Ensofter Overrated and overhyped

UnowPriceless hyped garbage

Manthast Absolutely amazing

Roxie The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

grantss The movie summary suggested that the movie depicted the life of William Quantrill, the Civil War guerrilla. However, the William Cantrell in this movie has only a passing resemblance, historically, to Quantrill. So, so much for this being an historical drama.The story itself is pretty boring. It takes forever to get going (and the total movie is only 95 minutes, so it doesn't leave much time for any action). Plus, the thing that took up all the time, the attempt at character-sketching, is token, at best. This is John Wayne, remember - he doesn't do character-drama, just action! Disappointing, and boring.

kijii This old B/W Republic movie gives us a great cast, in some unusual roles. A young John Wayne is working his way West with his sidekick, "Gabby" Hayes, with Wayne getting into fights so that Gaby, acting as a western dentist, can pull people's teeth, at 2 bits a tooth, after Wayne knocks them loose.As Bob Seton (John Wayne) and his sidekick Doc Grunch (George "Gabby" Hayes) arrive in Lawrence, Kansas in 1859, we begin a movie about "Bleeding Kansas" when both Northerners and Southerners are moving in to help claim this territory—soon to be a state (1861)—as either a future "Slave State" or a "Free State" in keeping with the poorly conceived Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854.Once in Lawrence, the patriotic Texan, Bob Seton, stops to listen to the school children from Will Cantrell's (Walter Pidgeon) class singing "America." When Mary McCloud (Claire Trevor) wants to pass by Cantrell's wagon, Cantrell "takes a liking" to her not realizing that she is the sister of Fletch McCloud (Roy Rogers). Fletch and Will become friends. Mary and Fletch's father is the town's banker and informal leading citizen, Angus McCloud (Porter Hall).Fletch wants to become a cowboy—remember that Roy Rodgers was later known as "The King of the Cowboys"--like Will and starts to emulate him. Will Cantrell wants to marry Mary, but she rebuffs hid advances.As the town grows bigger and more lawless, Angus McCloud decides the town needs a full-time marshal and approaches the local judge, Judge Buckner (Raymond Walburn) with the idea of hiring one. The need for the town of Lawrence to have a full-time marshal leads Bob Seton and Will Cantrell to run against each other for the office. (Though not generally know, Seton is illiterate and had previously sought out Cantrell to teach him to read and write, which had set up the two as friends before the election). But, the competition for town marshal puts a strain in their friendly relationship. When Seton wins the election, Cantrell decides to "follow a different path" than teaching, by making money as quickly as possible. Cantrell joins an illegal run-running guerrilla army and becomes its commander. Without knowing about Cantrell's moving to "the dark side," Mary marries Cantrell's as his mother (Marjorie Main) looks on, knowing that her last son has turned bad just like his brothers before him did. Raymond Walburn, as the town's judge, supplies comic relief to the movie with his confusing and impulsive excitement and bumbling speech. The open screen of this movie tells us that "Some portions of the photoplay are based upon actual incidences in the lives of its principal characters. All other event and characters are fictitious,and any similarity to actual events or person is coincidental." Yet, the true characters portrayed have different names in the movie and, as the IMDb tells us, there were some story changes:"The character of Will Cantrell is loosely based on the real life Confederate guerrilla leader William Quantrill. Like Cantrell, Quantrill was born in Ohio, taught school in Lawrence, Kansas, became a guerrilla fighter on the Confederate side and burned Lawrence to the ground. However, the Confederacy eventually distanced itself from him and later revoked his commission and disowned him, because of his band's propensity for executing prisoners, massacring civilians, looting and raping. The real Quantrill died not at the hands of "Bob Seton" but during an ambush by a Union cavalry unit, Unable to escape on account of a skittish horse, he was shot in the back and paralyzed from the chest down. He was brought by wagon to Louisville, Kentucky and taken to the military prison hospital, located on the north side of Broadway at 10th Street. He died from his wounds on June 6, 1865, at the age of 27."

dougdoepke Seton and Cantrell compete for both district marshal and pretty Mary McCloud on the eve of the Civil War.Generally, the results are uneven, probably due to three big-time leads, each of whom must get adequate screen time. I expect for little Republic, stars like Trevor and Pidgeon were more expensive than usual. However, the romantic triangle (Wayne-Trevor-Pidgeon) gets a lot of dialog time, too much for a title that promises lots of action. Still, Wayne is little short of terrific. It's before he became frozen into the tough-guy icon that didn't demand much besides a growl and a hard-eyed stare. But here, catch his first cozy talk with Trevor. His subtle reactions are perfectly calibrated, proving he could deliver sensitivity when called upon.Pidgeon too, is excellent as the commanding Cantrell, along with Gabby Hayes providing his usual comic relief and with teeth, no less. Except, I don't think I'll be making an appointment with him anytime soon. And, of course, there's a young Roy Rogers, making an apt impression in a role that's almost a lead, along with the severe Marjorie Main in an odd and inessential role. Anyway, Republic popped for a lot of extras, especially for the last battle scenes. So if the big action's a long time coming, it's worth waiting for. Then too, note how the script avoids denigrating either the Union or the Confederacy in the lead up to the big war. This was very much a feature of many 40's and 50's westerns. After all, a movie's going to be shown in Atlanta as well as New York.All in all, the film's as much an actor's showcase as it is an epic western, a movie of parts rather than well-blended whole. Nonetheless, in my book, it's John Wayne at his physical and histrionic best, totally convincing as the virile and unaffected young Seton. And if the 94- minutes is somewhat uneven, Wayne certainly is not.

TheLittleSongbird Dark Command is a very good and interesting movie. I would agree the story is rather thin and ordinary and could have been sharper in some scenes. The film could have been a little shorter too, and while not bad by all means some of the supporting actors and this is including Roy Rogers are just standard. However, Dark Command is a very well made movie, with beautiful photography, sets and costumes, and the score from Victor Young is rousing. Raoul Walsh's direction is outstanding, the script is well written, you do care for the lead characters, the climatic sequence is exciting and the stagecoach sequence is a contender for the film's highlight. The two leads John Wayne and Claire Trevor do very well, but the most consistent acting job comes from Walter Pidgeon who is excellent. Overall, very good if imperfect and underrated. 7/10 Bethany Cox