Bad Santa - The Unrated Version and Director's Cut (Unrated) [Blu-ray]

Amazon.com

Instantly qualifying as a perennial cult favorite, Bad Santa is as nasty as it wants to be, and there's something to be said for comedy without compromise. The Coen brothers conceived the basic idea and served as executive producers, but it's director Terry Zwigoff (Crumb, Ghost World) who brings his unique affinity for losers and outcasts to the twisted tale of Willie T. Stokes (Billy Bob Thornton), a hard-drinking, chain-smoking, foul-mouthed sexaholic safe-cracker who targets a different department store every holiday season, playing Santa while he cases the joint with his dwarf elf-partner Marcus (Tony Cox). With comedic support from Bernie Mac, Lauren Graham, Cloris Leachman, and John Ritter in his final film, Thornton milks the lowbrow laughs with a slovenly lack of sentiment, warming Bad Santa's pickled heart just enough to please a chubby misfit (Brett Kelly, hilariously deadpan) who may or may not be mentally challenged. As dry as an arid martini and blacker than morning-after coffee, Bad Santa is an instant cure for yuletide schmaltz, and if you think this appropriately R-rated comedy is suitable for kids, your parenting skills are no better than Willie's. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Hollywood favorites Billy Bob Thornton (THE ALAMO), Bernie Mac (MR. 3000), and John Ritter (TV's 8 SIMPLE RULES FOR DATING MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER) star in the year's most-talked-about comedy hit, BAD SANTA. You'd better watch out -- Santa Claus Willie T. Stokes (Thornton) is coming to town and he doesn't care if you've been naughty or nice. Willie's favorite holiday tradition is to fill his sacks with loot lifted from shopping malls across the country. But this year his plot gets derailed by a wise-cracking store detective (Mac), a sexy bartender (Lauren Graham -- TV's GILMORE GIRLS), and a kid who's convinced Willie is the real Santa Claus.

Customer Reviews:

Good- Bad Santa!.......2007-07-18

Hilarious! A riot of a movie. Not many special features but, someday there will be; nonethless it's a classic!

Bad Santa. Great Movie........2007-04-02

Lets face it, only Billy Bob Thornton could pull off a role such as this one. And what's better than the scene with the Gilmore girl screaming F me Santa! F me Santa!
YES! I Love it!

And I love this movie. If you like this movie I strongly suggest you watch School for Scoundrels.

May the force be with me.

I think I sharted in my pants.......2007-02-15

Dark, sick, Vulger, Twisted! but in a strange way it touched my heart... billy bob could only play this part this good.
a Xmas must.

Funny.......2007-01-29

I can watch Bad Santa a hundred times, well I have and enjoyed it every time. If I need a laugh Bad Santa is what I put on.
Christmas can get real busy and hectic, but this movie reminds you to laugh.

Bad to the Funny Bone.......2007-01-23

Watch this at any time and prepare to feel ill due to laughing so hard. Thornton kills Christmas but refreshes the human spirit.

Average customer rating:

"Santa Fe (1951) ... Randolph Scott ... Columbia Pictures Classic Westerns"
Okay, middle of the tracks Randolph Scott Santa Fe Railroad Drama from 1951
Santa Fe 1951
Better than Routine
Routine Scott Western

Santa Fe
Starring: Warner Anderson , John Archer , Janis Carter , Jerome Courtland , and Budd Fine
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000A1OG0O
Release Date: 2005-09-06

Amazon.com

The directorial career of Irving Pichel (pronounced peekl) ran from the Cooper-and-Schoedsack specials The Most Dangerous Game (1932) and She (1935) to a couple of religious productions in 1953-54; it peaked with the wartime dramas The Pied Piper (1942) and The Moon Is Down (1943). Pichel also kept busy as a character actor (e.g., the towering manservant Sandor in Dracula's Daughter). But his most indelible cinematic contributions went uncredited: it is Pichel's carillon of a voice that narrates the John Ford classics How Green Was My Valley (1941) and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon(1949).

