(1939)
4
Hans J. Wollstein
Not that he resembles James Arness one bit but Errol Flynn's crime fighting Sheriff Hatton in Dodge City is none other than Matt Dillon in all but name. And the burgeoning city depicted in this energetic Warner Bros. Western is indeed the lawless cow town of legend, what with the likes of Bruce Cabot and Victor Jory making life miserable for decent, God-fearing settlers. Director Michael Curtiz paints with a wide and colorful brush and Dodge City is the kind of virile entertainment where a mammoth barroom free-for-all rudely interrupts the temperance meeting taking place next door, a situation that allows recently chaste cattle driver Alan Hale to partake in both. There is also a stampede of cattle, a fiery climax on a hi-jacked train and the cowardly killing of little Bobs Watson to keep the action fan happy for a good 104 minutes of so. Which, needless to say, doesn't leave much space for feminine interest, supplied here by Olivia de Havilland (exceedingly good and ultimately brave) and Ann Sheridan (sort of "bad" by the mere fact that she is in the employ of evil Bruce Cabot). The latter, unfortunately, is completely wasted in the thankless role of the saloon belle but does get to warble a song or two. Overseeing it all with his usual authority, Curtiz has a couple of neat tricks up his sleeve, including a memorable sequence where Miss de Havilland spots an intruder by his shadow.
cast-crew for Dodge City on AllMovie
Dodge City (1939)
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