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

Matt Cole's head stone reads died June 6 1875 yet all the other posted Sheriff's decrees reference July 1872.

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Quotes

Tex Baird: Hey, Wade! You ain't gonna keep me in here, are you?
Wade Hatton: I'm sorry, Tex, you read that notice the same as anyone else. Three days in there won't do you a bit of harm.
Tex Baird: Ah, but you can't do this to me after all we have been through together. We fought the war together, built a railroad together. We ate, drank, slept, lived and died together.
Wade Hatton: And now we're going to be in jail together. You in there and me out here.

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Connections

Referenced in The Making of 'Cape Fear' (2001)

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Soundtracks

"Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean"
(1843) (uncredited)
Music by David T. Shaw
Arranged by Thomas A. Beckett
Played by a band when a train pulls into Dodge City

User Reviews

Errol Goes West

Errol Flynn in his autobiography said he never understood his popularity in westerns. He never felt he was suited for them in the way Johnny Wayne was (that's right, that's how he referred to the Duke), but that he went with the flow at Warner Brothers.

In addition to giving Flynn technicolor and his favorite leading lady Olivia DeHavilland, Warner Brothers gave him a script with an Indian attack, a wagon train, a saloon brawl, a cattle drive and the usual results when at the end of a cattle drive the cowboys start celebrating and one blazing railroad train. Lots of western clichés, but served up very well indeed.

Bruce Cabot the town boss of Dodge City and henchman Victory Jory make some big money in many ways by keeping the town as rough and wild as possible. These two guys are pretty standard villains for westerns, but they play it with style.

Since this was Flynn's first of eight westerns, Warner Brothers felt it necessary to explain his Aussie accent by saying he was an international soldier of fortune from Ireland. Later westerns wouldn't even bother.

The climax involves Flynn, DeHavilland, and Alan Hale in a burning railroad car shooting it out with the bad guys. You can see it a hundred times and still be thrilled with how our intrepid heroes deal with their situation.

Mention has been made before of the saloon brawl. Possibly one of the biggest filmed on screen. Stock footage was used from it for years in subsequent Warner Brothers films.

Olivia DeHavilland hated this when it was first being made. She was trying at the time to escape playing the crinoline heroine to Errol Flynn and other stars. In truth that's what she is here. She fought for and eventually got the roles worthy of her talents.

But she related on an interview I saw with her that she was at a revival of this and of Robin Hood and seeing both of them again some forty years later and commenting on how well the audience responded, she felt a pride in the work she did. As well she should.