When transplanted Texan Bob Seton arrives in Lawrence, Kansas he finds much to like about the place, especially Mary McCloud, daughter of the local banker. Politics is in the air however. It's just prior to the civil war and there is already a sharp division in the Territory as to whether it will remain slave-free. When he gets the opportunity to run for marshal, Seton finds himself running against the respected local schoolteacher, William Cantrell. Not is what it seems however. While acting as the upstanding citizen in public, Cantrell is dangerously ambitious and is prepared to do anything to make his mark, and his fortune, on the Territory. When he loses the race for marshal, he forms a group of raiders who run guns into the territory and rob and terrorize settlers throughout the territory. Eventually donning Confederate uniforms, it is left to Seton and the good citizens of Lawrence to face Cantrell and his raiders in one final clash.
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. . . it immediately began cutting corners. Republic replaced GONE WITH THE WIND's lavish color with often murky black & white film (especially the many Dark-O-Vision night scenes straining the eyes of DARK COMMAND viewers). Instead of a rousing Max Steiner original musical score, DARK COMMAND's audience is treated to a repetitious and often anachronistic stew of over-used oldies, such as "Camptown Races." With a running time less than half GWTW's, there's not a chance of straining even the tiniest bladders in attendance. Compared with GWTW, DARK COMMAND's cast is made up of strictly "B-Listers," with John Wayne assuming the Rhett Butler role, "Mr. Miniver" (Walter Pidgeon) trying to inject some gumption into his version of Ashley Wilkes, Claire Trevor giving us a Scarlett O'Hara without a single "Fiddle-Dee-Dee" (or chuckle of any sort), and Roy Rogers oozing into the Melanie Wilkes space in a bit of gender-blind casting. This sorry quartet play a pack of Fifth Column Losers who try to spread the venom of the Old South's Lazy Racist Black Slavery into a hotbed of Freedom Fighters in Lawrence, KS. (Which, of course, they manage to burn to the ground, as most of the population is slain.) Wayne personally knocks out the teeth of 17-plus Abolitionists, and Rogers guns down an unarmed 18th Union Backer in his haste to jump into Satan's Surrey. Wayne proposes Bigamy to Ms. Trevor, and it takes a Nasty-Gram from the U.S. Production Code Administration to keep Rogers from doing it with Trigger.
ALTHOUGH WE ALL remember Republic Studios as the home of less than top notch film, there were some notable exceptions. The studio did have an occasional production or two that managed to pull itself up by its bootstraps from the classification of the "Bs". If not exactly an "A" Picture, this production of DARK COMMAND is definitely a high "B+" picture.THE MOVIE HAS so many amenities that were lacking in the typical Republic fare of Serials and "B" Picture Series Westerns. DARK COMMAND has a really fine cast. Clare Trevor, John Wayne, Walter Pidgeon, Roy Rogers, George "Gabby" Hayes, Porter Hall, Marjorie Main, Joe Sawyer, Helen Mac Kellar, Raymond Walburn, J. Farrell McDonald and Trevor Bardette head up an unusually large cast; especially for Republic.OF ALL OF the principal players in the cast, only Wayne, Rogers and Hayes were regulars at the "Thrill Factory"; as Republic was knick-named.SITTING IN THE chair and manning the megaphone was none other than Mr. Raoul Walsh; who had directed so many successful movies at Warner Brothers.AS FOR THE story, we have a freely adapted story from out of the old American History book. The place was "Bleeding" Kansas; which had been divided in violent clashes between Free and Slave state advocates for some time before the Civil War.DURING THE WAR, one William Cantrell did lead a large band of renegades in seditious rebellion against the establishment free State Government as well as against any Federal forces. Origially being endorsed by the Confederate States of America, Cantrell was eventually disowned and condemned by the South; before his being killed by Union Cavalry forces.THE STORY MAINTAINS enough of a connection to the History Books to make it seem to be authentic. It can surely be said to be no worse than two other of Raul Walsh Historical Dramas for its fanciful treatment of fact. Both Michael Curtiz's SANTA FE TRAIL and Walsh's THEY DIED WITH THEIR BOOTS ON are prime examples of that.BUT THIS PRODUCTION still delivers the desired results in action, adventure and drama. And Los Angeles' Griffith Park never looked so good!
When you consider that W.R. Burnett was the author of the novel on which this was based, and that the great Raoul Walsh was behind the camera as director, it's no wonder that DARK COMMAND is a far better than average western, especially one coming from a studio like Republic.JOHN WAYNE, CLAIRE TREVOR and WALTER PIDGEON are top-billed and each does an excellent job. In fact, the chemistry between Wayne and Trevor is on the level of their most famous pairing in STAGECOACH, perhaps even better.The story is vaguely suggested by the true-life tale of Quantrill's Raiders, with Pidgeon as Cantrell, a man who uses the strife between north and south to be a plunderer, robbing from both sides and setting himself up in luxurious surroundings. CLAIRE TREVOR is the woman who becomes his bride, reluctantly, and then discovers that it's really JOHN WAYNE that she loves. That's about the gist of the story, but it's given some good western elements, even extending to the inclusion of GEORGE 'GABBY' HAYES as a doctor a bit out of practice and ROY ROGERS in a straight dramatic role as Trevor's brother. Even MARJORIE MAIN has a strong dramatic role as Pidgeon's unhappy mother.Walsh keeps things going at a fast clip, the production values are excellent and it's probably a film Republic was proud of, with good reason.
12 hours into the John Wayne Marathon, we have a tale of Cantrall's raiders, who terrorized Kansas before, during and after the Civil War.This film was nominated for an Academy Award for John Victor Mackay's art direction and Victor Young's musical score.John Wayne again appears with Claire Trevor, and a young Roy Rogers as her brother. He is competing with Cantrell (Walter Pidgeon) for her hand, and they go back and forth throughout the movie.This film was quite a bit darker than the Audie Murphy version of the story ten years later. They even learned to spell the name right (Quantrill).Good film for a young John Wayne.
