

Those problems aside, it's with the guys that Dodge City is rightly remembered. Flynn attacks the role of Hatton with gusto and a glint in his eye. When he straps on the Sheriff badge for the first time it's akin to Clark Kent shredding his suit to become Superman. Yes it's that exciting. Bruce Cabot and Victor Jory are growly and great villains, while comedy relief comes in the fine form of side-kickers Alan Hale and Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams. Dodge City sets out to entertain, and entertain it does. In a year that saw other notable and lauded Westerns also released {Stagecoach, Jesse James and Destry Rides Again} give credit where credit is due, Dodge City deserves its place amongst those offerings. Most assuredly so as well. 8/10

Warner Bros. Spared no expense in making their mark in the western genre. Errol Flynn plays a former soldier of fortune newly arrived to Dodge City, a town envisioned as the ideal family destination that's become a Mecca of licentiousness, ruled by a smooth-talking murderer (Bruce Cabot), who buys cattle on credit and has his backers killed when they try to collect.

Flynn reluctantly becomes Sheriff to clean the place up. Alan Hale as Flynn's sidekick provides a tonic of comic relief. The film has tonal shifts from happy-go-lucky to tragic, and doesn't pause to catch its breath. There are three great action set pieces: a cattle stampede, a saloon brawl that escalates to near-comic proportions, and a spectacular train hijacking sequence, all staged with virtuosity by director Michael Curtiz. Olivia De Havilland plays a well-bred miss who blames Flynn for the death of her brother. But, to no one's surprise, the two end up falling in love.

You quickly get past Flynn's posh accent, and with his dashing leading man persona, he makes for a believable cowboy. Ann Sheridan's part as a dance-hall entertainer is terribly underwritten, and barely worth mentioning. The color photography is stunning, even if the themes are black and white. Still, I found Dodge City thoroughly enjoyable.

In the film's introduction on Turner Classic Movies, Ben Mankiewicz had as a guest Alan K. Rode, a Michael Curtiz biographer. Mr. Rode said Flynn's agent was opposed to him doing Dodge City because he felt Flynn was not a good fit for a quintessentially American genre as a western. And De Havilland wasn't happy because she wanted to be working and preparing for Gone with the Wind.

1939, the greatest year in film history, produced a number of classic westerns (John Ford's STAGECOACH, George Marshall's DESTRY RIDES AGAIN, Cecil B. DeMille's UNION PACIFIC), and while Michael Curtiz' DODGE CITY may not be in quite the same league, it represented a considerable gamble for Warner Brothers, and had a major impact on the career of it's star, Errol Flynn.

Prior to DODGE CITY, there had NEVER been a successful western with a non-American leading man; foreign actors were considered too alien to the settings and action of this most American of genres. But there had never been an actor like Errol Flynn, the wildly successful Tasmanian who had proved himself as comfortable on a horse as with a sword in his hand. Coming off the most prolific year of his career (THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD, THE DAWN PATROL), Flynn had become such a box office draw that the WB decided it was worth the risk to star him in a big-budget western.

The risk paid off, as DODGE CITY was a major hit for the studio!

As Wade Hatton, an adventurous 'soldier of fortune' who decides to try his hand herding cattle in the 'Wild West', Flynn looks too boyishly handsome to be true...but teamed (yet again!) with Alan Hale and Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams (a new 'drinking buddy' for his off-screen carousing), he proves himself more than a match against the desperadoes ever present in these films. When his boss, Col. Dodge (veteran WB character actor Henry O'Neill), needs a man to bring law and order to the town named after him, the fast-shooting, incorruptible Hatton (loosely based on Wyatt Earp), is his only choice.

Of course, with Flynn present, it was nearly inevitable that Olivia de Havilland would be on hand, as well, although a tragedy early in the story would delay their romance for a bit. Meanwhile, corrupt town boss Jeff Surrett (Bruce Cabot, another off-screen pal of Flynn), plots to rid 'his' streets of the annoying crusading sheriff.

Adding to the fun is rising star Ann Sheridan, as a saloon singer who is also Surrett's mistress. In her first film with Flynn, she matches his rakish, 'devil-may-care' attitude, and would go on to make two more movies with him (EDGE OF DARKNESS and SILVER RIVER).

Featuring broad comedy by Hale and Williams (including one of the most memorable barroom brawls in screen history), a terrific large-scale climactic shootout, and Flynn and de Havilland's potent on-screen chemistry, DODGE CITY offered audiences all the elements they expected in a western...with Technicolor (one of the first major westerns to use it), and a famous Max Steiner score, to 'sweeten' the mix.

