Montana (1950)

" . . . by the Great Land Barons," Warner Bros.' trailer for MONTANA states. The "them" in this sentence refers to the Patriotic Loyal True Blue Average Union Label Normal Folks (like us) comprising the majority of our USA Citizenry in 1879 (the year of this story), of 1950 (the year of this movie), and Today (the year of 2017). "The Great Land Barons," of course, are the forerunners to Today's Job-Killing Corrupt Capitalist Trumpster Rats. Speaking of rats, now that Putin's Puppet has succeeded in destroying 300 years of American Civilization by eliminating ALL of President Obama's Consumer Safeguards, I was NOT surprised to view AN ACTUAL, REAL LIFE RAT OF THE RODENT FAMILY scuttle across Aisle 12 of the Kroger Store two miles from my home TWICE as I stopped for milk an hour before watching MONTANA, an errand that took double the usual time in fighting through the masses of other terrorized customers milling about. I NEVER saw so much as one single rat inside my local Kroger (or anyplace else I frequent, for that matter) during the ENTIRE EIGHT YEARS that President Obama was America's Leader. However, MONTANA teaches us that when those of the ilk of Billionaire Oligarchs are allowed to run roughshod over "We Little People" and "drown the government in the bathtub" (to use the catch-phrase of Trump's Chief Henchman, Steve Bannon) we can expect authentic rodent rats to be given the run of our Kroger Stores on Day #82 of Putin\Trump's Reign of Terror. Though I tried MONTANA's featured mutton dish once and didn't care for it when Obama was Commander-in-Chief, I'm thankful for Warner's timely warning to beware that Rump of Rat might become Kroger's newest deli meat as soon as a Monkey Business Bozo such as Trump bans all of America's regulations, protections, and safeguards on behalf of Vicious Vacuous Venal Village-Idiot Villains such as himself.

Australian sheepherder Errol Flynn brings his sheep to (you guessed it) Montana. He fights with cattle ranchers and romances Alexis Smith. Routine oater made a little less so by the sheep angle. The leads are enjoyable. Flynn fans will want to see him sing "Reckon I'm in Love" with Smith. Fun support from S.Z. Sakall and Paul Burns. Love that Technicolor. Just look at that blue jacket of Errol's pop! The story is much ado about sheep and will have you suppressing laughs here and there. An example of the kind of dialogue you can expect is when one thug says to Flynn: "You talk like a sheepherder." He said that with a straight face, believe it or not. Filmed in 1948 but sat on shelf for two years.

