Thursday, February 18, 2010

Flynnfest #17 - San Antonio


Perhaps Errol's weakest western. On the plus side, Alexis Smith was the attractive female lead. More attractive than Miriam Hopkins, anyway. Personally, I think Alexis Smith had a forehead the size of a billboard. Could just be bad hairstyles, though. But the rest of the cast! Two bad guys - Victor Francen and John Litel. Huh? Who? And his sidekick? Not Ronald Reagan or Randolph Scott, but ... Paul Kelly. Who? Paul Kelly's primary claim to fame as an actor is that he managed to revive his career after spending a term in prison for killing someone (he beat his girlfriend's husband to death). No Alan Hale! No Guinn "Big Boy" Williams! You know you're in trouble when the only recognizable name in the supporting cast is S.Z. "Cuddles" Sakall.

Underdeveloped story line. Silly fight scenes (the final bar fight leaves about 100 gunslingers dead), and an umimpressive screenplay with few memorable lines. Hmmm. Errol was not offered prime stuff with this one, though it did do very well at the box office, probably among the "small boy Cowboy-movie-going Saturday afternoon matinee" demographic.

Errol looks pretty good in this one. Definitely showing his age, but carrying it well. Released in late 1945, he was still pretty healthy at the time. The rapid decline was about to start.

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