quarterwavevertical A number of Hollywood actors are known for the western movies they starred in. John Wayne, of course, is probably the one that most people think of. Similarly, Randolph Scott, Joel McCrae, Gary Cooper, and Clint Eastwood are often associated with this genre.Errol Flynn is better known for his swashbuckling roles in movies such as "Captain Blood" and "The Sea Hawk", but "Dodge City" is an impressive debut for him in a horse opera.He plays an adventurer, of sorts, who's been a soldier and a revolutionary, and, when his character is introduced in the film, he's a cowboy and a former buffalo hunter. He eventually becomes sheriff who brings justice to a lawless Dodge City.It's a solid movie with all the necessary elements for a good story: a dashing hero, a charming damsel (played by Olivia de Havilland) who eventually finds herself in distress, a few moments of comic relief (provided by the characters played by Alan Hale and Guinn "Big Boy" Williams) and a climactic fight in which the good guys win over the baddies.This movie was one of several westerns that Flynn made, including "Virginia City", "Rocky Mountain", and the terrific, though historically inaccurate, "They Died With Their Boots On". It's not a definitive western such as "Red River" or "The Searchers", but it's delightfully entertaining nonetheless.It's definitely worth seeing more than once and would make a good addition to one's western movie collection.

utgard14 Errol Flynn takes the job of sheriff to clean up lawless Dodge City. Bad guy Bruce Cabot has a thing or two to say about that. Flynn's great in his first western. Olivia de Havilland is the pretty love interest. Ann Sheridan has a surprisingly small part (considering the billing) as a dance hall girl who sings some songs. Alan Hale and Guinn Williams play Flynn's buddies. Terrific WB supporting cast includes some of the greats like Victor Jory, Henry O'Neill, Frank McHugh, John Litel, and Henry Travers. Also features Bobs Watson, a kid actor who specialized in two things: being adorable and crying on cue. Fairly routine western but very well-made in good old Technicolor. Love the Pure Prairie League!

samhill5215 I honestly can't believe I sat though this laughable exercise in film-making. I honestly can't think of one thing to commend it. The closest is Ann Sheridan's first stage scene and that's saying a lot considering it lasted all of a couple of minutes. The whole time I was hoping that with such accomplished thespians as Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Ann Sheridan, Bruce Cabot, Victor Jory, Alan Hale (need I go on?), directed by Michael Curtiz no less, something, anything, would elevate this film. I guess I should have known better because with the opening sequence this one began to stink to high heaven. But I kept hoping...OK, so what's wrong with it? Well it's an encyclopedia of clichés. I suspect the writers scoured every script out there, gathered all the worn-out clichés, and used every one of them in this film. Another way to look at it: if you want to know the worst clichés in moviedom don't look any farther than "Dodge City". They're all here a-plenty. What about character development you say? Well, what about it? This movie is made up of a series of one-dimensional characters with little or no depth whose motivations don't go much beyond those of five-year olds.I could go on and on, find fault with just about every aspect of this film but you get the idea. This one was conceived and produced by five-year olds for five-year olds. Actually I can think of some five-year olds who would think it stupid so enough said.

fimimix I was really surprised that only 29 comments were posted for this movie. I rate it at 10, because all of the people in it were at their prime and beautiful....even the men. Backing-up the big stars, you'll see all the familiar faces that made the western movies so watchable. Ward Bond, et al, must have made as much money in residuals (they made SO MANY FILMS) as the headliners.Erroll Flynn gets the job as sheriff (Wade Hatton) and does a good job in his role. The film's color shows-off his manliness, his acting was good. Olivia de Haviland ("Abbie Irving") is pretty-much window-dressing, having little opportunity to display her talents. She, too, was beautiful. Of course, this is one of those films where the leading-man gets his girl.This is one of the early western films to be shot in Technicolor's, and was one of several TCM showed recently in their tribute to films starring Flynn and de Haviland. I guess younger watchers haven't seen this film....I didn't even know it existed.It's importance is that after this film Ms. de Haviland began to let it be known she was very unhappy with the roles the studio was giving her. EVEREYONE was campaigning to appear in "Gone with the Wind" that same year - Ms. de Haviland knew where to go - right up to the boss' wife. She got the role she wanted, "Melanie", and finally got the opportunity to show what a great actress she was.Director Michael Curtiz put scriptor Robert Buckner's story in an easy- to-follow movie - these early films are a joy to watch, simply because they have just this quality. I recommend for everyone.