This lackluster Errol Flynn oater qualifies as one of his minor efforts. Clocking in at a sheer 73 minutes, "Montana" doesn't waste its time getting down to basics, but the narrative has its lapses. One character shows up and then is gone without an explanation. The performances are good and the Warner Brothers production values are bed-rock. Seasoned western writers such as James R. Webb and Borden Chase penned the screenplay, but they deliver little in the way of memorable dialogue and there are absolutely no surprises in this formulaic horse opera. Some of the situations, like our hero being duped into riding an unbreakable bronco, are old hat.Basically, Morgan Lane (Errol Flynn of "The Sea Hawk") plunges his flock of sheep into cattle country in 1879 and the cowboys refuse to tolerate these sheep-nanigans. No sooner has Lane and his flock entered cattle country than the cowboys descend on them at night with their guns blazing death. An unarmed, young Mexican shepherd becomes the first casualty with a bullet in the back. The following day Lane and company encounter Papa Otto Schultz (S.Z. Sakall of "Casablanca") who drives his peddler's wagon into their camp. Lane and Papa Otto become partners almost instantly and the two ride into Fort Humboldt to peddle his wares. Initially, Lane receives a chilly reception in the Little Big Horn Saloon where Slim Reeves (Ian MacDonald of "High Noon") goads him into a showdown after he labels Lane a sheep-man. Although he knows that it isn't any of his business, a bearded, leathery-looking Tecumseh Burke (Paul E. Burns of "Son of Paleface") pokes his nose into the confrontation. The older gunman offers Lane the use of his hardware since our hero doesn't pack a pistol. Tecumseh warns Lane that the trigger is tied back and he will have to fan the weapon. Slim shoves the holstered revolver and gun belt at Lane. Everybody clears out of the way so the two can shoot it out. Tecumseh starts the countdown to three, but the bushwhacking skunk that Slim is tries to shuck his six-shooter on two. Lane blows the revolver neatly out of his adversary's fist as easily as he might blow out a candle. The ruffian apologizes because he insists no sheepman could possibly wield a shooting iron with such dexterity."Montana" features a romance between the principal players. Predictably, it doesn't take our hero long to meet, greet, and get sweet with cattle queen Maria Singleton (Alexis Smith of "San Antonio"), even though she is engaged to marry rancher Rod Ackroyd. Lane has Maria eating out of his hand after he wagers that he can ride a bronco that nobody else has managed to stay aboard for a full minute. Sneaky Reeves whittles away at the cinch and Lane barely missing staying in the leather long enough. Apparently, the colossal loss of money that Papa sacrificed not only drove him out of his partnership with Lane but also out of the movie. Papa vanishes and is never heard from again. Meanwhile, Maria decides to lease Lane some land to run his steers on since he didn't tame the bronco. At this point, things take a turn for the worse for our protagonist. Inexplicably, Lane's sheep dog Jeanne prances into town that same day that Lane steps outside the bank with Maria with the lease for the land. Reeves and his cohorts expose Lane as a sheepman when the mutt goes to him. Naturally, Maria is furious, but what she doesn't know is that her fiancée has been two-timing her with the lawman's girlfriend. Indeed, the lawman, Sheriff Jake Overby (Lane Chandler of "Samson and Delilah") doesn't know that he, too, is being two-timed.Meantime, the ornery cattlemen cannot shed their deep-seated prejudice toward the mutton-minded Lane. Lane argues that sheep and cattle can get along together. He has seen it in Mexico, but the cattlemen don't believe him. Gunslinging cattleman Rod Ackroyd (Douglas Kennedy of "The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold") leads the charge against Lane and his sheep and bites the dust. The showdown in front street at the end of the action looks like a mild imitation of "Red River" with our colorful heroine shooting the man that she loves. Flynn was looking a mite long in the tooth when he made this oater and the alcohol had robbed him of his spontaneity but not his charm. He looks a little more heavyset than usual. Smith doesn't look like she has changed since their last collaboration on "San Antonio" except that her outfits aren't as flamboyant. Mind you, she is a bit more hard-hearted and tough as a cattle queen who lost her father and brother in the war against the sheep herders."Montana" doesn't rank in the same league with Flynn's more prestigious westerns like "Dodge City," "Virginia City," and "They Died With Their Boots On." In fact, "Montana" rates as one of his least appealing westerns. At least the Technicolor makes this modest western look good. Strangely, the peddler that Sakall plays vanishes inexplicably from the action. If you want to see a genuinely entertaining cattle versus sheep western, watch director George Marshall's comedy western "The Sheepman" (1958) with Glenn Ford.

Flynn is bringing sheep into cattle territory, where he is received with bullets. In order to go to town he passes as a peddler and falls in love with Alexis Smith (great as always). This is an agreeable and lighthearted western, at a certain moment Flynn and Alexis Smith even sing!!! There is a good color cinematography, although not as good as in "San Antonio", which besides this one and "Dodge City" were the only westerns Flynn did in color. Ray Enright was quite good at making westerns he could make them in quantity and with quality (Kansas Raiders, The Spoilers, Return of the Bad Men) The story here is much better than in "San Antonio", Borden Chase has to his credit some of the best westerns like Winchester 73 and Red River but Flynn was getting older and not so ideal for the character he played. When I saw this film for the second time I enjoyed it much more because I had lower expectations. "Montana" is no "Dodge City" but it is quite enjoyable.