Olivia de Havilland, Errol Flynn, and Ann Sheridan, Dodge City (1939)
Dodge City (Amazon link) is a fairly underrated Western, but one that is very, very good. VERY good. When I first sat down to watch the film (a few months back), I had no idea what to expect. For one thing, you don’t exactly associate any of its main three stars with Westerns, do you?! And yet, each one came across as though they were as accustomed to Westerns as horses and cowboy hats.
In a role he handled perfectly, Errol Flynn is the hero (Wade Hatton) in charge of bringing law and order to a wide open town (Dodge City). He has an eye for the lovely Abbie Irving (Olivia de Havilland) but she wants nothing to do with him because he had to shoot her brother.
Dodge City Trivia
- Errol Flynn’s character, Wade Hatton, was based on Wyatt Earp.
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This was the 5th of 9 movies made together by Olivia de Havilland and Errol Flynn.
- The barroom fight (which was pretty darn epic) was the largest ever filmed at the time.
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Olivia de Havilland wanted the saloon singer role that went to Ann Sheridan. During this period of time, reportedly, the wonderful actress was uninspired by the roles she was getting. The fact that, during a professionally unhappy time she STILL turned in a wonderful performance shows just how devoted to her craft she was.
- Alan Hale appears in this film – it is always fun to see “Skipper” show up in a movie!
You can find Dodge City on Amazon.
Olivia de Havilland and Errol Flynn, Dodge City
