Dark Command

See this flick recently on AMC? I found it one morning on our recent trip and tried it, but couldn't stand the commercial interruptions. So hope that TCM, my favorite TV channel--"uncut, uninterrupted, and commercial-free"--will one day. Hadn't seen it before and, like many things in my Civil War experience, stumbled across it by accident. What a fabulous cast!

From TCM comes this summary: "Set in the years leading up to the Civil War and its outbreak, Dark Command tells a fictionalized version of the story of William Clarke Quantrill, the schoolteacher-turned-renegade, whose raids -- ostensibly on behalf of the Confederacy -- turned Kansas into a charnel house. John Wayne plays Bob Setton, a young Texan who arrives in Lawrence, KS, in 1859 on his way west, partnered with George "Gabby" Hayes. He meets Marie McCloud (Claire Trevor) and her younger brother, Fletch (Roy Rogers), and takes a liking to them, especially Marie. His only competition for her is William Cantrell (Walter Pidgeon), the local schoolteacher, who has big ambitions in life. He is nominated for town marshal and seems a shoo-in, especially as his only rival is Bob Setton, who admits he knows nothing about the law and can't even read, but Setton wins with his honest, unpretentious speech. At the time, Kansas is riven by strife, as settlers from the North opposed to slavery and those from the South supporting it pour into the territory, and Setton has his hands full. His most difficult personal moment comes when he must arrest Fletch for shooting an anti-slavery farmer (Trevor Bardette) to death. Cantrell leads a campaign of terror against the jury, however, which finds the young man not guilty just as the Civil War breaks out. In the months that follow, Setton and his posse go after the raiders who are stealing and destroying huge amounts of property in Kansas on behalf of the Confederacy. He suspects Cantrell is their leader, but can't prove it, and has to tread carefully. As the raids worsen, and the war drags on -- even Marie's pro-Confederacy banker father is murdered during a run on his bank -- their conflict comes to a violent end as Cantrell launches an attack on Lawrence, vowing to destroy the town, with only Bob Setton and Cantrell's own mother (Marjorie Main) standing in his way."

For an article on the import of the movie, see TCM.

Comments

[Brett Schulte]

Wow. This post brings back memories. I remember watching this one quite a few years back, and I'm 99% sure it did appear on TCM, so keep watching for it there Jack. I'm sure it will show up at some point. I had entirely forgotten about this movie, so I'm glad you brought the memories flooding back. As I recall, a lot of liberties were taken with history, as usually happened in the early days of movie making (who am I kidding, movies are just as bad today!). But this was just a fun movie. John Wayne plays a nobody in terms of historical importance (I assumed his character wasn't based on anyone real when I watched the movie, but you know how assumptions go!), and his nemesis is the notorious Quantrill (didn't they call him "Cantrell" in this movie?). A lot of people watching know what is supposed to happen to Lawrence, but John Wayne can't lose, an he? ;-)

Thanks again for posting this Jack. I need to see if I can find this one on DVD or elsewhere.

[Brett Schulte]

Update: I checked imdb.com and the movie does appear to be available on both DVD and Amazon. I went ahead and ordered myself a copy. My girlfriend isn't too into the Civil War, but she does like older movies. This will be part of my slow and insidious campaign to immerse her into all things Civil War... ;-)

Brett