San Antonio

Clay Hardin (Errol Flynn) is returning to . . . Where else? San Antonio! And he has evidence to convict a crooked cattle boss. But will he live to present it to the cavalry?

Flynn, a Texan by way of Tasmania, does nothing to disguise his accent. Who cares? We paid to see Flynn, not some actor.

Typical western tropes are on display: a saloon, for instance, large enough to hold a political convention.

S. Z. Sakall rides along for comic relief. It would be nice to see a few of Flynn's old companions, but alas. Doodles Weaver, however, pops up as a dance caller.

By 1945 Flynn is no longer young. He fought a hard war on the Warner soundstages. But the old Flynn charm is turned up full-force against saloon singer Alexis Smith, a strange-looking actress but hardly repellant.

On the good side we see a genuine rarity, a cow poke with a parrot (used for one joke). Then there's the lovely standard "One Sunday Morning."

And we get a glimpse or two of the Alamo. In 1945, after a hard-fought war against Hitler and his ilk, when so many Americans had loved ones buried abroad in the fight for worldwide freedom (including brothers of both my grandmother and grandfather), such reminders of American bravery and independence were heartening. And Flynn's character exemplified the ongoing American defiance to all little Hitlers.

"San Antonio" is not on anyone's list of the greatest movies ever made. But it's no disappointment for Flynn fans.

"San Antonio", directed by David Butler must have been a vehicle for the handsome, and debonair Errol Flynn, who could do nothing wrong during that period of his career. Warner Bros. went all out to make this film that has a little bit of everything to please the fans of the Western genre.

The surprise of the film was Alexis Smith, who was at the height of her beauty at the time. She makes a wonderful Jeanne Starr, an entertainer, who is the center of attraction among the men one sees in the film. Not only was she a gorgeous woman who blended well with her screen partners, in this case with Mr. Flynn.

The supporting cast does good work under Mr. Butler's direction. The adorable S. Z. Sakall is wonderful as the conductor of the orchestra in the saloon where Jeanne plays. Also, Glorence Bates, an accomplished character actress appears as Jeanne's maid, Henrietta. Also in heavier roles Victor Francen and Paul Kelly do wonders with their evil roles.

"San Antonio" has kept its wonderful colors. Max Steiner's musical score also helps the action.

Good and handsome Western , though trite script , it stars an excellent Errol Flynn , about usual conflict about cattlemen . Set in a post-US/Mexico war San Antonio de Bejar location from the freeway in which takes place a strong confrontation among leaders of the cattlemen . Here Hardin (Errol Flynn) is opposed by a local rancher as well as rich cattleman , Stuart (Paul Kelly) . While other cattle barons attempt to keep their cows from nubbing away at the far grass . Now Hardin as a tough person trying to calm the conflict between cattlemen and homesteaders . Gorgeous dance hall performer Jeanne Starr (Alexis Smith) along with her manager (S.Z. Sakall) arrive in San Antonio under contract to play at a Saloon as a singer for Stuart (Paul Kelly) and Legare (Victor Francen) but she is clearly smitten with the good-looking Hardin . When the army is called away , Hardin and his followers are left on their own to defend themselves . Meanwhile , Hardin has taken one of Stuart's tally books that clearly proves he was selling cattle that didn't belong to him .Strong Men . . . Brave Men . . . Real Americans - and their Women! Adventure of the Century ¡ America's most glorious adventure ¡