There is a curious twist at the film's end; Dodge City now tamed, Col. Dodge informs our heroes that another community, Virginia City, needs their help, in what looks like an obvious lead-in for a sequel. While VIRGINIA CITY would be made, in 1940, again directed by Curtiz, with a Max Steiner score that repeated the DODGE CITY themes, and starring Flynn, Hale, and Williams, their names would be different, and the film would NOT be a sequel to DODGE CITY!

With the success of DODGE CITY, Errol Flynn proved his profitability in westerns, which would became a staple of his career. He made a total of eight at the WB over eleven years, and, in fact, made more westerns than swashbucklers OR war movies.

The western 'experiment' completed, Flynn and de Havilland now returned to tights and medieval gowns, to join Bette Davis in THE PRIVATE LIVES OF ELIZABETH AND ESSEX...

Olivia de Havilland is really attractive here, fresh faced and brunette with big dark eyes. She looks so thoroughly American. Any normal man would want to throw himself at her feet, show her his bankbook and genealogical tree, and beg her to marry him. Marry -- not simply cohabit, because she's not that kind of girl. It's strange too that she look like an ex prom queen when in fact she was born in, where, Tokyo? And into a famous British family, responsible for the design of the superb DeHavilland "Mosquito" of World War Two fame.

Errol Flynn came from a professional family too. His father was a marine biologist and a professor in Tasmania. But you'd never know it from Flynn's personal history. His autobiography, "My Wicked Wicked Ways," is full of humorous anecdotes, although the best revelations must have been edited out.

(Eg., he owned a house on Mulholland Drive with a glass ceiling in the guest bedroom so that he and his friends could creep into the attic and laugh at the goings on.) He's an Irishman here with a brawling and rebellious past. It was the last movie in which they tried to explain his Brit accent to the audience.

The rest of the cast will look familiar to any Warners aficionado -- Frank McHugh, Ward Bond, Alan Hale, Big Boy Williams. There is a great fight scene, outrageously overdone, resulting in the near total destruction of a barn-like saloon. The brawlers smash through the wall into the meeting of the Lady's Temperance Society next door. And nobody even gets a bloody nose, no matter how many chairs have been smashed over his head. It isn't as comic as the saloon fight in "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon," but it's a big one and it IS funny.

The movie features Frank McHugh as an honest and courageous newspaper editor who is about to expose the chief heavy, who is by the way a complete stereotype with not a decent bone in his body. Victor Jory, a slimy henchman, comes into the office, threatens McHugh, and smashes him across the face with a small heavy whip. I wonder if Ford saw this before making "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence."

Come to think of it, before the fight scene, some ex-Union soldiers begin singing "Marching Through Georgia," which annoys the Confederate veterans who strike up, "Dixie." The two groups face off and sing at one another. The same sort of competition reappears in "Casablanca," under the same director, Michael Curtiz.

Flynn wears a broad-brimmed flat-topped cowboy hat. This must have been a liminal period for cowboy hats. Before then, cowboy hats were huge and round topped with a slight crease down the middle. Tom Mix wore such a hat in the 20s and John Wayne made a couple of Gower Gulch masterpieces wearing a fifty-gallon corker. Ten years after "Dodge City," cowboy hats came to resemble ordinary fedoras with smaller brims, sometimes twisted upward in odd ways, like a vaudeville comic's. A little bit of hat iconography there.

The plot's entirely conventional. The good guys versus the bad guys, with nothing in between. Well -- that's how the universe is really put together, isn't it? Oh, how I hate Alpha Centauri.

One bothersome thing. A careful historiographical search reveals that, the cast of characters in this movie notwithstanding, absolutely no cowboy has ever been named Wade, Matt, Cole, or Yancey. The historical record shows no evidence of the use of such names, and goes out of its way to emphatically deny their existence in the Old West. It is also an established historical fact that the most common name among cowboys was Montmorency.

Hadn't seen this for years but was able to relax and get a kick out of it.

No action star and very few actors in general can come close to being as big a star or fine an actor as Errol Flynn, that swashbuckling hero of so many classic films of the studio days. Indeed, everyone from Vin Diesel to Jason Statham seems to take a page out of his book and watching Flynn's films only makes you appreciate even more his talent.

Here, Flynn takes charge in a Western as sheriff of a seedy cattle town in dusty Kansas as he attempts to overthrow the corrupt cattle buyers that also run the town of Dodge City. At his side are his friends from the cattle drive, Rusty (Alan Hale) and Tex (Guinn Williams). Bruce Cabot is good as the antagonist Jeff Surett, but these kind of films are thin on plot and strong on lavish sets, costumes, and romance.

