Santa Fe Trail

Director: Michael Curtiz Michael Curtiz

Overview

Santa Fe Trail, Errol Flynn's third western, has precisely nothing to do with the titular trail. Instead, the film is a simplistic retelling of the John Brown legend, with Raymond Massey playing the famed abolitionist. The events leading up to the bloody confrontation between Brown and the US Army at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, are treated in a painstakingly even-handed fashion: Brown's desire to free the slaves is "right" but his methods are "wrong." Whenever the leading characters are asked about their own feelings towards slavery, the response is along the noncommittal lines of "A lot of people are asking those questions," "I don't have the answer to that," and so forth. Before we get to the meat of the story, we are treated to a great deal of byplay between West Point graduates Jeb Stuart (Flynn) and George Armstrong Custer (Ronald Reagan), who carry on a friendly rivalry over the affections of one Kit Carson Halliday (Olivia DeHavilland). Just so we know that the picture is meant to be a follow-up to Warners' Dodge City and Virginia City, Flynn is saddled with Alan Hale and "Big Boy" Williams, his comic sidekicks from those earlier films. Despite its muddled point of view, Santa Fe Trail is often breathtaking entertainment, excitingly staged by director Michael Curtiz. The film's public domain status has made Santa Fe Trail one of the most easily accessible of Errol Flynn's Warner Bros. vehicles.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/24/2018
UPC:	0191091591819
Original Release:	1940
Rating:	NR
Source:	Digicomtv

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Errol Flynn	Jeb Stuart
Olivia de Havilland	Kit Carson Halliday
Raymond Massey	John Brown
Ronald Reagan	George Armstrong Custer
Alan Hale	Tex Bell
Ward Bond	Townley
Van Heflin	Rader
William Lundigan	Bob Holliday
Gene Reynolds	Jason Brown
Henry O'Neill	Cyrus Holliday
Guinn "Big Boy" Williams	Windy Brody
Alan Baxter	Oliver Brown
John Litel	Martin
Moroni Olsen	Robert E. Lee
David Bruce	Phil Sheridan
Hobart Cavanaugh	Barber Doyle
Charles D. Brown	Maj. Sumner
Joe Sawyer	Kitzmiller
Frank Wilcox	James Longstreet
Russell Simpson	Shoubel Morgan
Charles B. Middleton	Gentry
Erville Alderson	Jefferson Davis
Spencer Charters	Conductor
Suzanne Carnahan	Charlotte
William Marshall	George Pickett
George Haywood	John Hood
Arthur Aylesworth	Actor
Roy Barcroft	Actor
Trevor Bardette	Actor
Al Bridge	Actor
Jess Lee Brooks	Doorman
Georgia Caine	Officer's Wife
Lucia Carroll	Actor
Eddy Chandler	Actor
Lane Chandler	Adjutant
Cliff Clark	Instructor
Edmund Cobb	Actor
Mildred Coles	Girl
Harry Cording	Actor
Joseph Crehan	Actor
Neal Dodd	Actor
James Farley	Actor
Mildred Gover	Woman
Creighton Hale	Telegraph Operator
Henry Hall	Abolitionist
Theresa Harris	Maid
Edward Hearn	Guard
Louis Jean Heydt	Farmer
Russell Hicks	J. Boyce Russell
William Hopper	Officer
Selmar Jackson	Actor
Victor Kilian	Dispatch Rider
Richard Kipling	Army Doctor
Wilfred Lucas	Weiner
Lafe [Lafayette] McKee	Minister
Mira McKinney	Woman
Jack Mower	Surveyor
Nestor Paiva	Agitator
Edward Peil	Actor
Bernice Pilot	Actor
Addison Richards	Sheriff
Clinton Rosemond	Actor
Napoleon Simpson	Samson
Walter Soderling	Actor
Grace Stafford	Farmer's Wife
Harry Strang	Sergeant
Libby Taylor	Actor
Emmett Vogan	Lieutenant
Eddy Waller	Man
Maris Wrixon	Actor
Susan Peters	Charlotte Davis
Frank Mayo	Bit
Luis Alberni	Actor
Mitzi Green	Actor

Technical Credits

Robert Buckner

Michael Curtiz	Director
George J. Amy	Editor
Milo Anderson	Costumes/Costume Designer
Robert Buckner	Screenwriter
Robert M. Fellows	Producer
Leo F. Forbstein	Musical Direction/Supervision
Hugo W. Friedhofer	Musical Direction/Supervision
Byron Haskin	Special Effects
John Hughes	Art Director,Production Designer
H.F. Koenekamp	Special Effects
Robert B. Lee	Sound/Sound Designer
Sol Polito	Cinematographer
Max Steiner	Score Composer
Hal B. Wallis	Executive Producer
Jack L. Warner	Producer
Perc Westmore	Makeup