Kit Carson

Rousing, action packed tale of the taking of California from the Mexican Government. While historically inaccurate, the cast and direction move things along in a pleasant manner, with lotsa Indians and gunfire. It's a good thing that Andrews wears a moustache since he and Hall are almost twins.

1. On a personal level, this movie is special to me because it is the only one I have ever seen when it first came out that was the entertainment provided for a kid's birthday party! In 1940, l was invited to a cousin's birthday celebration that featured the matinee showing of Kit Carson at a neighborhood movie theater. This was something rather unique and made all the more enjoyable because the audience primarily consisted of a bunch of pre-adolescent boys (and no girls!). Such matinee movie parties were much more common then than they are now.

2. I recently saw the Kit Carson film again. The experience confirmed my earlier impression of the movie. It is a pleasant narrative in the classic Western tradition that does not pretend to be representing the absolute truth. In that sense, seeing the movie is somewhat like the way many feel after eating an enjoyable Chinese restaurant meal--quite satisfied at the time but soon needing something more.

3. Perhaps the best feature of this movie is its great location photography. It may be favorably compared to the work of John Ford in his classic Stagecoach lensed just a year earlier. Monument Valley certainly was spectacular in both films!

4. This movie contains one of the very few leading man action-type roles that Jon Hall performed without resort to a "sarong" or similar exotic native-type garb. His naturalistic understated acting style was quite appealing. Too bad that he was afforded so few future opportunities to attempt similar acting challenges.

5. Hall's male co-star was a very young and inexperienced Dana Andrews. He appears as real life character John C. Fremont, with an unflattering mustache and a tight-fitting Army uniform. He labored in undistinguished movies for four more years until his breakthrough performance as the portrait-obsessed cop in the classic thriller Laura in 1944. Andrews ended up greatly surpassing Hall in popularity, and became a major leading man film actor for many years.

Well they just don't make them like this anymore. I for one would enjoy new releases of this calibre of the western genre. The original western cowboy and the officer and a gentleman vying for the heart of the classy lady who is travelling across the prairies heading for California to re-unite with her wealthy cattle rancher father. The only problem is there are hundreds of Indians behind the tall hills who do not want the Americans settling on the land that they already are sharing with the Mexicans who also have aspirations of taking the beautiful state of California land as their own.

The rugged frontiersman is a real life cowboy named Kit Carson (played by Jon Hall) who has teamed up with two of his best friends and loyal followers whose names appropriately are Ape (Ward Bond), and Lopez (Harold Huber). These three amigos agree to be the lead scouts for the wagon train that the unmarried damsel named Dolores Murphy (Lynn Bari) has secured their services for a wheel barrel full of cash. The wagon train also has a flank of American soldiers at their side led by Captain John C. Fremont (Dana Andrews).

What is different about this western/romance is that the two alpha males who are vying for Ms. Murphy's affections act more like the courteous animated chipmunks Chip and Dale then two adversaries. Both are true gentlemen and only want Ms. Murphy to be happy with her choice for her future husband.

This film is filled with action, light humor, cowboys and Indians, chivalry, romance and a pretty darn good ending for a black and white film released 78 years ago. I liked it a lot and I give it a sound 7 out of 10 rating.

Aside from the novelty of seeing Jon Hall and Harold Huber in a western (as neither were the type to usually do westerns), there isn't a whole lot distinctive about this western. It's one of a billion (give or take 5) that are completely fictional stories about real life westerners. In this case, it's Kit Carson--an interesting guy but also someone where about 98% of what you read and see in movies about his is complete fiction. In this case, it's pretty much more of the same.

Kit (Jon Hall) and his friends (Harold Huber and Ward Bond) have just finished an adventure which includes the hilarious pastime of killing Indians and scalping them. So, when the cavalry officer (Dana Andrews) asks them to guide a wagon train west to California, Kit is not interested. However, when Kit gets a gander at a feisty lady, he completely changes his mind and leads the settlers. The problem is that an evil Spanish megalomaniac is planning on turning California into is own little fiefdom and plans on wiping out the settlers. Can Kit and the cavalry stop this nut-job and make America safe for more white folks wanting Indian scalps? Bad history but somewhat entertaining. Not a great film but a decent one if you adore the genre. Not much more I want to say about this rather forgettable film.

Action-filled story peopled with many great characters, beautifully played by some excellent actors, all make this a very watchable movie.

It had been years since I saw Jon Hall and I understand why he was as popular as he was but don't understand why he's relatively unknown now.

Hall played the title character and Dana Andrews was an excellent John C. Fremont, both real historical people.

Ward Bond again showed why he was and is still popular: Great actor and very personable.

Harold Huber was another superb character actor, one of those Hollywood standbys without whom movies just couldn't be made. Here he puts on a quite good Spanish accent, and his character is a strong and necessary partner to the Carson character.

Lynn Bari was, as usual, lovely, but she too played a strong character.

There were just too many excellent players to name them all. For now, just know it will be worth your time to see this "Kit Carson," wherever you can find a copy. I found mine at Kanopy, a service of many public libraries.