That voice is heard at the beginning of Pichel's own Santa Fe, seeking to graft Ford-style allegory onto a formulaic tale of post-Civil War animosities and railroad-building. Randolph Scott (hero of She 25 years earlier) plays a former Confederate officer who, in a charmingly daft moment, lurches onto a rolling flatcar while fleeing vindictive Union veterans and finds himself recruited by the Santa Fe Railroad. His three brothers, refusing to "work for Yankees," desert him and turn more or less accidental outlaws. Scott is supposed to be torn between loyalty to his blood kin and loyalty to his employer (Warner Anderson, later of TV's The Line-Up)--also his rival for the affections of the war widow (Janis Carter) whose Union-officer husband was killed in a battle with Scott's Rebs. But the script is piecemeal and the individual scenes flatfooted. Sole exception: an out-of-the-blue fiddling contest (!) in a mountain pass, which both exacerbates and helps resolve a desperate crisis for Scott. --Richard T. Jameson

Description

In this rousing, action-packed post-Civil War adventure, legendary Western hero Randolph Scott stars as Britt Canfield, the eldest of four brothers who have seen their family's Virginia plantation stolen by carpetbaggers. With no choice but to start over, Britt accepts a position to help build the Yankee-funded Santa Fe railroad, where the straight-shooting ex-Confederate takes on superstitious Indians, crooked gamblers, vengeful war widows, and most dangerous of all, his three brothers, vicious Yankee haters who'll stop at nothing to prevent the completion of the Santa Fe. Even if it means killing their own brother.

Customer Reviews:

"Santa Fe (1951) ... Randolph Scott ... Columbia Pictures Classic Westerns".......2007-04-14

Columbia Pictures presents "SANTA FE" (1951) (87 mins/Color) (Dolby digitally remastered) --- Starring Randolph Scott, Janis Carter, Jerome Courtland, Peter M. Thompson & John Archer --- Directed by Irving Pichel and released in April 1, 1951, our story line and film, Set in the years following the Civil War, the film centres on Britt Canfield, one of four ex-Confederate brothers who head West to carve out a new life. While his three siblings cast their lot on the wrong side of the law, Britt accepts a job with the Santa Fe Railroad. Inevitably, Britt is obliged to bring his wayward brothers to justice, though he knows full well that the person responsible for their downfall is gambling boss Cole Sanders. In a well-staged climax, Britt squares accounts with the evil Sanders and his hulking henchman Crake --- take note when the Indian chief complains that the train is making too much noise, so Scott allows him to drive the locomotive, to feel that he is in control ... classic tales of "The Iron Horse" on, the building of the railroads was always a great theme for westerns and Santa Fe tell its story with plenty of good action scenes --- The creative team of producer Harry Joe Brown and star Randolph Scott turned out some of the best westerns of the 1950s, and Santa Fe is no exception.--- And Mr. Scott was secure enough in his stardom that he gave good lines and depth to the younger actors in the film.

Under Irving Pichel (Director), Harry Joe Brown (Producer), Kenneth Gamet (Screenwriter), James Vance Marshall (Book Author),Louis Stevens (Screen Story), Charles Lawton (Cinematographer), Morris W. Stoloff (Musical Direction/Supervision), Gene Havlick (Editor), Walter Holscher (Art Director) - - - - the cast includes Randolph Scott (Britt Canfield), Janis Carter (Judith Chandler), Jerome Courtland (Terry Canfield), Peter Thompson (Tom Canfield), John Archer (Clint Canfield), Warner Anderson (Dave Baxter), Roy Roberts (Cole Sanders), Billy House -(Luke Plummer), Olin Howland (Dan Dugan), Allene Roberts (Ella Sue), Harry Cording (Moore Legrande), Sven Hugo Borg (Swede Swanstrom), Frank Ferguson (Marshal Bat Masterson), Irving Pichel (Harned), Harry Tyler (Rusty), Paul E. Burns (Uncle Dick Wootton), Chief Thundercloud (Chief Longfeather), Jock Mahoney (Crake) - - - - Randy Scott had a quiet gentleman nature about him which is not seen in the films of today ... Randy took his job and his responsibility to his audience very seriously ,,, would not settle for anything less than his best ... same was true in his personal life.

