Dakota (1945)

In 1871, professional gambler John Devlin elopes with Sandra "Sandy" Poli, daughter of Marko Poli, an immigrant who has risen to railroad tycoon. Sandy, knowing that the railroad is to be ... See full summary »

Director:

Joseph Kane

Writers:

Carl Foreman (original story), Lawrence Hazard (screenplay),

Stars:

John Wayne, Vera Ralston, Walter Brennan

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Wayne	...	John Devlin
Vera Ralston	...	Sandy Poli (Devlin) (as Vera Hruba Ralston)
Walter Brennan	...	Capt. Bounce
Ward Bond	...	Jim Bender
Ona Munson	...	'Jersey' Thomas
Hugo Haas	...	Marko Poli
Mike Mazurki	...	'Bigtree' Collins
Olive Blakeney	...	Mrs. Stowe
Nick Stewart	...	Nicodemus (as Nicodemus Stewart)
Paul Fix	...	Carp
Grant Withers	...	Slagin
Robert Livingston	...	Lieutenant
Olin Howland	...	Devlin's Driver (as Olin Howlin)
Pierre Watkin	...	Wexton Geary
Robert Barrat	...	Anson Stowe (as Robert H. Barrat)

Storyline

In 1871, professional gambler John Devlin elopes with Sandra "Sandy" Poli, daughter of Marko Poli, an immigrant who has risen to railroad tycoon. Sandy, knowing that the railroad is to be extended into Dakota, plans to use their $20,000 nest egg to buy land options to sell to the railroad at a profit. On the stage trip to Ft. Abercrombie, their fellow passengers are Jim Bender and Bigtree Collins, who practically own the town of Fargo and Devlin is aware that they are prepared to protect the little empire... trying to drive out the farmers by burning their property, destroying their wheat, and blaming the devastation on the Indians. Continuing their journey north on the river aboard the "River Bird', Sandy and John meet Captain Bounce, an irascible old seafarer. Two of Bendender's henchmen, Slagin and Carp, board the boat and relieve John of his $20,000 at gunpoint. Captain Bounce, chasing the robber's dinghy, wrecks his boat on a sandbar. At Fargo, the land wars begin and John teams ...

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Plot Keywords:

railroad | farmer | wheat | dakota | boat | 

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Taglines:

MIGHTY ADVENTURE...ROMANCE...EXCITEMENT...of America's Last Frontier (original poster)

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Genres:

Comedy | Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

25 December 1945 (USA)

Also Known As:

La femme du pionnier

Filming Locations:

Iverson Ranch - 1 Iverson Lane, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Republic Pictures (I)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

When Devlin is tossed out of Poli's house, he tumbles down the steps with his head toward the right of the porch. But on the cut to the close-up, he completes the fall with his head toward the left, a complete mismatch from the previous shot.

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Quotes

John Devlin: And speaking of politics, where we're going, there are only two parties: the quick and the dead.

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Connections

Featured in 100 Years of John Wayne (2007)

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Soundtracks

"Coax Me"
Written by 'Andrew Sterling (II)' and Harry von Tilzer
Sung by Ona Munson

User Reviews

sub-par John Wayne

This is one of the worst John Wayne flicks of the 1940s. By this point in his career, Wayne was now a star and deserved better material and a better leading lady. If you compare this film with THEY WERE EXPENDABLE, which came out the same year, the contrast is great. DAKOTA is simply a B-western with lousy and very confusing writing. While it has good supporting actors in Ward Bond and Mike Mazurki, Vera Ralston as Wayne's wife is incredibly wooden and she sports a bizarre accent that can't be accounted for in the script (her dad seemed like he had a French accent and she was Czechoslovakian). Most of the time, she's kind of pretty to look at, but becomes more of an annoyance than anything else. It was hard to figure WHY Wayne would have married such an idiot in the first place! The only reasons she got ANY roles is that her lover was the head of Republic Pictures--otherwise, she was much more of a liability than an asset. As I already mentioned, the plot is completely convoluted--and I really had to struggle to figure out what was going on. Part of this COULD have been because the movie just wasn't engaging. This is a forgettable film and only of interest to big fans of John Wayne. There are so many better Wayne films available--try watching one of them first.