Wonderful character development!

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

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

Seton and Cantrell compete for both district marshal and pretty Mary McCloud on the eve of the Civil War.Generally, the results are uneven, probably due to three big-time leads, each of whom must get adequate screen time. I expect for little Republic, stars like Trevor and Pidgeon were more expensive than usual. However, the romantic triangle (Wayne-Trevor-Pidgeon) gets a lot of dialog time, too much for a title that promises lots of action. Still, Wayne is little short of terrific. It's before he became frozen into the tough-guy icon that didn't demand much besides a growl and a hard-eyed stare. But here, catch his first cozy talk with Trevor. His subtle reactions are perfectly calibrated, proving he could deliver sensitivity when called upon.Pidgeon too, is excellent as the commanding Cantrell, along with Gabby Hayes providing his usual comic relief and with teeth, no less. Except, I don't think I'll be making an appointment with him anytime soon. And, of course, there's a young Roy Rogers, making an apt impression in a role that's almost a lead, along with the severe Marjorie Main in an odd and inessential role. Anyway, Republic popped for a lot of extras, especially for the last battle scenes. So if the big action's a long time coming, it's worth waiting for. Then too, note how the script avoids denigrating either the Union or the Confederacy in the lead up to the big war. This was very much a feature of many 40's and 50's westerns. After all, a movie's going to be shown in Atlanta as well as New York.All in all, the film's as much an actor's showcase as it is an epic western, a movie of parts rather than well-blended whole. Nonetheless, in my book, it's John Wayne at his physical and histrionic best, totally convincing as the virile and unaffected young Seton. And if the 94- minutes is somewhat uneven, Wayne certainly is not.

Dark Command is a very good and interesting movie. I would agree the story is rather thin and ordinary and could have been sharper in some scenes. The film could have been a little shorter too, and while not bad by all means some of the supporting actors and this is including Roy Rogers are just standard. However, Dark Command is a very well made movie, with beautiful photography, sets and costumes, and the score from Victor Young is rousing. Raoul Walsh's direction is outstanding, the script is well written, you do care for the lead characters, the climatic sequence is exciting and the stagecoach sequence is a contender for the film's highlight. The two leads John Wayne and Claire Trevor do very well, but the most consistent acting job comes from Walter Pidgeon who is excellent. Overall, very good if imperfect and underrated. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Loosely based around a true story, Dark Command sees John Wayne play Bob Seton, an uneducated cowboy from Texas who wins around the people of Lawrence, Kansas to become their town Marshall just prior to the outbreak of the civil war. This angers the previously respectful town teacher, Will Cantrell {Walter Pidgeon}, who after being beaten on the vote by Seton, forms guerrilla groups to raid, pillage and gun run around the Kansas countryside. Seton, now ensconced in the ways of the law, sets about crushing Cantrell and his unfeeling raiders, but there is also another matter at hand. Both men have deep affection for the same woman, Mary McCloud {Claire Trevor appearing with Wayne again after Stagecoach the previous year}, so things are just that little bit more spicy between them as things start to come to a head.Directed by Raoul Walsh and adapted from the novel by W.R. Burnett {Little Caesar & High Sierra}, the picture also contains fine support from Roy Rogers, Gabby Hayes and features a pleasing score from Victor Young. Tho historically dubious, Dark Command is no less enjoyable for being a creaky distortion of the "Quantrill's Raiders" {re: Cantrell} period in history. Those after a history lesson would be well advised to source from elsewhere in that respect. Catching John Wayne just as he was about to become the towering presence he was, the film also serves as notice to a time when stunts and character interplay were precious commodities. Walsh, ever the sharp eye for action, delivers some wonderful sequences here, horses and carts are a thundering, even careering over cliffs at one point. Whilst the final raid on Lawrence is a blood pumping feast for the eyes. But it's with the feel of the film that it ultimately succeeds as a period piece of note. The mood is dark as the civil war looms, slave trading and gun running sit distastefully with dubious politics, and then the war, with Cantrell and his raiders taking their spoils of war leaving a particularly nasty taste in the mouth. All of which is moodily cloaked in a Raoul Walsh inspired sheen.A tip top production all round, and a fine cast on form makes Dark Command a must see for Republic Studios enthusiasts. See it if you can. 7/10

I have always liked westerns and this is a great one. Older westerns were closer in time to the events portrayed and even where the production values were not as stunning as those evident in newer film, these older westerns often brought an understanding of the people and the circumstances that is not the same thing as historical accuracy. It may have a character use the wrong kind of gun or an event portrayed may have ended differently but, as to the important things, older westerns get it right and that includes the nature of the people and the cadence of their lives. This is a wonderful movie and a portrayal of the mid-nineteenth century American that resonates even now. The older I get the more I enjoy and appreciate John Wayne's film persona. Whatever his real life behavior,the character he consistently portrayed was the kind of man who did build this country and is the kind of man I would have wanted to know and to introduce to my children. By speech and action, he was decent, gallant and manly --all in short supply in current film. This is a movie that deserves our time and our respect.