SPECIAL FEATURES BIOS:
1. Randolph Scott (aka: George Randolph Scott)
Date of birth: 23 January 1898 - Orange County, Virginia
Date of death: 2 March 1987 - Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California

Special footnote, George Randolph Scott better known as Randolph Scott, was an American film actor whose career spanned the sound era from the late 1920s to the early 1960s ... his popularity grew in the 1940s and 1950s, appearing in such films as "Gung Ho"! (1943) and "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" (1938); but he was especially famous for his numerous Westerns including "Virginia City" (1940) with Errol Flynn and Humphrey Bogart, "Western Union" (1941) with Robert Young and "Ride the High Country" (1962) with Joel McCrea (a coin was flipped to see whether Scott or McCrea would receive top billing, and Scott won despite having a slightly smaller role) ... his long fistfight with John Wayne in "The Spoilers" (1942) was frequently cited by critics and the press as the most thrilling ever filmed; they were fighting over Marlene Dietrich ... another smash hit film together that same year called "Pittsburgh" (1942) once again with Dietrich, Scott and Wayne --- Daniel Webster defines "Legend", as being a notable person, or the stories told about that person exploits --- well by the time Randolph Scott made his best films he had long established himself as a legend in the film industry --- they say practice makes perfect, if that is true by 1958 at 60 years of age he was the master with these oaters from the 50s ... "The Cariboo Trail" (1950), "The Nevadan" (1950), "Colt .45" (1950), "Santa Fe" (1951), "Sugarfoot" (1951), "Fort Worth" (1951), "Man in the Saddle" (1951), "Carson City" (1952), "The Man Behind the Gun" (1952), "Hangman's Knot" (1952), "Thunder over the Plains" (1953), "The Stranger Wore a Gun" (1953), "Ten Wanted Men" (1954), "Riding Shotgun" (1954), "The Bounty Hunter" (1954), "Rage at Dawn" (1955), "Tall Man Riding" (1955), "A Lawless Street" (1955), "Seven Men from Now" (1956), "Seventh Cavalry" (1956), "Decision at Sundown: (1957), "Shoot-Out at Medicine Bend" (1957), "The Tall T" (1957), "Buchanan Rides Alone" (1958), "Ride Lonesome" (1959), "Westbound" (1959), "Comanche Station" (1960) --- Scott's age seemed to matter little, they only came to see another Randolph Scott film and always got their money's worth --- Scott's films were good and getting better becoming classics --- so if you wonder "What Ever Happened To Randolph Scott", just rent or purchase one of his films and you'll see he's never left us.

2. Janis Carter
Date of Birth: 10 October 1913 - Cleveland, Ohio
Date of Death: 30 July 1994 - Durham, North Carolina

3. Jerome Courtland
Date of Birth: 27 December 1926 - Knoxville, Tennessee
Date of death: Still Living

4. Irving Pichel (Director)
Date of Birth: 24 June 1891 - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Date of Death: 13 July 1954 - Hollywood, California

Hats off and thanks to Les Adams (collector/guideslines for character identification), Chuck Anderson (Webmaster: The Old Corral/B-Westerns.Com), Boyd Magers (Western Clippings), Bobby J. Copeland (author of "Trail Talk"), Rhonda Lemons (Empire Publishing Inc), Bob Nareau (author of "The Real Bob Steele") and Trevor Scott (Down Under Com) as they have rekindled my interest once again for Film Noir, B-Westerns and Serials --- looking forward to more high quality releases from the vintage serial era of the '20s, '30s & '40s and B-Westerns ... order your copy now from Amazon where there are plenty of copies available on VHS, stay tuned once again for top notch action mixed with deadly adventure --- if you enjoyed this title, why not check out VCI Entertainment where they are experts in releasing B-Westerns and Serials --- all my heroes have been cowboys!

