This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

As Good As It Gets

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Made on a million dollar budget, would you believe, this is a fine "A"- grade movie from Republic Pictures, starring Walter Pidgeon (borrowed from M-G-M) as Cantrell, Claire Trevor, John Wayne, Roy Rogers, George Hayes (sic), Porter Hall and Marjorie Main – in that order! Despite some banal dialogue, this account of Quantrill's raiders has a broad sweep and power. The screenplay's writers have made a commendable attempt to explore the socio-economic background of historical events. Raoul Walsh's direction displays his usual pace and flair and there is some fine 2nd unit work by Yakima Canutt, including a spectacular cliff plunge by a buckboard. Acting is excellent all around. Production values, including Jack Marta's superlative photography, are really top class.

ALTHOUGH WE ALL remember Republic Studios as the home of less than top notch film, there were some notable exceptions. The studio did have an occasional production or two that managed to pull itself up by its bootstraps from the classification of the "Bs". If not exactly an "A" Picture, this production of DARK COMMAND is definitely a high "B+" picture.THE MOVIE HAS so many amenities that were lacking in the typical Republic fare of Serials and "B" Picture Series Westerns. DARK COMMAND has a really fine cast. Clare Trevor, John Wayne, Walter Pidgeon, Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes, Porter Hall, Marjorie Main, Joe Sawyer, Helen Mac Kellar, Raymond Walburn, J. Farrell McDonald and Trevor Bardette head up an unusually large cast; especially for Republic.OF ALL OF the principal players in the cast, only Wayne, Rogers and Hayes were regulars at the "Thrill Factory"; as Republic was knick-named.SITTING IN THE chair and manning the megaphone was none other than Mr. Raoul Walsh; who had directed so many successful movies at Warner Brothers.AS FOR THE story, we have a freely adapted story from out of the old American History book. The place was "Bleeding" Kansas; which had been divided in violent clashes between Free and Slave state advocates for some time before the Civil War.DURING THE WAR, one William Cantrell did lead a large band of renegades in seditious rebellion against the establishment free State Government as well as against any Federal forces. Origially being endorsed by the Confederate States of America, Cantrell was eventually disowned and condemned by the South; before his being killed by Union Cavalry forces.THE STORY MAINTAINS enough of a connection to the History Books to make it seem to be authentic. It can surely be said to be no worse than two other of Raul Walsh Historical Dramas for its fanciful treatment of fact. Both Michael Curtiz's SANTA FE TRAIL and Walsh's THEY DIED WITH THEIR BOOTS ON are prime examples of that.BUT THIS PRODUCTION still delivers the desired results in action, adventure and drama. And Los Angeles' Griffith Park never looked so good!

