Customer Reviews

Dark Command / A Lady Takes A Chance (Double Feature)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It is good to get two good films in a double feature like this. "Dark Command" has long time been a favorite of mine. Ayoung John Wayne play the part of an illiterate cowboy who becomes sheriff in Kansas just before the star of the Civil War. He must match wits with the wily villian played well by Walter Pidgeon. Throw in a cast that includes Claire Trevor, Gabby Hayes and Roy Rogers and you have great fun entertainment. "A Lady Takes a Chance" is more of a romantic comedy. Wayne is the rodeo star and Jean Arthur is the woman who falls for him. Look for Phil Silvers with a fine comedic bit.

Standard John Wayne fare, good guy comes along and rights the wrongs. Dark Command was a little edgy for the time it was made, at least I think so.

Bottom line: Great old films by the Duke!
If you want HD and excellent color, then you are looking in the wrong place.
However, If you want great movies from back in the old days where it took good acting and good scripting to make great movies instead of sex and violence, you will love these!

These are two winners showing two sides of John Wayne shortly after his breakthrough role in John Ford's "Stagecoach". In "Dark Command", Duke plays a cowboy-hustler turned marshall in the town of Lawrence, Kansas, during the days just preceding the Civil War and his problems with William Cantrell and his raiders. Of course, there is a mixture of romance with Claire Trevor playing the daughter of a southern banker in Kansas, a free-state. Wayne holds his own against Walter Pidgeon playing against type as the ruthless Cantrell. The appearance of a young Roy Rogers is a surprise since he brings in a very good performace and it leaves you wanting to see more of Rogers as an actor not just a singing cowboy.

"A Lady Takes a Chance" is a typical boy-meets-girl film with Wayne playing it almost stright against the charming Jean Arthur. The film includes small parts (as mentioned elsewhere) by Phil Silvers playing his usual self and one by Hans Conreid--that name might be mispelled. The film is a nice outing and there are enough laughs to keep the viewer tuned in even when you seem to know you've seen the plot before. The only draw back is that the print is showing its age and is in need of a restoration job. With films like these, you can realize that Wayne's days as a Grade B actors were over.

These two are ok to pass the time, still B & W, and ok themes.

I gave this a two star because Dark Command was coupled with Lady Takes a Chance. The former I would have given a 3 or 3.5, but it is coupled with Lady... which I would have rated as a 1. Dark Command is an unusual movie, with well-known actors, and John Wayne plays his familiar good-guy role. We do LOVE Jean Arthur in roles we have seen her previously play in. However, this is definitely NOT a movie you would watch with your children and grandma. In Lady Takes A Chance it starts out with promise but quickly lowers to a grade C movie quality and the story line surrounds low class one night stand attempts. Not much subtlety.