Total Time: 87 min on DVD ~ Sony Pictures Video ~ (9/06/05)

Okay, middle of the tracks Randolph Scott Santa Fe Railroad Drama from 1951.......2007-01-10

In the aftermath of Civil War Britt Canfield (Randolph Scott) the eldest of four brothers late of the Confederate Army head west from Virginia looking for a fresh start. In a small town saloon they run into a small bunch of ex Union soldiers following a few hot words shooting breaks out and one of the Union soldiers is killed. The brothers escape the town and with luck manage to get on board a Santa Fe Railroad flatcar taking new recruits for laying tracks from Topeka across Kansas to the Colorado border. Britt joins the Santa Fe Railroad Company whilst his three brothers tie in with a bunch of no good crooked gamblers and would be payroll thieves led by Cole Sanders (Roy Roberts). Look out for a moustachioed uncredited Jock Mahoney (Range Rider) as Crake, Sanders right hand man. Troubles come and go for Britt not least trying to cover for his brothers whilst being right-hand man to Santa Fe Rail boss Dave Baxter (Warner Anderson), The love interest is provided by Union war-widow Judith Chandler (Janis Carter). The storyline is very similar to another Scott vehicle the superior WESTERN UNION (1940) but with Rail Tracks instead of Telegraph Lines!

As always Randolph Scott assumes an air of authority without seeming to do very much although without doubt he is the best thing in it, all the supporting cast are perfectly adequate without being outstanding. Unfortunately it leaves the feeling of being a poor mans version of Cecil B. De Mille's epic western UNION PACIFIC (1939) starring Joel McCrea. Santa Fe was another Scott-Brown Production for Columbia Pictures. Good quality color transfer to DVD. Well worth a look.

Santa Fe 1951.......2006-04-11

In this rousing , action packed post-civic War adventure , Legendary Western Hero Randolph Scott (1898-1987) , stars as Britt Canfield , the eldest of four brothers who have seen their family?s Virginian plantation stolen by carpetbaggers . With no choice but start over .Britt accepts a position to help build the Yankee funded Santa Fe Railroad , where the straight shooting ex-Confederate takes on Superstious indians crooked gambler , vengeful war widom , and most dangerous of all , his brothers , vicious Yankee haters who?ll will stop at nothing to prevent the completion of the Santa Fe .Even if it means killing their own brother . Enormeous great plot . High Quality Transfer , Recommended

Better than Routine.......2005-08-31

very enjoyable escapist saturday afternoon old technicolor flick. "routine" is also what Leonard Maltin has termed this movie but i agree with someone online at Amazon that says he can be a snob at times. I enjoy certain 2 and 3 star films as much as some of the highly lauded ones and this falls into that category. If u like the old western good guys against the bad decently done this will fit the bill superbly

Routine Scott Western.......2005-08-02

In Santa Fe, Scott plays an ex-Confederate soldier who ends up working for the expanding Santa Fe railroad. His brothers, who also served with him in the War, are still angry at the Union, and develop their own band of outlaws who are determine to make the Union pay for the suffering of the South. Scott is caught between his own flesh and blood and his desire to help build the railroad as it stretches through the Western wilderness.

Scott is entertaining as always, and there's some decent action in Santa Fe, but this is only an okay film.

Average customer rating:

Good- Bad Santa!
Bad Santa. Great Movie.
I think I sharted in my pants
Funny
Bad to the Funny Bone

Bad Santa (Director's Cut)
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton , Tony Cox , Brett Kelly , Lauren Graham , and Lauren Tom
Director: Terry Zwigoff
Manufacturer: Dimension
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000FQISH6
Release Date: 2006-10-10

Amazon.com

Description

The baddest Santa ever comes to town in this never-before-seen exclusive director's cut starring the hilarious Billy Bob Thornton (THE ALAMO), Bernie Mac (OCEAN'S 12), and John Ritter (TV's 8 SIMPLE RULES). Ill-mannered store Santa Willie Stokes (Thornton) is really a safecracker with a holiday tradition of making one big score every Christmas Eve with his clever elf - partner-in-crime, Marcus. But this year's heist-fest could be completely foiled by a snoopy store manager (Ritter), savvy mall detective (Mac), sexy Santa fan, and an innocent 8-year-old misfit who thinks the intoxicated and felonious Willie is the real Santa he seeks. Forget the cookies and milk; this is the grittier gut-busting comedy Rolling Stone pegs as "a Christmas perennial for Scrooges of all ages!"

