Best movie of this year hands down!

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

George O'Brien swaps his usual cowboy gear for a coonskin cap to play Daniel Boone. It's an "eastern western", as he leads a wagon train over the Appalachian Mountains to found a settlement in Kentucky. In the course of the movie, he must court Heather Angel, deal with vengeful and effete Ralph Forbes, escape from Indians who want to burn him alive, under the command of renegade John Carradine, and an attack of the settlement.It's a well done B under the direction of David Howard, with some lovely compositions by cinematographer Frank Good. In story terms, it hearkens back to LAST OF THE MOHICANS, with a faithful, if brutal Indian companion, played by George Regas. Modern viewers may be upset by scene-stealing Clarence Muse, playing a slave; he does so with enormous dignity. For fans of Mr. O'Brien, it will be a delight.

1936's "Daniel Boone" benefits from the casting of George O'Brien in the title role, still a few years away from retirement. An accurate portrait of the rigors of life on the Kentucky frontier, complicated by omnipresent evildoer Simon Girty (John Carradine), leading a band of renegade Indians that indulge in murder and rape. Also conducting villainy from a safe distance is prissy British aristocrat Stephen Marlowe (Ralph Forbes), supported by the Virginia legislature in confiscating the land built up by Boone's people. Love interest is provided by Heather Angel, solid support from George Regas and Clarence Muse. Later appearing as a murderer on the 60s teleseries DANIEL BOONE ("The Witness"), Carradine, on loan from Fox, excels in one of his flashier villain roles; too bad the picture sags a bit when he's off screen too long (he appropriately wears a skunk-skin cap, as opposed to Boone's traditional coonskin).

Seeing the film today gave me an interesting perspective on our country's history, as the events took place one year before the Declaration of Independence. With the Revolutionary War in full swing, an entirely different battle was being waged on the near Western frontier of 'Kain-Tu-Kee', the Indian name for a 'dark and bloody ground'. It was here the legend of Daniel Boone was born, and the film states it tries to remain true to the core of the frontiersman's legacy.I was intrigued by a number of the portrayals in the film that had nothing to do with the main characters. Women in particular were shown chopping wood, spading hard ground and fording rivers on horseback carrying babies in the cause of civilization. The film also depicted blacks respectfully, though in typically subservient roles; it was the black character Pompey (Clarence Muse) who offered the suggestion for the name of Boonesborough.There's an interesting scene where Pompey and Black Eagle (George Regas) have a conversation about the similarities of 'black' and 'red' men. Pompey's take on it is that both were baked by the sun, but the Indian was 'underdone'! Boone is ruggedly portrayed by George O'Brien in a characterization that reminded me of George Reeves' Superman, to me he looked like two different people with and without his coonskin cap on. His first encounter with the renegade white Simon Girty (John Carradine) offered a comedic touch with the knife swallowing gimmick. Later on, his shirtless physique takes center stage when captured by hostiles and relegated to a burning stake, most assuredly one of film's early recognitions of the beefcake factor in heroic movies.My prior introduction to Heather Angel involved her role as Miss Phyllis Clavering in the 'Bulldog Drummond' franchise, a series of detective mysteries of the same era. Here she balances her affections between British royal Stephen Marlowe and the adventurer Boone until Marlowe realizes he's second string. Her young brother Jerry is played by Dickie Jones, who in the 1950's became Range Rider's sidekick and later starred as Buffalo Bill Jr. in a couple of early TV Westerns.For an early talkie "Daniel Boone" seems to handle it's subject fairly well with a nice blend of action, adventure and insight into early frontier life. It does seem to leave a question mark for an ending though, as the pioneers are shown heading out once again in search of new territory. One must assume that the governor in Richmond fully intended to deny squatters rights to the settlers, on land annexed to Virginia for the glory of the Crown.

This genre includes "The Ten Commandments" and "Brigham Young". It's the strong and righteous man leading his people into a promised land. We've got a brave and good-looking Daniel Boone, portrayed by a handsome actor named George O'Brien. (The injuns strip his shirt off and tie him to a stake for a while, so we even get to see some skin.)The villain is John Caradine portraying Simon Girty, a white man who leads the indians in attacking the settlers. There's also a noble black man, apparently someone's slave, who names the town (Boonesburg) and heroically goes off into the woods to follow his 10-year-old charge.The best scenes have Daniel confronting pompous authorities. The very place where Boone chooses to settle has already been claimed by another, and Virginia (which claimed the territory of "Cain-Tuck-Ee" at the time) backs up this prior claim. Boone gets one good punch in, then accepts the law as final. Boonesburg seeks other territory to establish a community.The version of the video that I rented is put out by VCI Home Video, and the box is nothing like the one depicted herein. It's really not a kid's movie, as the Good Housekeeping box seems to depict.Anyway, it's a pretty entertaining flick.