To provide that romance, we have the dashing Sheriff Wade Hatton and the lovely but stubborn Abbie Irving, played by the remarkably warm and beautiful Olivia de Havilland. She and Flynn made 9 films together, and it is obvious that they had chemistry as well as the ability to give us characters of people that we care about and want to see together. There may never be another movie couple like they. As for weaknesses, the story lags a bit in the middle, but it can be forgotten after watching an exciting climax featuring Flynn shooting it out on a burning train.

This film reminded me a lot of My Darling Clementine, the John Ford film from a few years later starring Henry Fonda. This isn't as strong, but it's more fun and a joyous ride all the way through. Flynn shows here what a charismatic and charming actor he was and it is a shame there will never be another like him.

A number of Hollywood actors are known for the western movies they starred in. John Wayne, of course, is probably the one that most people think of. Similarly, Randolph Scott, Joel McCrae, Gary Cooper, and Clint Eastwood are often associated with this genre.

Errol Flynn is better known for his swashbuckling roles in movies such as "Captain Blood" and "The Sea Hawk", but "Dodge City" is an impressive debut for him in a horse opera.

He plays an adventurer, of sorts, who's been a soldier and a revolutionary, and, when his character is introduced in the film, he's a cowboy and a former buffalo hunter. He eventually becomes sheriff who brings justice to a lawless Dodge City.

It's a solid movie with all the necessary elements for a good story: a dashing hero, a charming damsel (played by Olivia de Havilland) who eventually finds herself in distress, a few moments of comic relief (provided by the characters played by Alan Hale and Guinn "Big Boy" Williams) and a climactic fight in which the good guys win over the baddies.

This movie was one of several westerns that Flynn made, including "Virginia City", "Rocky Mountain", and the terrific, though historically inaccurate, "They Died With Their Boots On". It's not a definitive western such as "Red River" or "The Searchers", but it's delightfully entertaining nonetheless.

It's definitely worth seeing more than once and would make a good addition to one's western movie collection.

In 1866, Kansas, the American civil war has just finished and the armies disbanded. The building of the West begins, and in 1872, the new city of Dodge City is ruled by violence and shootings. The Irishman Wade Hatton (Errol Flynn) is a man adapted to these days and presently is conducting a group of pioneers, including Abbie Irving (Olivia de Havilland) and her reckless brother, to Dodge City. Once in the city, Wade is invited to be the local sheriff, and an incident makes him accept the position. He tries to clean up the cattle town, ruled by the powerful outlaw Jeff Surrett (Bruce Cabot) and his gang, with the support of the decent local people.

"Dodge City" is a western with an excellent pace. The athletic Errol Flynn is excellent in the role of a fair man, and Olivia de Havilland is very beautiful. The story has no plot point and is very conventional, but there are good scenes, such as the dispute between the future and the past, symbolized by the race between the train and the stagecoach and the fight in the saloon. I like, but I am not a great fan of western movies; however, "Dodge City" is a great entertainment. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Dodge City"

The film shows the supposed establishment of Dodge City in 1866 by Colonel Dodge (Henry O'Neill), a railroad magnate. Within the thirteenth minute of the movie we are fast-forwarded to 1872. The screen caption reads that Dodge is "Longhorn cattle center of the world and wide-open Babylon of the American frontier . . . packed with settlers, thieves, and gunmen." Also, "Dodge City . . . rolling in wealth from the great Texas trial- herds . . . the town that knew no ethics but cash and killing." There is a montage of street fighting, gambling, a hanging, gun-fights, and cattle. What had happened was that the railroad transformed a sleepy hamlet into a boom town that brought in much lawlessness.

Jeff Surrett (Bruce Cabot), a cheating cattle-dealer, has cattleman Matt Cole (John Litel) murdered by henchman Yancy (Victor Jory) in cold blood at his rowdy place, "The Gay Lady Saloon." There Ruby Gilman (Ann Sheridan) is a singer and dancer. Now Surrett runs the town by kicking out any sheriff without reprisal. Enter Wade Hatton (Errol Flynn), ex- confederate Irish immigrant who formerly worked with Colonel Dodge by supplying his workers with fresh Buffalo meat. Hatton is now a trail boss. At 22 minutes we are finally introduced to Olivia de Havilland (Abbie Irving), who shares a covered wagon with her boisterous and obnoxious brother, Lee Irving. The rambunctious Lee does not last long as he causes a cattle stampede for no reason and gets trampled to death. Abbie blames Wade, who is totally innocent. Wade has two sidekicks: Rusty (Alan Hale) and Tex (Guinn "Big Boy" Williams).