Customer Reviews:

Good- Bad Santa!.......2007-07-18

Hilarious! A riot of a movie. Not many special features but, someday there will be; nonethless it's a classic!

Bad Santa. Great Movie........2007-04-02

I think I sharted in my pants.......2007-02-15

Dark, sick, Vulger, Twisted! but in a strange way it touched my heart... billy bob could only play this part this good.
a Xmas must.

Funny.......2007-01-29

Bad to the Funny Bone.......2007-01-23

Watch this at any time and prepare to feel ill due to laughing so hard. Thornton kills Christmas but refreshes the human spirit.

Average customer rating:

ATTENTION!!!!!! there is no dts and there is no subtitles
Saturday Morning Matinee Movie

Santa Fe Trail
Starring: Luis Alberni , Erville Alderson , Arthur Ayleswofth , Roy Barcroft , and Trevor Bardette
Director: Michael Curtiz
Manufacturer: Westlake Ent. Group
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00030NS88
Release Date: 2004-08-23

Customer Reviews:

ATTENTION!!!!!! there is no dts and there is no subtitles.......2007-05-19

i reurn this dvd to amazon back because the site let wrong details about it- NO DTS AND NO SUBTITLES ON THIS VERSION!!!!

Saturday Morning Matinee Movie.......2005-01-12

As always, Ronnie is completely likable in this movie. It looks like it was filmed in the hills of California, not on location at West Point or in Kansas, so it is historically "iffy".

Reagan sparkles with vitality and likability, but he is not really the star. So we do not see as much of him as we would like to see.

As with these types of movies, there is a strong sense of right and wrong, the good guys win, and everything has a sense of purpose.

I recommend this movie to Reagan fans and to those who love B-Western stars like Roy Rogers and Gene Autry.

Average customer rating:

two very different westerns for the price of one
DON'T TAKE SIDES
History lesson sorely needed
Two good films, in good condition.
Rousing but inaccurate adventure movie

Santa Fe Trail
Starring: Errol Flynn , Olivia de Havilland , Raymond Massey , Ronald Reagan , and Alan Hale
Director: Michael Curtiz
Manufacturer: Digital Gold Collection
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005Q4E7
Release Date: 2001-10-02

Customer Reviews:

two very different westerns for the price of one.......2007-08-07

The picture quality of Abilene Town on this DVD is marginal:rather fuzzy at times,
but it didn't really bother me that much. The story involves a familiar theme of cattlemen vs. sod busters, but with the added ingredient of non-saloon shopkeepers as a third major block in the politics of Abilene. It's Marshal Randolph Scott's job to try to keep these 3 groups from destroying each other and to ease the inevitable transformation of Abilene from a rowdy cow town into a more civilized place. The limited humor mostly derives from the love-hate relationship between Scott and dance hall canary Ann Dvrak. Edgar Buchanan's character is more pathetic than humorous. He is unbelievably cowardly: Let sleeping dogs lie and run from barking dogs. Why does Scott tolerate him as often his only potential helper in his various duties as marshal. In fact, Scott lies about Buchanan's role in the capture of a desperado in order to help him keep his job as county sheriff.
Though an older film, the quality of the Santa Fe Trail DVD is much better. This story exploits some big names in the coming Civil War, who supposedly all graduated from West Point at the same time and all were newly assigned to keep order in bleeding Kansas. Clean-shaven mild-mannered Ronald Reagan reminds us much more of the Gipper than of George Custer. Again, Errol Flynn is a remarkably clean-shaven representation of normally hirsute Jeb Stuart. Ramond Massey makes an unbeatable characterization of fanatic John Brown, even if many of the details are historically inaccurate. Van Heflin's character is purely fictitious, but does add another dimension to the film story. It offers an alternative explanation for the unexpected arrival of Federal troops at Harper's Ferry during Brown's raid. Actually, Brown made a fatal blunder in allowing a train from the west to procede to Washington. Before these troops arrived, local militia actually sealed off the bridge across the Potomac, which was Brown's intended escape route. If you can stomach all the gross historical inaccuracies in this film, it is an action-packed entertaining story, mostly carried by the charisma of Flynn and Massey, the banter between and within several buddy pairs and the well-established cinematic romantic partnership of Flynn and Olivia. Van Heflin's difficult character and betrayal adds an additional dimension.

