212. Dodge City (1939) - Flynn cleans up Dodge in Technicolor. Fairly entertaining - full of some excellent action sequences. Rating - ***
214. Santa Fe Trail (1940) - Flynn stars as "Jeb Stuart" and with side-kick Ron Reagan (Custer) helps Olivia De Havilland (Kit Carson Holliday !) and fights Raymond Massey (John Brown) in "bloody Kansas. Part western, part military history, part comedic romance. And of course entertainment trumps historical fact. Honors go to Massey who gives a riveting performance as the zealot John Brown. Flynn does an excellent job and seems more at home as an Army Officer than a Cowboy.
The movie actually shows Brown in too good a light but does well in showing the rise of anti-slavery feeling and coming of the civil war. It shows how different times were, the villain played by Van Heflin is a nasty abolitionist while Jeb Stuart is the hero! Rating ***
215. They Died With Their Boots on (1941) - Flynn stars as "George Custer" and Olivia De Havilland plays his wife and we all know the ending don't we? Flynn is perfectly cast as the dashing Custer and movie seems "Big" despite being filmed on WB ranch property. The movie is surprisingly pro-Indian. You see the Indians may have killed Custer but they were forced to go on the warpath by the corrupt Indian agents - the real villains. ***216. San Antonio (1945) Flynn fights bad guys and woos Singer Dance Hall Girl Alexis Smith. Gorgeous Technicolor & a few good songs. Let down by a routine script, generic villains, and back-lot sets. Rating - **
217. Montana (1950) Flynn reunites with Alexis Smith. She's a rancher who doesn't like Sheep-men until she meets you know who. Gorgeous cine-photography but Flynn seems bored and the story and script rather mediocre.Rating - **
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