Santa Fe Trail (1940)

 

Santa Fe Trail - 1940

Coming up next is 1940's "Santa Fe Trail", a story about US abolitionist John Brown and his methods, which ultimately began the Civil War.  Along for the ride are two West Point graduates who are in love with the same woman.

The film's cast includes Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Raymond Massey, Ronald Reagan, Alan Hale, Van Heflin, Henry O'Neill, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, Moroni Olsen, and Susan Peters.

At West Point, a scuffle has broken out amongst the cadets.  The instigator, Carl Rader, has been distributing pamphlets that advocate the policies of abolitionist John Brown, who uses violence as part of his plans to end slavery.  Rader initiates a fight.  Cadets Jeb Stuart and George Armstrong Custer stand up to him, along with several of their fellow cadets.

Stuart and Custer and their friends are brought before the leaders of West Point, who tell them that pursuing ideological causes is against what a US soldier stands for.  He tells them they are to be severely punished.  Following their graduation, they are to be sent to Fort Levenworth in Kansas Territory, which is the most dangerous posting available.  Since that's what they wanted in the first place, the cadets don't argue.

Carl Rader is dismissed from West Point for his part in inciting the fighting and distributing the controversial pamphlets.  It won't be the last the cadets see of this man.

The men graduate from West Point a couple of weeks later.  They are ready to proudly serve their country.

On the way to Kansas Territory, Jeb and George meet Miss Kit Carson Holliday, and both fall madly in love with her.  It gets to be sort of a competition.  They each try and win her affections.

Once at Fort Levenworth, Jeb, George, and the rest get their orders.  They find out that they are in mighty dangerous territory.  They couldn't be more thrilled at the prospect of serving there.

Elsewhere, John Brown is sending word to his allies that anyone who opposes him or his methods will die.

He proclaims himself the right hand of God, ready and willing to do what must be done to end slavery.

Soon enough, Jeb and George meet up with Brown, and also their old acquaintance Carl Rader.  Brown initially says he doesn't have any ill feelings toward the soldiers, but he will deal severely with those who stand in his way.

Back at the fort, the men are ordered to seize John Brown, alive if at all possible.

Jeb and George each bid farewell to Kit as they head off to complete their mission.

As they ride through Kansas Territory, the regiment sees the devastation wrought by John Brown and his followers.  However, he is always one step ahead of them and always evades capture.

At a regimental dance, Kit admits to George that she is in love with Jeb.  Naturally, George is crushed.

Three years later, George and Jeb are back in Washington D.C.  It's believed that Brown's forces have been crushed.  Kit introduces George to a lovely young woman.  George is very happy, and forgets his infatuation with Kit.  Of course, Jeb is glad that he no longer has any competition.

Quietly, John Brown has been mustering forces and is ready to launch an attack an arsenal in Lee's Ferry, Virginia.  His ultimate aim is to start a war.

Jeb is notified by a deserter of Brown's army of the rebellion, and he launches a  successful counterattack.

Brown is captured and tried for treason.  He is hanged for his crimes of violence and rebellion.

At the hanging, Kit has to look away.  With John Brown's death, she foresees something much more terrible coming to the country.

For now, happy times are ahead.  Kit and Jeb are married on a train bound for Kansas Territory.

Cast rundown:

   Errol Flynn....................................Jeb Stuart

   Olivia de Havilland.........................Kit Carson Holliday

   Raymond Massey...........................John Brown

   Ronald Reagan...............................George Armstrong Custer

   Alan Hale......................................Tex Bell

   Van Heflin.....................................Carl Rader

   Henry O'Neill.................................Cyrus Holliday

   Guinn "Big Boy" Williams.................Windy Brody

   Moroni Olsen..................................Robert E. Lee

   Susan Peters..................................Charlotte Davis

And that's it for Santa Fe Trail.  This was the seventh film that featured Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland together.  There are a variety of opinions about John Brown and what he stood for.  Some thing him a mentally ill zealot, others a hero.  This film depicts him as the antagonist, though it shows that his principles regarding slavery were right.  However, the methods by which he set about achieving slavery's end were wrong.

As this film is in the public domain, it is available to view in its entirety here.

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The Crusades (1935)

 

The Crusades - 1935

Coming up next we have 1935's "The Crusades", a sweeping epic by Cecil B. DeMille that sees King Richard the Lionheart of England fight for Christianity and the right to worship God in Jerusalem.  While fighting for the followers of Christ, he is also fighting to save the woman he loves.