DON'T TAKE SIDES.......2007-07-16

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.

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 The Great Dictator (2 Disc Special Edition).

A DVD zone mixed feelings.

History lesson sorely needed.......2007-06-02

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.

Two good films, in good condition........2005-11-14

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".

Rousing but inaccurate adventure movie.......2005-07-06

The title may well lead people to expect a Western and indeed this is how the movie has been packaged ,but I would argue it is nothing of the sort .While the Santa Fe Trail is mentioned and the role of the railroad in opening up the West is touched upon the movie is really about the origins of the Civil War .
Flynn stars as J E B Stuart -arguably the most famous cavalry commnader in the Confederate army .We first meet him as a West Point cadet, along with several other men who became prominent in the military in subsequent years chief among them being Custer (Ronald Reagan ) Phil Sheridan ( David Bruce) and George Pickett( Willam Marshall ) .His nemesis at the Academy is "Rader" played by Van Heflin ,a fervent abolitionist and disciple of the firebrand preacher John Brown .The two get involved in a brawl and Rader is sent down for having abolitionist pamphlets in his locker .Already the Civil war is casting its shadows over the military -;we meet Lee and Davis ,men who were to play a key role in events in the following decade .
Stuart ,Custer and Sheridan are sent to "Bloody Kansas" to keep the peace in the face of John Browns agitation for it to become a free state .They clash early on when they foil a gun running bid by Brown and his followers who now number the embittered and mercenary Rader in their ranks (it is made clear he fights for money ,not belief in the cause) .Further confrontations with Brown arise ,culminating in the bloody affray at Harper's Ferry
There is no shortage of movies dealing with the Civil War but very few have adressed its origins which makes this aspect of tghe movie so disappointing .Perhaps mindful of the need not to damage its potential in the South ,scriptwriter Robert Bruckner has come up with an evasive screenplay which sits on the fence politically .Brown is depicted as a fiery psychopath and an irrational madman whose cause is founded on the need for someone to hate rather than any love of the blacks or sense of moral righness ,while the Heflin character is a vain ,envious opportunist who loves only money and betrays any cause he feels does not value his contribution to it .He is shown as interfering in a system which Stuart claims is reforming itself from within ,and by so doing bringing about an avoidable conflict This is a gross distortion of the facts .Thus ,faced with such moral equivocation ,the best thing to do is enjoy it on an action movie level and here it works well .The action is lively and plentiful and the acting is pretty solid .Flynn is ideally cast as the archetypal military man -one who fights nobly for his cause ,despite his own doubts and de Havilland is excellent as the feisty tomboyish Kit Carson Halliday over whom Custer and Stuart bicker .Raymond Massey is hypnotic if hammy as Brown and there is a solid "best friend of the leading man "turn from Reagan ,whose character is allowed a few tentative pro-Brown remarks
One scene stands out -when Custer ,Sheridan ,Stuart and Pickett consult an Indian seeress they are told they will all be generals but will never again all meet as friend ;they react with uneasy laughter but in the scene we see the gathering clouds of the impending war ,
Muddy monochrome photography from the usually dependable Sal Polito does not help while Max Steiner's score is not his best by a long eway
Enjoy it as a vigorous and robust action picture from the great Michael Curtiz and this is okay but as a serious treatment of the issues it is sunk by its own timorousness and refusal to address reality

Average customer rating:

two very different westerns for the price of one
DON'T TAKE SIDES
History lesson sorely needed
Two good films, in good condition.
Rousing but inaccurate adventure movie

