John Wayne (as Bob Seton) stars in a Civil War-era film wherein he runs for Marshall of a Kansas town, against wicked schoolteacher Walter Pidgeon (as Will Cantrell). Of course, they are rivals for the attention of a woman - beautiful Claire Trevor (as Mary McCloud). Roy Rogers adds additional charm as brother McCloud. The story is rather more ordinary than intriguing, but the western scores on several fronts…

First, the direction by Raoul Walsh is outstanding. The production is well-mounted; it includes the expected exciting climax, but that's not all... Even better than the climatic ending is a spectacular sequence involving a stagecoach. Don't miss it! The indoor scenes are great, too. Watch the scenes in the Barber Shop, for example: witness the sets, direction, and photography. The placement of characters and objects, along with the great street outdoors, provide terrific visual depth.

The story doesn't do the production justice, however. And, some of the performances are merely adequate; and, sometimes they seem unfocused. Mr. Pidgeon's is probably the most consistent of the main players. Mr. Wayne and some of the players might have improved with some additional worked on their characterizations; and, if the story was sharper, "Dark Command" might have been a truer classic.

******* Dark Command (1940) Raoul Walsh ~ John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Walter Pidgeon

If you are an old movie fan, you might be very surprised to see Walter Pidgeon cast in the role of the villain. That's because during his long tenure at MGM he so often played nice guys like Mr. Miniver or the kindly Minister in HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY. In addition, oddly, Roy Rogers plays a rather ambiguous role--a guy who is both villain and hero. Again, fans of old movies know that Rogers CAN'T be anything other than the hero, but since this was an early film for him, his on-screen persona was not yet set in stone. Also, Marjorie Main plays a surprisingly restrained role--usually she is pretty loud and cantankerous, but here she rather underplays her role as Pidgeon's mother. Now, as for John Wayne, it's no surprise at all that he is the hero--anything else just would have been difficult to accept!

The film itself is a fictionalized variation on the true story of Quantrill's Raiders. Quantrill defied the accepted way of fighting war and waged a form of hit and run gang warfare on the North in the Midwestern US. He and his men were more interested in terrorizing the Northern civilians and making themselves rich off plunder. Because of this, many Southerners hated them and refused to acknowledge that they were on the same side during the war! Eventually, Quantrill and his men were captured and many executed for their actions.

In the case of this film, the leader of the outlaws wearing Confederate uniforms was named "Cantrell" and although there was similarity, there were also many other differences from the true story--such as locating the gang in Kansas and Missouri instead of Kentucky and Ohio (among other places) with Quantrill.

However, despite these differences, this is still a dandy adventure film with the usual ingredients--such as Gabby Hayes for some comic relief, Claire Trevor as the woman who comes between the hero and villain as well as the expected betrayals and final showdown between the two stars (Pidgeon and Wayne). Simple, well acted, predictable (in spots) yet fun--it's similar to other movies such as VIRGINIA CITY or WHISPERING SMITH.

Dark Command is a very good and interesting movie. I would agree the story is rather thin and ordinary and could have been sharper in some scenes. The film could have been a little shorter too, and while not bad by all means some of the supporting actors and this is including Roy Rogers are just standard. However, Dark Command is a very well made movie, with beautiful photography, sets and costumes, and the score from Victor Young is rousing. Raoul Walsh's direction is outstanding, the script is well written, you do care for the lead characters, the climatic sequence is exciting and the stagecoach sequence is a contender for the film's highlight. The two leads John Wayne and Claire Trevor do very well, but the most consistent acting job comes from Walter Pidgeon who is excellent. Overall, very good if imperfect and underrated. 7/10 Bethany Cox