Cheap Sante Fe Trail/This Is the Army (Video) (Michael Curtiz) Price

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Customer Reviews of Sante Fe Trail/This Is the Army

DON'T TAKE SIDES
Based on an original screenplay by Robert Buckner, SANTA FE TRAIL was shot by Michael Curtiz in 1940. There are two ways to get onto this movie nowadays, more than 65 years after its release. You could enjoy, like I did, its rythm, the actors or the strange idea, in a film made in Hollywood, to depict the abolitionists as fanatics and the unionists as sensible people. <
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>You could also take the time to think about the message conveyed by SANTA FE TRAIL through the actions of its main character Errol Flynn. Jeb - Errol Flynn - Stuart is a man who doesn't take sides, who just obeys orders and waits for the happy ending History will certainly provide to the American nation. The description of this passive demeanour shocked me a lot and, while I was watching SANTA FE TRAIL, I couldn't but think that, the same year, another American director, Charles S. Chaplin, was desperately trying to alert the world about what was going on in Europe with [[ASIN:B000096IBH The Great Dictator (2 Disc Special Edition)]]. <
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>A DVD zone mixed feelings.

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History lesson sorely needed
How many school children in 21 st century know about John Brown? How many know about the causes of this horrible war that pitted former comrades against one another? Is this movie entirely accurate and does take artistic license with the characters and storyline? Yes and No, but and so do many contemporary films such as 'Saving Private Ryan' or 'Patton' take liberties with actual events. As a number of reviewers have noted, we see events in history through politically correct eyes. My major fault with the movie is that southerners did not have a distinctive regional drawl, especially Errol Flynn's character, Jeb Stuart. Having your children watch this movie will provide them an insight into a forgotten epic American history while at the same time entertaining them with battles and other action scenes. John Brown may have been right in his core principles but he is a prime example of excessive zeal clashing with established law and order.

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Two good films, in good condition.
I don't very often write reviews (although I enjoy reading those of others), but I must just tell anyone wondering which version of "Santa Fe Trail" to buy that the Marengo version (the one that includes "Abilene Town" as a bonus) is excellent. I was not familiar with either of these movies before - I don't know why, as they are both really good movies, and better than many others that I have bought individually and paid more money for. "Santa Fe Trail" is a really unusual, and interesting movie. The combination of Curtiz and Flynn gives it something - a depth, or thoughtfulness, perhaps - that most movies just don't have. It is also, IMHO, a better movie than Errol Flynn's other cavalry outing, "They Died With Their Boots On", so I don't know why the former is in the public domain, as if nobody cares about it, with numerous versions available (some of which don't sound very good), while the latter is presumably still owned and guarded exclusively by Warner Brothers, who have recently brought out a lavish DVD version of it, with various "extras" on it. <
>As for "Abilene Town", that also is a surprisingly good movie, its plot not unlike that of "Dodge City". On a trivial note: it looks to me as if Gary Cooper's famous, iconic "look" in "High Noon" (reproduced in books and posters so often) was in fact inspired by the outfit that Randolph Scott wears in "Abilene Town".