After a series of unlawful (and violent) events, Wade reluctantly becomes sheriff (one hour into the movie) and begins to clean things up. The wearing of guns is restricted as the jails fill up with rowdies. As the city continues to develop, Surrett tries unsuccessfully to get Wade into his corner. Meanwhile the love interest between Wade and Abbie develops. Then the murder of newspaper editor Joe Clemens (Frank McHugh) brings the pot to a boil. A gunfight on a speeding train on fire while bad guys ride on horses alongside closes the movie.

There is symbolism here, like the opening shot of a stagecoach trying unsuccessfully to keep up with a fast-moving "iron horse." The town growth shows the changing West after the Civil War. There are various errors in the film, though. For one fact, the city was founded in 1871, not 1866. And it was named after Fort Dodge. Matt Cole's gravestone says he died on 6 June 1875, and yet, later in the film a newspaper headline clearly reads 1 July 1872.

Despite its deficiencies the feature is well-crafted by Michael Curtiz while Sol Polito's Cinematography is beautifully accomplished. Yakima Canutt is one of the stuntmen. In a nutshell, the movie is entertaining and nicely acted, and the montages summarize events nicely. A famous scene, occurring at the 48th minute, is the mother of all barroom brawls for those who like this sort of thing. Lasting almost five minutes, it involves Union and Confederate sympathizers. The latter seems to be the "good guys" even though the former started the disturbance. By the way, it must be noticeable that Hollywood's earlier movies did tend to view the Confederacy with empathy, and ex-Southern soldiers as well- meaning. If you do not believe this writer, see "Birth of a Nation" (1915), "The General" (1927), "Gone with the Wind" (1939), "Santa Fe Trail" (1940), or "Shane" (1953). Ann Sheridan is third-billed as the dance-hall queen, and yet has only four scenes (of which two are brief). In the others she sings several numbers, including "Little Brown Jug." Errol Flynn, still in his heyday as a popular actor, is acceptable in his first western. He is both dashing and unruffled, although he is also a bit too urbane and well-scrubbed. Second-billed Bruce Cabot is appropriate as the villainous Surrett. Alan Hale as Rusty and Guinn "Big Boy" Williams as Tex are both very good too. "Dodge City" is one of the oldest western movies filmed in Technicolor that still survives.

This is one of the better old-time westerns because:

1 - It is a very fast-moving story. No lulls here. 2 - The hero of the story (Errol Flynn) is a very likable guy. 3 - The gorgeous Technicolor (not many color films made around this time) which looks even bolder and brighter on the DVD. 4 - The story sports a good combination of action, drama, romance and comedy. 5 - A very young Olivia de Havilland at her prettiest

This was one of the first westerns to feature a well-known actor, helping to give the genre a boost in reputation. Bruce Cabot and Victory Jory are credible as villains. Alan Hale is tolerable in his normal role as the buffoon. The only disappointment was Ann Sheridan, a beautiful woman who did not look as attractive in this film and had a role much smaller than one would believe from the billing she gets on the DVD back cover.

He'd already been a pirate and an outlaw for director Michael Curtiz, but in 1939 Errol Flynn was cast in the rather unexpected role of sheriff Wade Hatton in Dodge City, part of the western boom of 1939.

Dodge City is home to practically every western genre cliché in existence – cattle drives, covered wagons, lynch mobs, bar brawls and so on. It's been remarked that at the time these weren't clichés, they were fresh ideas. But that would be to forget pictures such as The Big Trail (1931), The Plainsman (1936), not to mention a host of silent westerns, in which all these typical goings on were well established. This isn't a criticism – after all genres are built on clichés, and there's no shame in that. Dodge City merely appears to have been intended as a kind of rough homage to the western rather than trying to take the genre anywhere new. These Flynn/De Havilland/Curtiz pictures were never meant to be anything more than simple fun. If you're casting Errol Flynn in his first western after audiences have accepted him as Robin Hood and Captain Blood, you're not going to make something like Stagecoach.

Having said all that, in spite of its lack of depth, Dodge City truly is a quintessential western in that its underlying theme is the most common idea that unites virtually every western ever made – the friction between the old and the new, and the forging of the American civilization. This is set up in the very first scene, in which a stagecoach and a steam train try to race each other. As the picture progresses, the point is made that the price of progress is lawlessness, and that the taming of the wilderness must be coupled with justice, education and order.