It deals with the classic cattlemen feud and it gets Western action , shootouts , a love story , street showdown gunfight and being quite entertaining . There is a love story when Flynn falls for an explosive girl working in a dance hall who turns out to be a domineering woman turning over a new leaf on meeting the good guy . This relationship between Hardin/Flynn and Jeanne Starr/Alexis Smith turns out to be very enjoyable romance and she quickly decides that Hardin has a much better name than other suitors but keeps them apart , then the violent conflicts emerge . It's a medium budget film with nice actors , technicians , production values and pleasing results . Including a breathtaking battle beween Errol and villain Kelly at the finish . The film is totally set in San Antonio territory , there took place The Alamo Battle , it was the first of the major territories in Mexico frontier , it was a booming depot , including cattle drives and shipping some Longhorns and meat markets . With the numerous presence of homesteaders the towns prospered , stabilized and grew , its lawabiding citizens decided to discourage the troublesome cattle trade with his transient cowboys and early requested the cattlemen to drive their herds elsewhere . Well played by Errol Flynn who starred various ¨Sword and Swagger¨ films and was superstar of Warner Brothers swashbucklers . Errol is still nearly at his most agile and deft style . This was Flynn attempting to pick up where he left off in 1941 when a series of war films succeeded the superbly organized Westerns and swashbucklers that made him his name . Errol Flynn was 40 when he made this movie , but his wild lifestyle had diminished his health and made him less able to perform his own stunts, as he had in earlier films . Previously , Flynn made his best swashbucklers and played successes as ¨Captain Blood¨ , ¨Adventures of Robin Hood¨, ¨The prince and the pauper¨ , ¨Sea Hawk¨, ¨The private lives of Elizabeth and Essex¨ , ¨Gentleman Jim¨ . Flynn also performed some Westerns as ¨Dodge City¨, ¨Virginia City¨, ¨Santa Fe Trail¨, ¨They died with their boots on¨, ¨San Antonio¨, ¨Silver River¨. And wartime movies as ¨Objective Burma¨, ¨Norhern pursuit¨, ¨Dive Bomber¨ , ¨Edge of darkness¨ , ¨Desperate journey¨. Flynn's subsequent vehicles at Warner Bros confirmed the beginning of his decline . Nonetheless , the hand of filmmaker Michael Curtiz who made almost all Errol's best films before their wrangling grew too much for either man to take , is sorely missed .Flynn is well accompanied by a good support cast , such as : Paul Kelly , Victor Francen , Florence Bates , Monte Blue , Robert Barrat , Pedro De Cordoba , Tom Tyler and special mention for the always likeable S.Z. Sakall .

It contains a glowing good Technicolor cinematography from two magnificent directors of photography : Bert Glennon and William V. Skall . It packs a thrilling and moving musical score by two greatest composers Max Steiner and Erich Wolfgang Korngold , the latter uncredited . The motion picture was directed in sure visual eye and with action enough . The yarn well produced by Robert Buckner/Jack L. Warner was professionally directed by David Butler . David was a craftsman who directed several Westerns . He was a good craftsman who directed all kinds of genres with special penchant for comedy , musical and drama . As he directed : April in Paris , Tea for two , Playmates , Doubting Thomas , Caught in the draft , The story of Seabiscuit , Lullaby in Broadway , The princess and the pirate , Captain January , The road to Morocco , and Westerns as : San Antonio and his greatest hit : Calamity Jane .

I admit, this is the first Flynn movie I have seen. I have long been intrigued by the actor's reputation: as THE dashing movie swashbuckler and dandy. After seeing San Antonio, I find that that reputation seems well earned. Flynn's Clay Hardin is a bit of a super-hero, tossing witty dialog right and left, outsmarting and outfighting bad guys, charming ladies effortlessly and looking swell throughout all. As Westerns go, it does not hold up well with the more dramatic and textured movies that started being made a few years later; the plot is not exactly the most believable and the film is loaded with perfectly stock characters (conniving cattleman, scheming Acadian, loyal father figure/partner, etc.). Then again, it is clearly a different sort of movie and I recommend it as that; a pulp Western, the sort of pulp that Indiana Jones is homage to, a story of villains, damsels, and one unstoppable roguish hero.

Once it was established that ERROL FLYNN could fit the mold of a western hero (even with his Australian/British accent), his studio wasted no time in putting him through the paces of several westerns, the best of which was DODGE CITY ('39). By the time he did SAN ANTONIO, all the western clichés were pretty well used up, so what we have here is a routine storyline that gives Flynn a chance to play another one of his suave western heroes who romances the local dance hall girl (ALEXIS SMITH) so we get a chance to hear a couple of pretty tunes along the way.

It's a shame that Warners had so little faith in Alexis' singing prowess that they dubbed her voice for the musical interludes. She went on to become an accomplished dancer/singer on Broadway in the years ahead. Nicest number is "Some Sunday Morning" which actually got an Oscar nomination as Best Song.

The usual cast of competent Warner contract players is evident once again: John Litel, S.Z. Sakall, Paul Kelly, Tom Tyler (wasted in a small role), Florence Bates and Victor Francen. Conspicuously missing is Alan Hale, who usually played Flynn's sidekick.

With a jaunty score by Max Steiner (who borrows his own title theme from DODGE CITY), this is the kind of western you've seen many times before, but enhanced by some of the nicest Technicolor and set decorations to be seen in any Warner film of this period.

Errol Flynn fans will enjoy it as one of his lesser excursions into the western genre. Fast moving and breezy entertainment.