just watch it!

Great visuals, story delivers no surprises

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

1940's "Chad Hanna" was a colorful feast for the eyes, but far stronger on atmosphere than incident. We open in New York state, 1841, and the circus is coming to town. B. D. Bisbee (John Carradine) works as the advance agent for the Huguenine Circus, garnering attention wherever he goes, building up the audience to a fever pitch by emphasizing both male AND female acrobats...in tights! In the title role, Henry Fonda performs another expert character study, playing a Canastota stable boy who literally runs away to join the circus to escape a vengeful slave catcher whose daughter Caroline (Linda Darnell) later joins him, also a victim of her father's rage. Chad instantly falls for equestrienne Albany Yates (Dorothy Lamour), the star attraction for this one ring circus, but she soon spurns Huguenine for a rival circus that has an elephant. It's a shame that the filmmakers chose to showcase the dramatically anemic, predictably absurd romantic triangle over the more interesting circus life rarely depicted at that time. Fonda and Carradine are teamed for the fifth and last time, from "Jesse James," "Drums Along the Mohawk," "The Grapes of Wrath," and "The Return of Frank James." Carradine was no stranger to lovely Linda Darnell- "Brigham Young," "Blood and Sand," "Fallen Angel," and the 1958 WAGON TRAIN, "The Dora Gray Story." After such a powerful introduction, Carradine instantly fades into the background, disappearing completely after Chad and Caroline marry 54 minutes in. Sharp eyed viewers can catch canvasman Rondo Hatton at the 34 minute mark, looking quite menacing on the far right, one line of dialogue spoken in his own voice: "all right men, up to the next street!"

"Chad Hanna" is a film that might not be for you. While it's a very good film, it is a bit slow and if you are looking for huge thrills and excitement, you might be a bit disappointed--even though it is a film about the circus. But the acting is very, very nice and I think it's worth your seeing.The film is set in the US in the 1840s. Chad Hanna (Henry Fonda) is a country boy who gets himself into trouble trying to help a runaway slave. So, he takes refuge with a traveling circus run by Guy Kibbee and Jane Darwell (who is wearing a fat suit for the movie). There, he becomes infatuated with a lady trick rider (Dorothy Lamour). At the same time, a young lady (Linda Darnell) runs away from her abusive father--the same guy who is the scum-bag tracking down the escaped slave. Over time, Hanna Fonda's character falls for Darnell and they marry. What happens next you'll need to see for yourself.There are a few exciting moments here and there--but not that many. Even the film's big crisis near the end isn't THAT big--and it resolves itself rather quickly and easily. But the film is fun and it's worth seeing for the acting. In particular, it's amazing to see how beautiful and poised Darnell is--as she' only 17 when she made the film. This does, by the way, make her love scenes with Fonda a bit....ooky. Still, it's well worth seeing.Twentieth Century-Fox must have had high expectations for this film, as it was made in beautiful Technicolor--something reserved for only a few movies this year since it was very expensive to make a color film at this time.Also, if you care, one of the thugs at the 34 minute mark in the film is Rondo Hatton in an unbilled role--he's the one that talks, by the way.Twentieth Century-Fox must have had high expectations for this film, as it was made in beautiful Technicolor--something reserved for only a few movies this year since it was very expensive to make a color film at this time.

I just loved that part of the movie when Chad Hanna, all resplendent in his ringmaster's uniform, is seeking to imitate A.D's confidant introduction. Circus movies have always been my guilty secret - I just love them and could definitely remember the name "Chad Hanna" from my childhood (watching it on TV). It was a lovely, rambling, watch it on a rainy afternoon story about the trials and tribulations of a small time circus that toured the American countryside in the 1840s. 20th Century Fox was one of the first studios to fully explore the possibilities of Technicolor and it gave this movie a richness and the magnificent beauty of Linda Darnell was greatly enhanced by it. This was at the beginning of her career when her fresh naturalness was just breath taking. Walter D. Edmond's books - "The Farmer Takes a Wife" (1935) and "Drums Along the Mohawk" (1939) had already been filmed and had found a perfect actor to portray their strong and honorable heroes in Henry Fonda.In "Chad Hanna" he was absolutely splendid as the title character, a dreamy farm boy whose determination to help a runaway slave and to see "the most beautiful lady I've ever laid eyes on" - bareback rider Albany Yates (Dorothy Lamour) perform at the circus, has both him and Caroline (Linda Darnell) running for their lives. She has been beaten by her father, who is also after Chad, so they both run away with the circus. The supporting cast is like a "Who's Who" of the best players in Hollywood - Guy Kibbee as harassed circus owner A.D., Jane Darwell as his wife, John Carradine and Roscoe Ates. Even though beautiful Caroline silently loves him, Chad has only eyes for the proud Albany, who soon shows her true colors by being easily lured over to the rival circus and leaving them now without a star attraction. A.D has always bemoaned the fact that the one addition that would put them in the big time is an elephant and now they have to train up Caroline to take Albany's place. I agree with the other reviewer, for all her regalness, Dorothy Lamour seems to be only going through the motions and then half way through she is gone!! Although the new up and coming glamour girl on the Fox lot was Linda Darnell - Lamour was a Paramount player - so it stands to reason which one was going to have the bigger, more sympathetic part.A.D's circus is always in danger of being run out of business by their bigger, flashier rival - Shepley's Circus. Shepley's even employ their own "goons", always at the ready , armed with poles to prevent A.D's from participating in the street parade and, in the most exciting scene in the movie, threatening to burn down A.D's circus. After that riot A.D ends up in hospital and hands over the Ring Master's mantle to Chad (in my opinion John Carradine would have been the best choice - he even looked and sounded like a Ring Master) but the death of their lion - their main attraction has Chad sent from the circus in disgrace. Sure, not a great deal happens in the movie, but how Chad returns with a circus act that A.D. never dreamed they would ever have is quite exciting stuff. It also looks suspiciously like Rondo Hatton as a circus workman.Highly Recommended.

Henry Fonda did his third and last big screen adaption of a Walter Edmonds story about upstate New York with Chad Hanna. The other two were his debut film The Farmer Takes A Wife and the John Ford classic Drums Along The Mohawk. Though Chad Hanna is the least of the three it's still an entertaining film and Fonda could play these rustic characters well, investing in them a sense of dignity and strength.He's got the title role in Chad Hanna who's a farm boy who gets a yen to join the traveling circus after seeing a poster of Dorothy Lamour as a bareback rider. That's Hank's hormones talking there, but later on another runaway in the person of Linda Darnell and it's the two of them that are fated for each otherThe circus business back in the day was one dangerous profession and I'm not just talking about under the big top. Guy Kibbee and Jane Darwell's show is plagued by the much bigger outfit that Ted North runs and he wants them out of business. North even steals Lamour away from Kibbee's show, but that only serves to give Darnell a break and making her the top bareback rider.Just the names I've mentioned so far indicate that Chad Hanna has a cast of some colorful players and you can add John Carradine to that list as well as Kibbee's advance man. One thing I don't understand is why Kibbee thought Fonda would make a good ringmaster when Kibbee was injured in a fracas with North's show. He promoted the shy Fonda over Carradine who has one of the great voices in the English language. Go figure that one. Despite that faux pas, Chad Hanna remains a fine film done in nice technicolor and does capture the flavor of rural western New York back in the next to last century.