Dodge City also represents the high point (or should that be low point?) of Hays Code moralism in the western. At this time Hollywood was desperate to ensure the outlaws remained villains, and that no crime went without punishment, and this is one of the strongest statements of that. In his struggle to clean up the frontier town, Flynn is virtually a puritan, not to mention a strict authoritarian. The lines of good and evil are as stark as in any of his earlier adventures. The trouble is the western genre lacks the right feel that makes such fairytale ethics enjoyable. You can accept the hissable villain and dashing, perfect hero in an over-the-top swashbuckler movie, but in the old west setting they don't seem to work so well.

Errol Flynn would later play some great roles in westerns (for example, They Died with Their Boots On), but here he is really just playing Robin Hood in a Stetson, and only the vaguest attempt at an American accent (although, like Captain Blood, he's supposed to be an Irishman here, making his plummy English tones even more bizarre). Dodge City also features one of the weaker Alan Hale sidekick roles. He's a bit too much of a bumbling oaf for the majority of the picture, then suddenly becomes incredibly competent and authoritative out of the blue for action scenes. There are no real standout performances, and even great character actors like Henry Travers and Victor Jory are underused here.

Still, the Michael Curtiz mark of quality is definitely here. The big crowd shots are perfectly constructed as always. However the most breathtaking landscape shots appear to come from matt paintings, and Curtiz doesn't handle the wide open spaces of the west particularly well. For me the only real standout moment is a massive barroom brawl, with dozens of participants. Curtiz was great at handling these large scale action scenes, but none of the smaller stand-offs really get off the ground.

Dodge City is a certainly watchable film, but there are far better westerns from this period, not to mention far better Errol Flynn films.

I'd love to be able to say I love "Dodge City", but to be honest I can't. The film's got a lot going for it -- wisecracking script, bright colour, great music, and moments of sudden shocking darkness amid a generally easy-going plot -- but while it's pretty good, it isn't Errol Flynn's finest hour, and it isn't among the greatest Westerns either. Enjoy -- yes; love -- no.

This was Flynn's first Western, and he doesn't really look at home among the grizzled cast: he's too fair-skinned for that weatherbeaten crew, too well-groomed in a world of straggly facial hair (the trademark Flynn pencil moustache isn't really appropriate here), too neatly dressed to fit in with the rest of the town, and a somewhat self-conscious grin has a tendency to turn up at inappropriate moments (as he disclaims the role of Sheriff, for example), suggesting that he was not entirely certain of himself in the part. A whole-hearted flashing smile is in evidence for the comedy scenes, on the other hand, which are probably the film's strong point: a quality script is matched by Flynn's own natural aptitude for mischief, and by a transparently genuine bond between him, Alan Hale and Guinn Williams as a cheerful scene-stealing threesome.

Considered as a Western, "Dodge City" is admittedly a ripe collection of clichés, from the gold spike driven into the final sleeper to the cattle stampede, the villain threatening the crusading journalist, the lynch mob at the jail, the dance-hall queen, the poker game, the corrupt saloon owner, the horses galloping alongside the speeding train, the men clambering over its roof... the list goes on and on, with very little original in it save -- oddly enough -- for the involvement of Abigail Irving. The tragedy at the beginning that antagonises de Havilland's character from Flynn's is not out of the standard wagon train story, and the sequences where Abbie finds herself employment as a columnist in a newspaper office -- to the disapproval of Wade, of her uncle, and everyone else -- are among the most striking in the film.

It's odd, because this picture isn't an especially good vehicle for Olivia de Havilland; her character is completely wasted during the final showdown (despite being the only one to notice what is going on, she is used simply as a liability to the men), she has relatively little screen-time compared to the male trio, and with the exception of the newspaper-office scenes, the character has little to do save look pretty. It is to Miss de Havilland's credit that she manages to make as much of it as she does.

"Dodge City" doesn't boast a particularly complicated morality, a particularly nail-biting plot or a particularly rich set of characterisations. For all its Technicolor and A-list casting, it's at heart a B-movie writ large, from the era when Saturday-morning horse opera serials were standard fare and big-budget Westerns were just taking off: the next thirty years would produce some classics of the genre, but this isn't one of them. It's amiable enough, but Errol Flynn never looks quite right under a cowboy hat, and the part isn't really tailored to his strengths -- he and de Havilland would do better in their final 'Western' picture together, "They Died with their Boots On", as the arrogant, talented, colourful and insubordinate General Custer and Libby, his strong-minded wife.

