Customer Reviews

San Antonio [VHS]

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Errol Flynn was never more debonaire than in this briskly paced, totally enjoyable, two-fisted Western romance. Flynn plays Clay Hardin, a rancher who's been chased out of town by a syndicate of corrupt rustlers, but is back in town with the proof that will vindicate him... and with a hankering to meet actress Alexis Smith. She's a high-tone New York gal who finds herself charmed by the dapper, self-assured machismo of Flynn's good-natured rustic roughneck. You'll be charmed, too: it's hard to imagine anyone else being so suave and polite when they're whomping on the bad guys. Filmed in brightly saturated Technicolor, with the ruins of the Alamo eerily lit by the Texas moon. This film is a goodie! [Cast note: anyone who was charmed by S. K. Sakall's famous comedic cameo as a German emigre in "Casablanca" ("What watch mama?") will get a kick out of his extensive supporting role in this film... More cutesy ethnic schtick than you can shake a schntizel at!]

As I continue my intro, there are tons of westerns out there, probably more than any other genre, considering all of the 'B' westerns out there.

To get on with my review, as I was hinting it's really hard to get a decent plot, one like say Rio Bravo or The Searchers. But anyway, it still is a pretty good movie. San Antonio is about a man who loses his fortune to some bad guys (I can't think of anything else to call them, either that or say crooked cattle punchers?) and goes to get his revenge. Flynn is once again his dashing self and Alexis Smith offers a good character. I guess "good character" isn't exactly the best way to describe it. She plays a very feisty actress/singer who ends up working for Flynn's enemies but falls in love with him.

The color in this film was great and it was qutie a high grade movie. The song sung in the film "Some Sunday Morning" won the Oscar for best song. It's a pretty good film on it's own, but when put up against other westerns and Flynn's previous work (Captian Blood, Robin Hood, etc.) it just doesn't have the same magic.

Errol Flynn stars as a cowboy out to get revenge on the cattle rustler that has stolen his cattle and the cattle of several other men. He returns to San Antonio to settle the score, but before he can do that, he falls in love with Alexis Smith, the actress and singer performing at his enemy's saloon. Needless to say, things get complicated. This isn't the greatest of Flynn's westerns, although it's far from the worst. There's just nothing new here. Flynn was already starting to show the signs of the premature aging that would eventually lead to his death, and his performance lacks its usual fire. Smith, however, plays her character well and looks beautiful in the great technicolor. There is a terrific saloon shoutout/brawl, but it doesn't add up to much more than an average western. It's entertaining, but nothing special.

Warner Bros. Pictures presents "SAN ANTONIO" (1945) (109 min/Color) (Fully Restored/Dolby Digitally Remastered) -- Starring Errol Flynn, Alexis Smith, S. Z. Sakali, Victor Francen, Florence Bates & Paul Kelly

Directed by David Butler

Cattleman Clay Hardin (Flynn), who, on a trek south of the border, has discovered that San Antonio saloon proprietor Roy Stuart (Paul Kelly) is actually a cattle rustler of major proportions. Determined to bring Stuart to justice, Clay runs into difficulties when he mistakes Jeanne Starr (Alexis Smith) for being on the saloon owner's payroll. Meanwhile, Stuart's partner (and enemy) Legare (Victor Francen) uses the taut situation to benefit himself. Then Clay's longtime friend, Charlie Bell (John Litel), is brutally slain and Jeanne's manager, Sacha Bozic (S.Z. "Cuddles" Sakall) is forced to skip town, who, not knowing to Clay, having witnessed the murder.

Fabulous Western with another great score by maestro Max Steiner.

Oscar Nominated for Art Direction & Best Original Song "Some Sunday Morning"

BIOS:
1. David Butler [Director]
Date of Birth: 17 December 1894 - San Francisco, California
Date of Death: 14 June 1979 - Arcadia, California

2. Errol Flynn [aka: Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn]
Date of Birth: 20 June 1909, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Date of Death: 14 October 1959, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

3. Alexis Smith
Date of Birth: 8 June 1921 - Penticton, British Columbia, Canada
Date of Death: 9 June 1993 - Los Angeles, California

Mr. Jim's Ratings:
Quality of Picture & Sound: 4 Stars
Performance: 4 Stars
Story & Screenplay: 4 Stars
Overall: 4 Stars [Original Music, Cinematography & Film Editing]

Total Time: 109 min on DVD ~ Warner Bros. Pictures ~ (12/07/1994)

Errol Flynn and Alexis Smith are a good match in this overlong yet entertaining Technicolor oater from the Warner factory. "San Antonio" (1945) remains among the better Flynn Westerns - highlighted by a fine supporting cast and Max Steiner's robust score. The spectacular saloon shootout justifies the admission price. Another example of why Flynn was "the rich man's Roy Rogers."

I don't generally care much for Westerns, but "San Antonio" is a highly enjoyable, often laugh-out-loud example of the genre. Errol Flynn and Alexis Smith engage in a lot of snappy repartee, Smith belts out the classic "Some Sunday Morning", and S.Z. Sakall, a staple of 1940's musicals and comedies, shines here.

