Santa Fe Trail **** (1940, Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Raymond Massey, Ronald Reagan, Alan Hale Sr, William Lundigan, Van Heflin) – Classic Movie Review 4,750

Errol Flynn stars in Michael Curtiz’s 1940 American historical drama film Santa Fe Trail as officer Jeb Stuart, who is posted to Kansas in 1854 to help pacify the territory for railroad construction.

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 the nasty John Brown (Raymond Massey), whose relentless crusade against slavery has left the Kansas Territory bloodstained and war torn, and smooches with lovely Kit Carson Halliday (Olivia de Havilland) under the nose of his West Point old pal and love rival George Armstrong Custer (Ronald Reagan).

Director Michael Curtiz’s powerful black and white Western (or technically American historical drama film) 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, Max Steiner’s score 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 other assets, there is plenty of drama and action too.

Focusing on the abolitionist John Brown (Raymond Massey) and his controversial campaign against slavery before the American Civil War is great, but the all-important Hollywood-style subplot, in which Jeb Stuart and Custer (shown fictionally as West Point graduating class friends) compete for the hand of the fictional Kit Carson Holliday (de Havilland) is way less fascinating.

The script sees John Brown as a dangerously over-zealous bad guy, attacking the methods he used to pursue his crusade against slavery though praising the principles of abolition. Brown eagerly endorses breaking apart the union of the United States and further bloodshed as a means to bringing an end to slavery. This is a great role for Massey, who grabs it eagerly.

John Brown is still a controversial figure, viewed either as monomaniacal zealot or as a hero for his violent tactics in the name of emancipation. 

Filming started in July 1940. It was partly shot at the Lasky Movie Ranch in the Lasky Mesa area of the Simi Hills in the western San Fernando Valley, California, with the railroad scenes shot on the Sierra Railroad in Tuolumne County, California.

Santa Fe Trail is directed by Michael Curtiz, runs 110 minutes, is made and released by Warner Bros, is written by Robert Buckner, is shot in black and white by Sol Polito, is produced by Hal B Wallis (executive producer) and Robert Fellows, and is scored by Max Steiner.

It was premiered on December 13, 1940 in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in a three-day festival, with many stars including Flynn, De Havilland, Rudy Vallée and Wayne Morris, while Rita Hayworth performed a ‘welcome dance’. It was released on December 20, 1940 (New York City) and  became one the higher grossing films of 1941. Warner Bros made a profit of $1,480,000 (the budget was $1,115,000).

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).

Santa Fe Trail entered the public domain in 1968 when United Artists Television failed to renew the copyright.

A colorized version was produced in 1988 by Color Systems Technology for Hal Roach Studios, and released on VHS by VidAmerica in 1990. 

The cast 

The cast are Errol Flynn as Jeb Stuart, Olivia de Havilland as Kit Carson Holliday, Raymond Massey as John Brown, Ronald Reagan as George Armstrong Custer, Alan Hale Sr as Tex Bell, William Lundigan as Bob Holliday, Van Heflin as Carl Rader, Gene Reynolds as Jason Brown, Henry O’Neill as Cyrus K Holliday, Guinn ‘Big Boy’ Williams as Windy Brody, Alan Baxter as Oliver Brown, Moroni Olsen as Robert E Lee, Ward Bond as Townley, Erville Alderson as Jefferson Davis, David Bruce as Phil Sheridan, Spencer Charters as Conductor, Creighton Hale as Telegraph Operator, Jack Mower as Surveyor.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 4,750

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