To the viewer who likes Westerns, this is a glossy and entertaining example; to the viewer who likes Flynn, there is a sufficient dose of humour and romance. But I have to admit that this particular film probably isn't going to win over converts from those not already that way inclined.

I honestly can't believe I sat though this laughable exercise in film-making. I honestly can't think of one thing to commend it. The closest is Ann Sheridan's first stage scene and that's saying a lot considering it lasted all of a couple of minutes. The whole time I was hoping that with such accomplished thespians as Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Ann Sheridan, Bruce Cabot, Victor Jory, Alan Hale (need I go on?), directed by Michael Curtiz no less, something, anything, would elevate this film. I guess I should have known better because with the opening sequence this one began to stink to high heaven. But I kept hoping...

OK, so what's wrong with it? Well it's an encyclopedia of clichés. I suspect the writers scoured every script out there, gathered all the worn-out clichés, and used every one of them in this film. Another way to look at it: if you want to know the worst clichés in moviedom don't look any farther than "Dodge City". They're all here a-plenty. What about character development you say? Well, what about it? This movie is made up of a series of one-dimensional characters with little or no depth whose motivations don't go much beyond those of five-year olds.

I could go on and on, find fault with just about every aspect of this film but you get the idea. This one was conceived and produced by five-year olds for five-year olds. Actually I can think of some five-year olds who would think it stupid so enough said.

Michael Curtiz directed this large-scale western. Colour is used to great effect in this early experiment with the new process. For the first half of the film, while characters and storyline are being established, the Technicolor palette is restrained, keeping mostly to browns and ochres. As Errol Flynn's character, Wade Hatton, emerges as the hero, colour begins to reinforce meaning. Wade wears a succession of impressive shirts (prussian blue, plum). Others wear plaid, but Wade's shirts are each of a single hue, emphasising his monolithic moral certainty. Wade is a bigger man than the others, and he wears a bigger hat.

Dodge is a wild cattle town. The railhead for transport back to the 'civilised' United States, it is the point to which Texan cattle are driven. The interface of rail and hoof is significant. When the cowpokes hit town after weeks on the trail they have a strong inclination to kick up their heels, and bulging pay packets with which to do it. There is no effective law in Dodge, and gunfights are commonplace. Powerful cattle dealers like Jeff Surrett (Bruce Cabot) cheat the merchants with impunity. Dodge City needs a strong, principled man if it is to change its lawless ways.

The film's opening image is a train hurtling westward at full throttle, a symbol of the burgeoning industrial strength of the USA, and of the Manifest Destiny which is already turning America's energies towards the Pacific and obliterating the frontier. We see the train slicing across the magnificent Kansas plains, and 'racing' the stagecoach. Machines are supplanting horses, and the train wins the race.

Olivia de Havilland is at her wide-eyed prettiest as Abbie Erving, the young woman who treks north with the cattle and eventually falls in love with the handsome sherriff. Flynn is an aussie actor playing an Irishman in Kansas, and both he and de Havilland are terrific as the romantic leads. A young Ann Sheridan plays Ruby the showgirl, Alan Hale is Rusty the abstemious cowhand and Ward Bond is Taylor the minor baddie. Victor Jory has fun playing Yancey, the mean ornery villain with the straggly beard.

Wade Hatton personifies the American Way. An immigrant who has done well for himself by dint of hard work, sharp intelligence and plenty of talent, he is fearless when it comes to protecting the weak or righting wrongs. When the call comes to pin on a badge and restore law and order to Dodge City, he doesn't hesitate. Wade stands up to an angry lynch mob, even though the 'victim' is a worthless crook.

A liberal alliance between the new sherriff and the town's newspaper proposes to bring down the evil Surrett. The newspaper's office has a portrait of Abe Lincoln on the wall. Appropriately, a killer is brought to justice because his hand is stained with indelible printer's ink - serving notice on all bad guys that the Press will always be there to expose wrongdoing.

The clowning is well done. Watch for the cowpoke who has his head driven against a post, or Flynn athletically tripping, falling and being hit in the back by a swing door. Rusty preaches temperance, but is gradually overcome by the tempting sounds of the saloon punch-up.

Wade's clean-up policy is depicted skilfully in the scene where a newspaper headline dissolves into the arrival of peaceful settlers by train, showing us neatly how Dodge is being tamed.

Verdict - A good-natured western with appealing performances by Flynn and de Havilland.

Errol Flynn stars as Wade Hutton , a roving cattleman who becomes the sheriff of Dodge City . His job : to run a ruthless outlaw : Bruce Cabot and his gang out of town . De Havilland serves as his love interest , as she did in many former movies . It's Errol Flynn In His Greatest Role . . . A picture for every red-blooded son and daughter of the stars and stripes. West of Chicago there was no law!. West of Dodge City there was no God!

