Montana, Terra Proibida

Morgan Lane (Errol Flynn) is an Australian sheep herder. He has come to Montana to graze his sheep despite attack by murderous local cattlemen. He encounters traveling huckster Papa Otto Schultz (S. Z. Sakall). He decides to play a peddler and infiltrate the town. Maria Singleton (Alexis Smith) is one of the local cattle ranchers.

It's a fine Errol Flynn western. Sheep herders are not the usual western fare. That's an unique spin. Otherwise, it's very standard and non-challenging. There are some cowboy stunts with the stuntmen. Errol Flynn is doing his leading man work. This is fine but a little slow.

Montana is directed by Ray Enright and adapted to screenplay by James R. Webb, Borden Chase and Charles O'Neal from a story by Ernest Haycox. It stars Errol Flynn, Alexis Smith, S.Z. Sakall, Douglas Kennedy, James Brown and Ian MacDonald. A Technicolor production with cinematography by Karl Freund and music by David Buttolph.

Flynn plays an Australian sheepman who comes to Montana looking for grazing space but finds local ranchers and a wealthy cattle-woman are greatly opposed to his plans.

Warning! Sheepherders Passing This Point Will Be Shot On Sight.

Just how many films are out there about the Sheep Vs Cattle Wars? What an interesting subject, that cattle ranchers were convinced that sheep were detrimental to the land and therefore a threat to the beef money market. This forms the basis for Montana, a modest budgeted production that never the less has glorious Technicolor to digest and Errol Flynn as a tough handsome dude.

Much of the film is given to talking about the sheep and cattle conundrum, with some duplicitous behaviour, ulterior motives and political nest feathering thrown in for good measure. Naturally there's a fiery romance bubbling away between Flynn and Smith, where they even duet on a song, "Reckon I'm In Love", while there's fist-fights, stampedes and some buckaroo to achieve the action quotient on "B" movie par. Some bad rear projection work shows its face from time to time, a shame because there's a lot of nice scenic photography to enjoy. But the best feature away from Flynn being Flynn, is that Technicolor photography, check out Smith's flame red hair and eyes chipped from Kryptonite, a dinner sequence rich in colour composition or just how the costumes burst out of the screen. This is a beautiful movie to look at even if it's routinely scripted from the page. 6.5/10

Australian sheepherder Errol Flynn brings his sheep to (you guessed it) Montana. He fights with cattle ranchers and romances Alexis Smith. Routine oater made a little less so by the sheep angle. The leads are enjoyable. Flynn fans will want to see him sing "Reckon I'm in Love" with Smith. Fun support from S.Z. Sakall and Paul Burns. Love that Technicolor. Just look at that blue jacket of Errol's pop! The story is much ado about sheep and will have you suppressing laughs here and there. An example of the kind of dialogue you can expect is when one thug says to Flynn: "You talk like a sheepherder." He said that with a straight face, believe it or not. Filmed in 1948 but sat on shelf for two years.

Reminds me a little of the Glenn Ford movie, "The Sheepman". Glenn Ford also brought sheep into bovine territory. I always like that movie and then just discovered this one on TCM this morning. Errol Flynn is one of my favorite actors and this little jewel will be added to my collection. The movies a classic B movie. But Errol Flynn and Alexis Smith was able to pull it off.

And to the person who called his sheepdog a mutt: that was a blue merle collie and could very well be my dog's great-great parent. Mac looked exactly like that. We lost him last year to cancer. This makes the movie even more cherished to me. I just purchased it on Amazon!

Errol Flynn, as a sheep-herder? Say it ain't sew! No wonder Flynn drank his way through this turgid Western. I'd be pulling the wool over your eyes by saying Flynn doesn't mail it in. Lots of short scenes with many edits plus obvious studio cuts against outdoor backdrops. Flynn's first film in 1950 but the miles and trials were taking a toll on Errol. His eyes were too bloodshot to shoot some scenes.

Nevertheless, the Technicolor cinematography (Calabasas Ranch)is first rate plus production values make up for the drab characters. It's tough to care about anyone except beautiful, flaming redhead, Alexis Smith. I've never seen whiter teeth in my life. Cute little scar on her chin too. Flynn and Smith have some nice scenes plus sing a fun little ditty: Reckon, I'm in love! Seriously, it's not bad! A sheep-herder invades cattle country! If this sounds like a bum steer of a film, you're probably right but it's Flynn in his final decade. He went downhill fast from here but "amoung other things", he still looks good next to Alexis.