Dakota (1945)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Joseph Kane

Writers:

Howard Estabrook (adaptation)
Carl Foreman (story)

Release Date:

25 December 1945 (USA)

Genre:

Romance | Western

Tagline:

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

Plot:

In 1871, professional gambler John Devlin elopes with Sandra "Sandy" Poli, daughter of Marko Poli, an immigrant who has risen to railroad tycoon...

Plot Keywords:

Railroad | Wheat | Farmer | Boat | River

Cast

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

Runtime:

82 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Iceland:12 | West Germany:12 (nf) | Germany:12 (DVD rating) | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #11126)

Filming Locations:

CBS Studio Center - 4024 Radford Avenue, Studio City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Republic Pictures (I)

Goofs:

Continuity: 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.

Quotes:

Sandy Poli: That's papa! He's shooting at us!
John Devlin: All I want to know is: do you take after your papa or mama?
Sandy Poli: Papa always wants to shoot things out. He has no more sense than you have. I do hope he doesn't kill us. He'd never get over it.
John Devlin: Well, I'd feel kind of regretful about it myself.

Movie Connections:

Featured in 100 Years of John Wayne (2007) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Coax Me

A Perfect Saturday Morning Western

This is the most enjoyable "B" Western I'd seen in quite awhile. It is fast-paced, mostly light-hearted yet doesn't stint on the serious implications of the dramatic sequences; it makes you feel and believe the human tragedies that would occur if town boss Bender (Ward Bond, marvelously effective and subtle as smooth-talking and thoughtful villain) were to be successful at bankrupting his fellow townspeople, paving the future railroad towns with the rubes' broken dreams. John Wayne was starting to solidify the nucleus of the stock company of supporting actors he would make many movies with in the future (on hand besides Bond are Paul Fix, Walter Brennan, Grant Withers, Olin Howard, Bruce Cabot, and Mike Mazurki.

Wayne is perfectly cast as the rough-and-tumble gambler who falls for railroad heiress Vera Rhuba Ralston, much to father Hugo Haas' chagrin who is a rather slick and powerful operator himself. The twist here is that Ralston is as cunning and devious as her Dad and new husband combined, and is continually effective in steering things in the direction she wants them to flow. Not normally a Ralston fan, I thought she played the role with flair, attractiveness, and a perfect energy level. She doesn't have the on-screen chemistry with Wayne that Maureen O'Hara or Gail Russell later did, but when your husband owns the studio, you don't want to allow the chemistry to get too real-looking. Ona Munson as "Jersey" is hotter and makes both her scenes memorable. Walter Brennan is perfectly cast as a persnickety riverboat captain, and Nick Stewart provides able comic assistance as his blunt first mate(Racially stereotyped, of course, but still very funny, and not at all demeaning if you look at it objectively). Bond and Mazurki are excellent as the deceptive villains. Fix and Withers are professional and provide subtle special touches as Bond's hired guns.

Given the budget and the generally pedestrian record of Director Kane, this is actually a surprisingly well made. My demands/expectations of this oater were small when I tuned it in on the Encore Western channel. I was looking for a fast-paced, check-your-brains-at-the-door oater to have on in the background as I picked up around the apartment. Instead, not only is it tautly directed, fast-paced, wry, and well-acted, but it has an extremely well-crafted adapted screenplay from Carl ("High Noon") Foreman. The insights conveyed by the script, even including some of the background and "throwaway" lines, are literate and register long after the lines have passed.

Overall, this movie can be recommended on many levels. Deapite it's quite modest roots, it is a durable, high-spirited, well-acted, and well-directed oater that also is exceptionally well-written. Not the type of title that will impress your art-house buddies, unless they accept your challenge and actually watch it before they write it off. Those actually watch it are in for special treats.