The film's cast includes Loretta Young, Henry Wilcoxon, Ian Keith, C. Aubrey Smith, Katherine DeMille, Joseph Schildkraut, Alan Hale, C. Henry Gordon, George Barbier, Montagu Love, Ramsay Hill, Mischa Auer, and Ian Hunter.

The Holy Land is overrun with Muslim forces.  Saladin, the Sultan of Islam, enslaves all the Christians living there.  A hermit emerges and vows to rally the armies of the kingdoms of Europe to fight for the Christian cause.  Saladin tells the hermit to go.  He will be waiting with his own armies when he returns.

The hermit's first stop is France, where he enlists the help of King Philip II.  The king's sister, Princess Alice, is engaged to King Richard of England, and travels with her brother to safeguard against an attack on France by Richard.

Richard warmly welcomes Philip to Windsor, but he is less than enthusiastic about Alice's arrival.

When the hermit arrives in England, Richard sees a change to escape his engagement to Alice.  He eagerly joins the Crusade and pledges his armies to help with the fight for Christianity.

Richard leaves the kingdom in the hands of his brother, Prince John, who plots to have his brother removed from the throne.

While the Crusade begins in glory, it runs out of steam when the reach the Kingdom of Navarre.  A food shortage stops the armies of England in its tracks.  Richard negotiates with Sancho, King of Navarre, for the supplies his army needs.  In return for the supplies, Richard will marry the king's daughter, Berengaria.

Berengaria is not well disposed towards Richard, especially when he refuses to attend their marriage ceremony and sends his sword (carried by his minstrel) as his proxy.  Berengaria is furious.

When Berengaria joins the Crusade, no one is more surprised than Alice of France.  "I am Alice of France, betrothed to King Richard.  Who are you?" asks Alice in an annoyed manner.  "I'm his wife," replies Berengaria.

When Richard finally arrives in the Holy Land, he introduces Berengaria to the rest of the gathered kings as the Queen of England.  They are astonished, especially Philip II of France, whose alliance with England is now broken.

Saladin, Sultan of Islam, arrives for talks with the kings of the Crusade.  He wants nothing more than their surrender and departure from the land.

The gathered kings refuse, and the result is open war between the forces of Islam and the forces of Christianity.

Before he returns to his army, Saladin is quite impressed with Berengaria when she demonstrates a certain poise and bravery.

As the battle between Christians and Muslims rages on, Richard and Berengaria begin to fall in love.  What began as an arrangement of convenience has now blossomed into romance.

Berengaria attempts to go to Saladin to ask for peace.  En route, she is shot by an arrow and collapses.  Saladin rescues her and brings her to his palace.

There, while Richard engages harder and more persistent than ever to find "the Christian queen", Saladin tends to Berengaria's wounds and enjoys having her near him.

When a plot to end Richard's life is uncovered, Berengaria pleads with Saladin to save him.  She agrees to remain with him as his captive if he will agree to spare Richard's life.

Richard is furious when he finds out.  However, Saladin also offers peace terms.  Christians except Richard will be allowed to enter Jerusalem, and all Christian captives will be freed if Richard agrees.  For the cause of peace, Richard agrees and bids farewell to Berengaria.

As he overlooks the city of Jerusalem, Richard prays that somehow Berengaria will be returned to him.

He is delighted the next morning when he sees Berengaria being carried in a litter towards the entrance to Jerusalem.  She tells him that per Saladin's agreement, she was given her freedom because she was a Christian captive.  Berengaria promises to return to Richard, but first she must do something.

She enters Jerusalem and offers Richard's sword to Christ.  Berengaria begins to pray as the hymns of Christians rise up toward heaven.

Cast rundown:

   Loretta Young............................Princess Berengaria

   Henry Wilcoxon..........................King Richard

   Ian Keith...................................Saladin, Sultan of Islam

   C. Aubrey Smith........................The Hermit

   Katherine DeMille.......................Princess Alice

   Joseph Schildkraut......................Conrad, Marquis of Montferrat

   Alan Hale..................................Blondel

   C. Henry Gordon........................King Philip II

   George Barbier...........................King Sancho

   Montagu Love............................The Blacksmith

   Ramsay Hill...............................Prince John

   Mischa Auer...............................Monk

   Ian Hunter.................................2nd Pleading Knight

And that's all for The Crusades.  Cecil B. DeMille used his daughter Katherine in the role of Princess Alice of France.  He gave her the role as a Christmas gift.  During a battle scene with hundreds of extras, DeMille had real firemen dressed in costume to help extinguish any fire that threatened to get out of control.

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