Dodge City (1939)

A Texas cattle agent witnesses first hand, the brutal lawlessness of Dodge City and takes the job of sheriff to clean the town up.

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writer:

Robert Buckner (original screen play)

Stars:

Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Ann Sheridan

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Errol Flynn	...	Wade Hatton
Olivia de Havilland	...	Abbie Irving
Ann Sheridan	...	Ruby Gilman
Bruce Cabot	...	Jeff Surrett
Frank McHugh	...	Joe Clemens
Alan Hale	...	Rusty Hart
John Litel	...	Matt Cole
Henry Travers	...	Dr. Irving
Henry O'Neill	...	Colonel Dodge
Victor Jory	...	Yancey
William Lundigan	...	Lee Irving
Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams	...	Tex Baird
Bobs Watson	...	Harry Cole
Gloria Holden	...	Mrs. Cole
Douglas Fowley	...	Munger

Storyline

Dodge City. A wide-open cattle town run by Jeff Surrett. Even going on a children's Sunday outing is not a safe thing to do. What the place needs is a fearless honest Marshal. A guy like Wade Hatton, who helped bring the railroad in. It may not help that he fancies Abbie Irving, who won't have anything to do with him since he had to shoot her brother. But that's the West.

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Plot Keywords:

cattle | sheriff | kansas | outlaw | railroad | 

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Taglines:

West of Chicago there was no law!

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Genres:

Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 April 1939 (USA)

Also Known As:

Esclavos del oro

Filming Locations:

Janss Conejo Ranch, Thousand Oaks, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The man Errol Flynn throws through the window of the barbershop was none other than his pal and long-time drinking companion, stuntman Buster Wiles.

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Goofs

Wade Hatton is seen putting on his gun-belt and sheriff's badge in the sheriff's office, two scenes before he and a group of men are seen removing the board across the door to the office.

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Quotes

Rusty Hart: Well, well. So this is Dodge City, huh? Sort of smells like Fort Worth, don't it?
Wade Hatton: Oh, that's not the city you smell. That's you! We better get you to a bathtub before somebody shoots you for a buffalo.

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Connections

Referenced in Good Neighbors: The Day Peace Broke Out (1976)

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Soundtracks

"Nelly Was a Lady"
(1849) (uncredited)
Written by Stephen Foster
Sung by Alan Hale while he's taking a bath

User Reviews

"Dodge City Will Be Cleaned Up"

Michael Curtiz directed this large-scale western. Colour is used to great effect in this early experiment with the new process. For the first half of the film, while characters and storyline are being established, the Technicolor palette is restrained, keeping mostly to browns and ochres. As Errol Flynn's character, Wade Hatton, emerges as the hero, colour begins to reinforce meaning. Wade wears a succession of impressive shirts (prussian blue, plum). Others wear plaid, but Wade's shirts are each of a single hue, emphasising his monolithic moral certainty. Wade is a bigger man than the others, and he wears a bigger hat.

Dodge is a wild cattle town. The railhead for transport back to the 'civilised' United States, it is the point to which Texan cattle are driven. The interface of rail and hoof is significant. When the cowpokes hit town after weeks on the trail they have a strong inclination to kick up their heels, and bulging pay packets with which to do it. There is no effective law in Dodge, and gunfights are commonplace. Powerful cattle dealers like Jeff Surrett (Bruce Cabot) cheat the merchants with impunity. Dodge City needs a strong, principled man if it is to change its lawless ways.

The film's opening image is a train hurtling westward at full throttle, a symbol of the burgeoning industrial strength of the USA, and of the Manifest Destiny which is already turning America's energies towards the Pacific and obliterating the frontier. We see the train slicing across the magnificent Kansas plains, and 'racing' the stagecoach. Machines are supplanting horses, and the train wins the race.

Olivia de Havilland is at her wide-eyed prettiest as Abbie Erving, the young woman who treks north with the cattle and eventually falls in love with the handsome sherriff. Flynn is an aussie actor playing an Irishman in Kansas, and both he and de Havilland are terrific as the romantic leads. A young Ann Sheridan plays Ruby the showgirl, Alan Hale is Rusty the abstemious cowhand and Ward Bond is Taylor the minor baddie. Victor Jory has fun playing Yancey, the mean ornery villain with the straggly beard.

Wade Hatton personifies the American Way. An immigrant who has done well for himself by dint of hard work, sharp intelligence and plenty of talent, he is fearless when it comes to protecting the weak or righting wrongs. When the call comes to pin on a badge and restore law and order to Dodge City, he doesn't hesitate. Wade stands up to an angry lynch mob, even though the 'victim' is a worthless crook.

A liberal alliance between the new sherriff and the town's newspaper proposes to bring down the evil Surrett. The newspaper's office has a portrait of Abe Lincoln on the wall. Appropriately, a killer is brought to justice because his hand is stained with indelible printer's ink - serving notice on all bad guys that the Press will always be there to expose wrongdoing.

The clowning is well done. Watch for the cowpoke who has his head driven against a post, or Flynn athletically tripping, falling and being hit in the back by a swing door. Rusty preaches temperance, but is gradually overcome by the tempting sounds of the saloon punch-up.

Wade's clean-up policy is depicted skilfully in the scene where a newspaper headline dissolves into the arrival of peaceful settlers by train, showing us neatly how Dodge is being tamed.

Verdict - A good-natured western with appealing performances by Flynn and de Havilland.