It deals with the classic feud between good guys and bad guys , and it gets Western action , crossfire , a love story , spectacular action scenes on a locomotive and being quite entertaining . There is an enjoyable romance when Flynn falls for De Havilland who is really reluctantant at the beginning due to she blames him of brother's death. It's a big budget film with nice actors , technicians , production values and pleasing results . At the ending takes place a disastrous clash between Bruce Cabot, his band and Errol Flynn with unexpected consequences . The film is totally set in Dodge City which was one of the major railhead cattle territories , it was a booming depot , including cattle drives and shipping some Longhorns by railroad and meat markets in the East . With the numerous presence of homesteaders the towns prospered , stabilized and grew , its lawabiding citizens decided to discourage the troublesome cattle trade with his transient cowboys and early requested the cattlemen to drive their herds elsewhere . Well played by Errol Flynn who starred various ¨Sword and Swagger¨ films and was superstar of Warner Brothers swashbucklers . Errol is still nearly at his most agile and deft style . Errol Flynn was 40 when he made this movie , but his wild lifestyle had diminished his health and made him less able to perform his own stunts, as he had in earlier films . Previously , Flynn made his best swashbucklers and played successes as ¨Captain Blood¨ , ¨Adventures of Robin Hood¨, ¨The prince and the pauper¨ , ¨Sea Hawk¨, ¨The private lives of Elizabeth and Essex¨ , ¨Gentleman Jim¨ . Flynn also performed some Westerns as ¨Dodge City¨, ¨Virginia City¨, ¨Santa Fe Trail¨, ¨They died with their boots on¨, ¨San Antonio¨, ¨Silver River¨. And wartime movies as ¨Objective Burma¨, ¨Norhern pursuit¨, ¨Dive Bomber¨ , ¨Edge of darkness¨ , ¨Desperate journey¨.

The motion picture was competently directed by Michael Curtiz displaying impressive shootouts , great action scenes and entertainment enough . Michael Curtiz concludes a great legacy that included dramas, adventures, comedies, musicals, horror, historical films, police ... and a few westerns . He was an expert in strictly American film Noir genre and in drama as proved in ¨Bright Leaf , Flaming Road , Passage Marseille¨ and of course ¨Casablanca¨ . But also was specialist on adventure genre as ¨Adventures of Robin Hood , Sea Hawk ,Charge of the light Brigade , Private lives of Elizabeth and Essex¨ and Western as ¨Proud rebel, Dodge city¨and of course ¨Los Comancheros¨ . After directing about 180 films, the Hungarian director Michael Curtiz was already 73 years old, when he was called to lead what would be his last film and among all these pictures , many of them form already part of the great classics of cinema as ¨Angel with dirty faces¨ . Rating : Good , above average . Worthwhile watching .

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.

This is a rousing western with great ingredients: Errol Flynn, Olivia De Haviland, Michael Curtiz direction, Max Steiner score, and vivid color. It's a fun movie. But it belongs to an earlier generation of western movies that was superseded by many films that later appeared during the golden age of the genre in the late 1940s and 1950s.

John Ford's Stagecoach appeared in the same year as Dodge City and already pointed the way forward to a deeper, more grown-up western. It would be followed by other fine films by Ford himself, Howard Hawks, Anthony Mann, Budd Boetticher, and many others. These movies focused on character, complex themes, or simply the poetry of the western myth itself.

What Dodge City provides is standard horse-opera fare elevated by great production values. We have the pure-hearted, noble hero, kind to all ladies even when they scorn him; the comical but dumb sidekick; the saloon brawl, the really nasty bad guy and his even nastier gang, and so on.

There's a great opening sequence in which the new railroad train races a stagecoach. Another attraction is Olivia De Haviland, whose delicate beauty perfectly complements Flynn's persona. It's easy to see why Flynn was so popular in swashbuckling movies like this one--he could wield a six-gun or sword, handily defeating enemies, yet remain a gentleman. Compared with movie heroes to come--Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca! John Wayne in The Searchers!--Flynn was a Boy Scout.

The famous saloon fight in Dodge City is way over the top. We are meant to revel in the high spirits and manly foolishness of many dozens of Yanks and Confederates literally reducing the establishment to rubble as they beat each other with every weapon available. Later westerns continued the tradition of bar-room confrontations, but the casts would be smaller and the situations far more desperate ones with lives at stake and justice at issue.