Santa Fe Trail
Starring: Errol Flynn , Olivia de Havilland , Raymond Massey , Ronald Reagan , and Alan Hale
Director: Michael Curtiz
Manufacturer: Diamond Ent. Corp.
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005BI96
Release Date: 2003-01-01

Customer Reviews:

two very different westerns for the price of one.......2007-08-07

DON'T TAKE SIDES.......2007-07-16

History lesson sorely needed.......2007-06-02

Two good films, in good condition........2005-11-14

Rousing but inaccurate adventure movie.......2005-07-06

Average customer rating:

two very different westerns for the price of one
DON'T TAKE SIDES
History lesson sorely needed
Two good films, in good condition.
Rousing but inaccurate adventure movie

Santa Fe Trail
Starring: Errol Flynn , Olivia de Havilland , Raymond Massey , Ronald Reagan , and Alan Hale
Director: Michael Curtiz
Manufacturer: ROAN
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

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( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: 6305636508
Release Date: 1999-10-26

Customer Reviews:

two very different westerns for the price of one.......2007-08-07

DON'T TAKE SIDES.......2007-07-16

History lesson sorely needed.......2007-06-02

Two good films, in good condition........2005-11-14

Rousing but inaccurate adventure movie.......2005-07-06

Average customer rating:

Public Domain Masterpiece
Santa Fe Trail
Interesting John Brown movie

The Santa Fe Trail
Starring: Luis Alberni , Erville Alderson , Arthur Ayleswofth , Roy Barcroft , and Trevor Bardette
Director: Michael Curtiz
Manufacturer: St Clair Vision
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0001GH7CM
Release Date: 2004-02-17

Customer Reviews:

Public Domain Masterpiece.......2007-06-09

This movie can be bought at most discount stores for $1, however these are very poor copies. Stay away from any movie that lists Ronald Reagan as the star. I recommend you buy the Marengo double feature version. It's been restored and you get two movies for the price of one.

Directed by Michael Curtiz, this movie has an all star cast: Errol Flynn, Olivia De Havalin, Raymond Massey, Van Heflen and Ronald Reagan. This a pre- Civil War movie and not a western. Great acting but a plot that is not considered politially correct. This movie favors the South with Errol Flynn playing the hero, JEB Stuart. It traces his life from when he graduates from West Point to Harper's Ferry. Probably the most glaring mistake historially, is that Stuart graduated from West Point in 1854 and George Custer graduated in 1861, after the Civil War started. Stuart was involved in Bleeding Kansas, and Harper's Ferry, but George Custer wasn't present any of these events and there is no evidence that they were friends. Raymond Massey was brilliant as a crazed John Brown (remember this is a Southern point of view) and some effort was made to make him look like the person. However, there was no effort to make Flynn look like Stuart nor Reagan to look like Custer. JEB has light Austrailian accent (like Flynn). Olivia is very good as Kit Carson Halliday.

Santa Fe Trail.......2007-01-12

The movie itself is great, lots of fun to watch. However, my reason for purchasing it was to see the credits at the end. My gr-gr-grandfather's name appears in the credits in other versions of this movie, and I purchased 3 copies to share with siblings. Alas, there were no credits at the end - none whatsoever. The movie was good - refreshing and enjoyable.

Interesting John Brown movie.......2007-01-03

Santa Fe Trail is a Hollywood production of chasiing John Brown through Kansas and finally capturing him in Harpers Ferry in 1859. This Black and White epic takes much poetic license with what actually happened, but is a fun movie to watch. Raymond Massey is great as John Brown. I use the movie in my John Brown class. If you want the real story of what happened at Harpers Ferry and John Brown's capture, check out my book a historical novel "The Perfect Steel Trap Harpers Ferry 1859".

Average customer rating:

Santa Fe Trail
Starring: Luis Alberni , Erville Alderson , Arthur Ayleswofth , Roy Barcroft , and Trevor Bardette
Director: Michael Curtiz
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B00008F7ZC
Release Date: 1999-02-10

DVD:

DVD

DVD