The film shows the supposed establishment of Dodge City in 1866 by Colonel Dodge (Henry O'Neill), a railroad magnate. Within the thirteenth minute of the movie we are fast-forwarded to 1872. The screen caption reads that Dodge is "Longhorn cattle center of the world and wide-open Babylon of the American frontier . . . packed with settlers, thieves, and gunmen." Also, "Dodge City . . . rolling in wealth from the great Texas trial- herds . . . the town that knew no ethics but cash and killing." There is a montage of street fighting, gambling, a hanging, gun-fights, and cattle. What had happened was that the railroad transformed a sleepy hamlet into a boom town that brought in much lawlessness.
Jeff Surrett (Bruce Cabot), a cheating cattle-dealer, has cattleman Matt Cole (John Litel) murdered by henchman Yancy (Victor Jory) in cold blood at his rowdy place, "The Gay Lady Saloon." There Ruby Gilman (Ann Sheridan) is a singer and dancer. Now Surrett runs the town by kicking out any sheriff without reprisal. Enter Wade Hatton (Errol Flynn), ex- confederate Irish immigrant who formerly worked with Colonel Dodge by supplying his workers with fresh Buffalo meat. Hatton is now a trail boss. At 22 minutes we are finally introduced to Olivia de Havilland (Abbie Irving), who shares a covered wagon with her boisterous and obnoxious brother, Lee Irving. The rambunctious Lee does not last long as he causes a cattle stampede for no reason and gets trampled to death. Abbie blames Wade, who is totally innocent. Wade has two sidekicks: Rusty (Alan Hale) and Tex (Guinn "Big Boy" Williams).
After a series of unlawful (and violent) events, Wade reluctantly becomes sheriff (one hour into the movie) and begins to clean things up. The wearing of guns is restricted as the jails fill up with rowdies. As the city continues to develop, Surrett tries unsuccessfully to get Wade into his corner. Meanwhile the love interest between Wade and Abbie develops. Then the murder of newspaper editor Joe Clemens (Frank McHugh) brings the pot to a boil. A gunfight on a speeding train on fire while bad guys ride on horses alongside closes the movie.
There is symbolism here, like the opening shot of a stagecoach trying unsuccessfully to keep up with a fast-moving "iron horse." The town growth shows the changing West after the Civil War. There are various errors in the film, though. For one fact, the city was founded in 1871, not 1866. And it was named after Fort Dodge. Matt Cole's gravestone says he died on 6 June 1875, and yet, later in the film a newspaper headline clearly reads 1 July 1872.
Despite its deficiencies the feature is well-crafted by Michael Curtiz while Sol Polito's Cinematography is beautifully accomplished. Yakima Canutt is one of the stuntmen. In a nutshell, the movie is entertaining and nicely acted, and the montages summarize events nicely. A famous scene, occurring at the 48th minute, is the mother of all barroom brawls for those who like this sort of thing. Lasting almost five minutes, it involves Union and Confederate sympathizers. The latter seems to be the "good guys" even though the former started the disturbance. By the way, it must be noticeable that Hollywood's earlier movies did tend to view the Confederacy with empathy, and ex-Southern soldiers as well- meaning. If you do not believe this writer, see "Birth of a Nation" (1915), "The General" (1927), "Gone with the Wind" (1939), "Santa Fe Trail" (1940), or "Shane" (1953). Ann Sheridan is third-billed as the dance-hall queen, and yet has only four scenes (of which two are brief). In the others she sings several numbers, including "Little Brown Jug." Errol Flynn, still in his heyday as a popular actor, is acceptable in his first western. He is both dashing and unruffled, although he is also a bit too urbane and well-scrubbed. Second-billed Bruce Cabot is appropriate as the villainous Surrett. Alan Hale as Rusty and Guinn "Big Boy" Williams as Tex are both very good too. "Dodge City" is one of the oldest western movies filmed in Technicolor that still survives.
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