Santa Fe Trail **** (1940, Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Raymond Massey, Ronald Reagan, Alan Hale Sr, William Lundigan, Van Heflin) – Classic Movie Review 4750

The 1941 biopic of General Custer, They Died with Their Boots On, in which Errol Flynn plays Custer, is understandably frequently confused with Michael Curtiz’s 1940 Santa Fe Trail, in which Flynn portrays Jeb Stuart and Ronald Reagan plays Custer, with both films featuring Olivia de Havilland as Flynn’s leading lady.

Errol Flynn stars in Santa Fe Trail as officer Jeb Stuart, who is posted with graduates from West Point to Kansas in 1854 to help pacify the territory before railroad construction to Santa Fe can resume.

Jeb Stuart captures nasty John Brown (Raymond Massey) and smooches with lovely Kit Carson Halliday (Olivia de Havilland) under the nose of his West Point old pal and love rival George Custer (Ronald Reagan). Director Michael Curtiz’s strong Western boasts good performances and a very decent quota of stirring scenes.

A lavish Warner Bros production with a strong star cast, a superb roster of character actors and Curtiz’s sterling direction balances Robert Buckner’s stodgy mock-historical screenplay, and a general lack of surprises or of fun. But, along with the assets, there is plenty of drama and action too.

It runs 110 minutes, is shot in black and white by Sol Polito, produced by Robert Fellows and scored by Max Steiner. It was premiered in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

It is seventh of eight movies pairing Flynn and de Havilland – though they do both also appear separately in Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943).

Massey starred as John Brown again in Seven Angry Men (1955).

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 4750

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