Watch Dodge City For Free

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

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!

"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

In "Dodge City" Flynn and de Havilland make us forget they were ever Peter and Arabella or Robin and Marian. As Wade Hatton, Flynn is the softspoken - but strong- gentleman cowboy with manners and demeanor that would charm your great-grandma. I can understand why de Havilland was so unhappy with this assignment-her part is the generic love interest. HOWEVER..she gives it her all, delightful and believable as the intelligent, determined Abbie Irving, and she looks gorgeous. The scene between Flynn and de Havilland in the newspaper office has the spark we expect from these two great stars. Only complaint - not enough scenes of them together. And Flynn should have kissed her in the last scene when she agrees as a new bride to take the next wagon train west so he can clean up another lawless town. Alan Hale is terrific as Flynn's sidekick. Steiner's music is again stirringly beautiful. Sol Polito, the Oscar-nominated cinematographer, presents the viewer with the most beautifully photographed scenery and the wagon trains that took the pioneers west.One should remember that the film is not the cliché others have pronounced it to be. What you see here is the original. Curtiz knew how to fill a screen with action.

Dodge City (1939): Errol Flynn, Olivia De Havilland, Bruce Cabot, Alan Hale, Frank McHugh, Anne Sheridan, Victor Jory, John Litel, Henry Travers, Henry O'Neill, William Lundigan, Bobs Watson, Guinn Williams, Gloria Holden, Georgia Cane, Douglas Fowley, Charles Halton, Ward Bond, Cora Whiterspoon, Russell Simpson, Monte Blue, Hank Bell, Clem Bevans, George Bloom, James Burke, Nat Carr, Horace B. Carpenter, Spencer Charters, Tom Chatterton, Richard Cramer, Jim Farley, Thurston Hall, Robert Homans, Vera Lewis, Milton Kibbee, Lilian Lawrence, Pat O'Malley, Henry Otho, Francis Sayles, Guy Wikerson....Director Michael Curtiz, Screenplay Robert Buckner.The year 1939 was a big year for movies (Gone With The Wind, The Wizard of Oz, Goodbye Mr. Chips) and this "Old West" film from director Michael Curtiz was but one of two of his films that were in theaters that year to great acclaim; the other being Private Lives of Elizabeth And Essex with Bette Davis. Errol Flynn had achieved Hollywood stardom with "Adventures of Robin Hood" opposite Olivia De Havilland, who was herself emerging as an actress. Hollywood at the onset of World War II was enamored of Flynn and De Havilland and they starred in various films together. In "Dodge City", we find ourselves in Kansas, 1866, right after the Civil War has ended. The small cattle town of Dodge City is a lawless, dangerous and unhappy place, controlled by a corrupt Sheriff (Bruce Cabot). It's up to our hero Errol Flynn (as Wade Hatton) to turn things around and save the day. Olivia De Havilland portrays his love interest, Abbie Irving, a beautiful and resourceful prairie-born-and-bred girl whose brother Joe (Frank McHugh) is reckless and is eventually killed by Wade. This puts a damper on the relationship between Wade and Abbie but after she takes a job as newspaper writer and spends more time with Wade, the two fall in love. Before long, the bad guy/guyss are defeated and Wade becomes the town's new mayor. This film is possibly bland and predictable next to other Westerns that have stood the test of time (Giant, Hondo, How The West Was Won) but it has some good aspects and was a beloved Western in its day. Filmed in Technicolor at a time when it was rare to see films in color, the cinematography (by Sol Polito who worked for Warner Bros and for Curtiz's films is very beautiful, owing to the fact it was filmed outdoors in Kansas-like landscapes and realistic-looking sets. The music is by Max Steiner, who worked like crazy on dozens of films for Warner Bros. This film represents a kind of flower of the Hollywood studio system, as far as Westerns. Errol Flynn is superb, Olivia De Havilland is lovely and there is enough action (train and stagecoach race, bar fights, gun duels, etc) to perfectly fit into a classic, high-calibre Western. If you enjoy Errol Flynn (he did his own stunts at a time when no one did) and Olivia De Havilland, this film is highly enjoyable. But despite the historic setting, you will not learn much about post-Civil War America. In fact, the whole thing suffers from stereotypes of the Old West: the vulgar but good-hearted saloon girl, the good cowboy vs the evil sheriff, etc. This is a film that was meant to take you back to the Old West purely for entertainment.