I typically avoid using first person in reviews, but for this film, I'll make an exception. Dodge City is a phenomenal film that I've watched at least twelve times since discovering it around 2014. It's important to note that this film is from 1939, arguably the greatest year in film history, and it ranked sixth at the box office that year, which is a testament to how great the film truly is. Errol Flynn was reluctant to take the part. He didn't feel he would be accepted in Westerns, and to that point, no successful Western film had a non-American playing its lead. Errol Flynn ultimately accepted the part and knocked it out of the park. His portrayal of the good boy looking to clean up Dodge City was excellent, while Alan Hale Sr. and Guinn "Big Boy" Williams we're both effective and humorous as his sidekicks. Bruce Cabot and Victor Jory were magnificent heels in this film. Unlike some bad guys who skirt the line between good and evil, or have some redeeming qualities, there was absolutely nothing good or likable about Cabot or Jory in this film. As for Olivia de Havilland, it's widely known that she was unhappy with her cookie-cutter Warner Bros. roles at this time (this was a few months before she made Gone With the Wind), but she still played this role excellently. This role of a stubborn, independent young woman was a perfect vehicle for her to vent her frustrations through acting (although she did end up marrying Flynn's character at the end of the movie). Lastly, for those who love a good saloon brawl, this film probably has the best bar fight ever in the history of both film and television. There are so many great reasons to love this film!

Coming off of swashbuckling successes Captain Blood and Robin Hood, it was only a matter of time before Warner Bros. sent Errol Flynn, Michael Curtiz and Olivia de Havilland out west for a formulaic but basically entertaining (if you can get past its dated charm) adventure in the saddle.

Sprawling duster packs everything into its 100 minute plus running time but an Indian raid. One wonders if they shot one but couldn't work it into the already bursting plot containing a wagon train, an epic saloon brawl, cattle stampede, gunfights and lynchings, and a perilous shootout aboard a burning train. Though the elements are glaringly contrived, the film still manages to generally pull them all together into an adequate whole, and there are some good comic moments and decent performances.

Errol Flynn looked far more at home with a sword than a six shooter, but, while not John Wayne, he's fine here as the goodguy cowpoke pressed into service as Sheriff when things in Dodge get a little too nasty. You can see where so many latter westerns from My Darling Clementine to Tombstone gleaned their inspiration.

Consummate 30's/40's badguy Bruce Cabot is on hand to make it a tough ride for Errol to maintain law and order and old standby Alan Hale Sr. provides some of the levity as his sidekick, Rusty. The romantic happy ending between Flynn and de Havilland too is never (of course) in doubt.

Except for Guinn Williams getting to be the centre of attention in one of moviedom's biggest saloon bust-ups, the film boasts no real surprises and is strictly one dimensional fare. But it gets the job done and is worth a look if you've never seen it.

Errol Flynn's British accent was showing big-time in this 1939 film but he made the most of it.

This is an exciting film dealing with western expansion following the Civil War. Michael Curtiz's expert directing along with a strong cast and great story make for one interesting film.

We have Bruce Cabot as usual playing a villain. He will purchase cattle but will kill the seller so as to avoid paying. The bodies begin to mount.

After a tragedy befalls a child whose father had been killed by the Cabot character, Flynn, a cattle dealer, decides to clean up the lawless town.

Earlier, we meet Olivia De Havilland with her irresponsible, reckless brother, played by a very young William Lundigan. When his drunken shooting causes a cattle stampede with death (including his own) and destruction ensuing, his sister (Olivia) despises Hatton (Flynn) for firing the shot that ultimately killed her brother.

Ann Sheridan plays a dance hall queen who will cover up for the brutal Cabot. Miss Sheridan's part is wasted here. She has little dialogue but does light up the screen by her singing and dancing.

As Flynn begins to clean up Dodge City, the arrests and shootings mount up to an exciting climax. A bar room brawl is memorably staged in the film.

Errol Flynn takes the job of sheriff to clean up lawless Dodge City. Bad guy Bruce Cabot has a thing or two to say about that. Flynn's great in his first western. Olivia de Havilland is the pretty love interest. Ann Sheridan has a surprisingly small part (considering the billing) as a dance hall girl who sings some songs. Alan Hale and Guinn Williams play Flynn's buddies. Terrific WB supporting cast includes some of the greats like Victor Jory, Henry O'Neill, Frank McHugh, John Litel, and Henry Travers. Also features Bobs Watson, a kid actor who specialized in two things: being adorable and crying on cue. Fairly routine western but very well-made in good old Technicolor. Love the Pure Prairie League!