jacobs-greenwood
Directed by David Butler, and written by W.R. Burnett and Alan Le May, this film is a Technicolor feast (fiesta?) for one's eyes! It received Oscar nominations for Art Direction and Musical Score. As a Western, it delivers many of the required elements: skilled horseback riding, singing, poker playing, a barroom shootout, some humorous gags, and an exciting chase.The film begins by introducing us to Charlie Bell (John Litel, who wears red & white checked pants!), the honest lawman in the area dedicated to solving the problem of rampant cattle rustling in the area. He crosses the border into Mexico to find Clay Hardin (Errol Flynn) who is recovering from injuries received presumably by some of the rustlers. Hardin also happens to have the goods on Roy Stuart (Paul Kelly), the richest man in Texas, by obtaining bills of sale that show Stuart has sold cattle with brands which aren't his in Mexico. His friend & mentor Charlie warns Clay that returning to Texas would be dangerous and getting through Stuart's men to the cavalry in San Antonio would be impossible. But Clay will not be dissuaded and even asks Charlie to buy him a ticket on the stagecoach from Laredo to San Antonio.Stuart's men learn of Clay's plans when Charlie purchases the ticket. Assuming that Hardin will try to board the stagecoach just outside of the town, gunfighter Lafe McWilliams (Tom Tyler) puts another of Stuart's men, Pony Smith (John Alvin) on the coach while he rides shotgun. Seeing this, Clay decides to board another coach that is trailing the well guarded one. Its passengers include singer Jeanne Starr (Alexis Smith), who's on her way to performing in Stuart's saloon, and her entourage: manager Sacha Bozic (S.Z. Sakall) & servant Henrietta (Florence Bates). Though initially put off by his brashness, Jeanne is won over by the charming, confident Clay. At the stopover in Cotulla that evening, to change horses, the unafraid Clay dances with Jeanne openly even though Charlie warns him against it. Lafe sees Clay and asks him to come outside. With Charlie's help, the ambush Stuart's men had planned turns against them and both Lafe and Pony are killed by Clay and his friend. However, Clay then has Charlie send Stuart a telegram, as if he was Lafe, to tell him that the job was successful.Shortly thereafter, when Jeanne's coach arrives in San Antonio, she is given a special welcome by Legare (Victor Francen), Stuart's partner in the club but not his rustling business. The crowd parts to reveal Hardin, who had ridden in on the same coach, standing boldly alone across the street, facing Stuart. But this is just a precursor to a future showdown, and Hardin with Charlie in tow, visits the cavalry's headquarters. Unfortunately, Colonel Johnson (Robert Barrat) is not there and Captain Morgan (Robert Shayne) refuses to keep the bills of sale until he returns, so Clay must hang on to them himself. Clay then organizes the few honest men in town (played by Monte Blue and Pedro de Cordoba), those who've had their cattle rustled by Stuart's men, to tell him his plan for them to testify against Stuart when Johnson gets back. He has some difficulty doing this as Sacha has arranged Miss Starr's rehearsal in the next room. Legare, who would very much like to be a partner in Stuart's more lucrative business, manipulates Stuart's actions as he schemes to acquire (steal) the bills of sale Hardin has to blackmail his way in.Of course, the film has the requisite distractions, mostly in the form of entertainment by Miss Starr and others, as it leads to the inevitable showdown between Hardin and Stuart. Plus, there are romantic forays by both men to Miss Starr. Clay's leads him into giving the valuable papers to Charlie, who is shot by Legare while Stuart is shooting at Clay. Though this was witnessed by Sacha, Legare scares him into keeping it a secret before Colonel Johnson in court. Without the bills of sale, Clay can't get anywhere with the Colonel. Then, the cavalry must leave town to head off an Indian uprising in another part of the state, which makes Clay's mission all the more challenging, especially since Stuart then summons all his outlaws to town.The film's conclusion, though predictable, is less satisfying and probable than one would hope it could be. In fact, the director and writers couldn't seem to decide how much comedy vs. drama this movie should contain, making the balance between the two tilt a little bit too much toward humor, even bordering on camp. It's as if they expected Flynn, given his success in exactly this type of drama with comedic elements (e.g. The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)), to alone deliver all this film needed to be a classic. It isn't, not even close.
srpwx
Hard to believe this was Flynn's highest grossing film but war-weary patrons were looking for any form of escapism. Sharp Technicolor production, nice use of Warner's Calabasas Ranch plus razor sharp costumes for Alexis Smith make this film watchable but not much else. Flynn smiles his way through the proceedings but looks rather silly in the red bandanna and toy gun.Nevertheless, his scenes with Alexis generate smiles. Was there anybody better than Flynn? I think not. His riding a horse then dismounting into the window of the stage is a nice touch. Unfortunately, this tepid movie plods along until the anti-climatic saloon fight scene. All stunts, prate-falls and special effects look so staged it's distracting. By the end you're left thinking: let's wrap this up! I'm a huge Flynn fan but San Antonio entertainment isn't as big as Texas. Dodge City, Virginia City and even Rocky Mountain are better bets.Note: Some stunts done with Horses would never see the light of day now. One scene has Flynn chasing Paul Kelly across a bridge, Flynn jumps onto Kelly's white horse with both taking a big fall into the river. It's one of the more dramatic moments in the entire film. Speaking of Kelly, his personal life was almost as drama filled as Flynn's.
uwcharlie
Unlike some of the other comments above, I will give this movie great marks for plot, main actors, character actors, story line, suspense, technical proficiency of the director and beauty of the scenery and sets. Admittedly, maybe not Errol Flynn's best, but nothing to be ashamed of either. I saw other comments that Alexis Smith dubbed her singing, don't know how that was known, but my opinion is that this was her own work. You never lose interest from start to finish. The colors in this Technicolor feature are the best I've ever seen of the time period. Great movie. I have it on VHS, would like to get it on DVD but it seems to have disappeared from the marketplace.
Casablanca3784
I noticed that "San Antonio" was nominated for two Oscars and won none.The first it deserved i.e. Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color. Yes indeed, that saloon bawdy house was done impeccably,rich and lavishly. The second nomination was unwarranted--Best Music, Original Song "Some Sunday Morning" Ray Heindorf (music), M.K. Jerome (music) & Ted Koehler (lyrics. You can go crazy from that song. Every time a stagecoach moved, it moved with it in the background. EVERY TIME. THE WHOLE PICTURE. Then what do you think Alexis Smith, the saloon chanteuse sings? Right--same thing. And after she's done, what does a male quartet sing? Right again. It's not a bad tune but OVER and OVER and OVER....Good Grief!The film's about the wild wild west of the mid 1800s. So my question is this: Errol Flynn has an English accent; S.Z. Sakall has a Hungarian accent and villain Victor Francen has a French accent. Now don't get me wrong; I'm neither xenophobic nor bigoted because my own father was a European immigrant but he didn't wear a ten gallon hat and carry a Colt .45 either. What do Europeans have to do with a story of the rootin' tootin' shootin' wild west? Sorry but Mr. Flynn who speaks like someone out of Oxford doesn't belong with the tumbleweed crowd.The plot is all about revenge as are so many films. There is a quasi-romantic angle of course because of the gorgeous Alexis Smith who was one of Hollywood's great natural beauties and quite surprisingly, a very good job is done by John Litel who is Flynn's best friend. I rated the film a 6 because it's neither great nor rotten; has excellent color and holds your interest. One thing--they showed too many cattle and not enough Alexis Smith.