I caught part of this movie tonight. It was the funniest shoot 'em up I've ever seen.
Two guys start shooting at each other in a bar/saloon during a show. The next thing you know everyone in the bar is shooting at each other, and anyone and anything that is moving. Furniture is flying everywhere, pianos are falling down the stairs, and soon the shoot out spreads to the streets. Horses are running, wagons are crashing in the street, flipping over for no apparent reason and fires are breaking out all over. It is right out of Blazing Saddles...strange.

"You mean to tell me this little mud Indian village is San Antonio?" says the singer, Jeanne Starr (Alexis Smith), as her stagecoach swings into the plaza.
"Oh, it's nice! You will like it!" bubbles her manager, Sacha Bozic (S. Z. Sakall).
"As far as I'm concerned it's just another place full of wild savages." She's already met Clay Hardin (Errol Flynn), so we know the town can't be that bad. On the other hand, she has yet to encounter the movie's two murderous villains, Roy Stuart (Paul Kelly) and the smooth Legare (Victor Francen).

San Antonio is better than a routine western, but still not much more than a pleasant way to spend an hour and a half. It's the story of Clay Hardin and his determination to bring to justice the king pin of a ruthless rustling operation. Cattle are stolen, run across the Rio Grande to Mexico, resold in a sham scheme to obtain false documents, then brought back across and resold for big profits. Hardin, beaten and run off once, is determined to come back to San Antonio with the evidence he now has...a tally book of the cattle sales in Mexico, with names, dates, brands and prices. On his way back he has to deal with killers sent to stop him, a stage coach that carries Jeanne Starr on her way to an engagement at the Bella Union Music Hall in San Antonio, and, when the stage arrives, a face-to-face encounter with the tough Roy Stuart himself, the man behind it all. And not just Stuart. His partner is the smiling and unscrupulous Legare. We're in for shoot outs, back shots, bad odds and Alexis Smith singing a couple of songs.

The movie has solid production values, a creepy night-time shoot out in the ruins of the Alamo and one of the most entertaining, over-the-top shoot `em ups, set in the Bella Union, I've ever seen. Men take bullets too fast to count, then bounce off the bar or grab their chests and fall to the floor. Mirrors shatter, a large, full bar quickly and loudly explodes into glass shards and, in a rococo moment, one villain in a balcony next to the stage is shot, tips over, gets his legs twisted in the curtain ropes and swings and twitches back and forth for a while. Eventually, justice is done in a workmanlike way. We hear the praises of Texas and, in a nice echo of Hardin's and Jeanne's first meeting in a stagecoach, another stagecoach turns around to head back to San Antonio.

For me, the real pleasure was watching two notable actors, Victor Francen and Paul Kelly. Francen was a Belgian who came to America in 1939. He played men who were suave to their fingertips, worldly in outlook and perfectly at home at the roulette table. He always had a gracious smile while he said the most threatening things and did the most deadly deeds. You'll recognize him when you see him. Paul Kelly, on the other hand, was made of rougher material. He once served time for beating a man to death. Kelly also was a fine actor when given a chance. On Broadway, he won the Tony for lead actor when he starred in Command Decision. Naturally enough, when Hollywood made Command Decision into a movie Kelly's role was given to Clark Gable. If you want a sample of outstanding acting so bizarre it's memorable, just watch the scenes Kelly shares with Gloria Grahame in Crossfire.

As for Errol Flynn, he does the kind of job only a charismatic movie star can deliver. Few were better when it came to smiling at danger or laughing at death. Flynn seemed at his best in costumes in his youth, uniforms during WWII and, in my opinion, in well-cut business suits afterwards. After the mid-Forties, costumes, whether cowboy outfits or tight breeches, just didn't seem to do much for the increasingly tired visage or for the notoriety he created. (Kim is the exception.) A suit and a tie, however, were another matter. The movies he made in civilian gear often weren't very good, but he seemed to keep some of his old charisma as well as to be challenged to actually act. That Forsyte Woman is as careful and respectful as an arthritic butler but Flynn as Soames Forsyte does a fine job. In Cry Wolf opposite Barbara Stanwyck, I think he does a superior job in this under-rated old-dark-house movie. (You can watch both occasionally on cable.)

this is a very enjoyable, light hearted, easy to watch western, not a great one to some but is high on my list. i wish someone would tell me why it never came out on dvd.

Overall, this is a pretty good western, although I had to sit through it twice before I decided I liked it.

Errol Flynn is his usual, hansome self. He plays a Texan who lost everything to rustlers. He was shot and badly wounded, but escapes to recover in Mexico.

When he finds evidence that will convict the man responsible for the raids and rustling, he returns to San Antonio to deliver justice.

Flynn and a black hat have to "step outside" for some gunplay in a truly suspenseful moment. The shootout finale in the Bella Union saloon is fantastic, worthy of classic Hollywood. And there's a couple of pretty good songs delivered by a barbershop quartet and Flynn's leading lady.

She has one of the best lines I've ever heard: "People in this town are so mean, they'd step on baby chicks!"

Still, this one was predictable and ultimately unsatifying. I would recommend you try an earlier Flynn western, 1939's "Dodge City", for Flynn as frontiersman.