Review of Santa Fe Trail (1940) by Dave H — 06 Oct 2014

Fascinating film. As entertainment it is decent enough, but quite disappointing when you compare it to other team ups from Curtiz, Flynn, and DeHavilland - it doesn't have the same exuberance of spirit or mythic heroism or cheeky joy or clever action as Captain Blood or especially Robin Hood - and DeHaviiland is all but wasted here.

Reagan as an actor, makes a great president, unsurprisingly. He's a dull ham. The most compelling character and performance here is Raymond Massey as John Brown - all righteous fire and brimstone.

The fascination with the film comes from the fact that the BAD guy (dodgy methods, granted) wants to ABOLISH SLAVERY, and the good guys want to stop him. This film was set in 1859, but made in 1940, so the politics are just as despicable as those in Gone with the Wind (if not more so).

The good guys shrug non-committedly whenever the issue of slavery (and the impending conflict over it) comes up - "oh, that's what the rest of the country is trying to figure out, we're soldiers, we just do what we're told, and look good doing it".

Odd, very odd. Yet...there is a hint of ambiguity here hinting at what could have been (and probably would have been, post 1970s) a much better film. The good guys are kind of chumps, and the supposed villain is not entirely unsympathetic, you kinda feel for him (as well as his cause, obviously).

Shame about this then. I guess entrusting a real, complex, uncomfortable story to dudes best of pure white hat vs black hat movies wasn't a great idea.