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

"Dark Command", is a film I can recommend as a good example of the Western genre, and stars some of film Western's icons plus Walter Pidgeon, a solid professional actor, but not one usually associated with Westerns...As others have commented on the strengths/weaknesses/history, I'd like to confine my comments to some of the actors and their portrayals.In order of Billing: Claire Trevor as Miss Mary McCloud. Ms. Trevor was a fine actress and a beautiful lady, and here, Ms. Trevor gives a solid and respectable effort as a haughty lady brought down by the circumstances of her seeing the folly of her rejection of the suit of principled, Bob Seton (John Wayne), for the superficially charming, but fatally ambitious and unprincipled William Cantrell (Walter Pidgeon). Ms. Trevor speaks with her normal New York accent. John Wayne as Bob Seton. Mr. Wayne has the role of hayseed drifter/hero here. Mr. Wayne does as well as he can with this role. By nature, Heroes are almost always more bland and limited than are Villains. Here, Mr. Wayne projects solidness, forthrightness, honesty, social clumsiness, and an intellectual awkwardness, that is countered by a native shrewdness. What color he adds to his portrayal, much like Jimmy Stewart's in "Destry Rides Again", are the homespun anecdotes he tells of life in Texas. Wayne uses his normal manner of speaking with a touch of western drawl.Walter Pidgeon as William Cantrell. Mr. Pidgeon was on loan from MGM for this film. Pidgeon is the villain of the piece, beginning as merely a romantic rival, and escalating to full-blown vindictive monster. Pidgeon textures his role by starting as a charming, decent, even good natured, fellow with dreams of improving his station in life. He even offers to educate Wayne's Seton, to level the field for their suit for Ms. McCloud's hand. But with his defeat in the election for Sheriff, to that same uneducated "cowboy", his shattered dreams turn bitter and vindictive, as he starts down the road to his destruction, although it is his plan to take as many as he can along that same road. IMO, Pidgeon is pitch perfect in his characterization. He speaks with his normal, rich, voice.Spoiler Warning! Roy Rogers as Fletcher "Fletch" McCloud. Mr. Rogers plays Mary McCloud's good natured (almost goofy) cowboy wannabe brother. After the truly out of character gunning down of a man with differing political outlook, the Fletch McCloud character forces a crisis of conscience for John Wayne's Bob Seton, as Trevor's Mary McCloud pleads with Wayne to abandon his principles and allow the clearly guilty Fletch McCloud to escape punishment. Later, as second in command of Cantrell's raiders, Fletch has an unexplained change of heart about the "low-down bushwhacker's" he has fallen in with. Basically, I felt that this character and his motivations were too arbitrary and underdeveloped...basically Roger's McCloud was a Deus ex Machina when the screenwriters had no clear path to continue the narrative. In the role, Mr. Rogers seems "lightweight" when compared to the other leads. Ultimately, unsatisfyingly (and I don't know how this got by the Board of Film Review), McCloud, never has to pay for his crimes. (note: this is not to always agree with the heavy handed Review Board, just a comment that it was unusual for a period film to allow a character to "get away with murder"...however, I was so annoyed by Rogers in this performance, having him self-sacrifice to allow Bob/Mary's escape would not have been unwelcome.) Throughout this film Rogers speaks with a "Hey Howdy!" affected Texas accent...Incongruent with his sister's Northern accent or his father's Scot's accent.George "Gabby" Hayes as "Doc" Gunch, practitioner of Arts both Dental and Medical. Plays his archetype as an irascible, shrewd, slightly clumsy, comic-relief sidekick. He has the sidekick camaraderie thing down with Wayne, as they had played friends and sidekicks from long before George became "Gabby". For instance, see the Lone Star film, "Blue Steel", to see Hayes playing a role as sidekick "pre-Gabby", others have mentioned Tall in the Saddle for classic Wayne/Gabby. Here Hayes is a little more grounded as a reasonable, intelligent Gabby type. Hayes routinely was a scenery chewer, but, here he is second place to...Another SPOILER WARNING! Porter Hall as Angus McCloud, banker, and father to the hero's love interest. I can see where Alan Young and the Disney Cartoon studio got the idea for "Scrooge McDuck". Hall's grasping banker with a tremendous Scot's accent was completely over the top...including a death scene that Burton or Olivier would have a hard time outdoing. Hall demands attention when he is on screen, and this, IMO, to the movie's detriment. I mentioned before my observations on the accents that the actors chose to use, perhaps it is just me, but the scenes with the three McCloud family members together are marred by Hall's and Roger's battling accents next to Trevor's completely unmatching manner of speech.LAST SPOILER WARNING! Marjorie Main as Mrs. Adams, William Cantrell's Housekeeper. Others have noted that this character plays William Cantrell's missing conscience, as his mother that he presents as his Housekeeper for reasons of pride and vanity that are only briefly touched upon early in the film. Main plays it somber and sober as a disappointed mother, who sees her last child, who she had hopes would rise above unnamed sibling's disappointments, choose his ultimately destructive path. Main is the also screenwriter's answer to the final climax with an unexpected solution to the final Cliffhanger where the now completely evil and unbalanced Cantrell has the drop on Seton and Mary McCloud Cantrell, with no apparent way to escape. Dark and brooding, Main makes the most of her small, vital, part.In summary ,a film that is worth viewing, yet, does contain some flaws in plot and characterization.