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Santa Fe Trail (film)
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{{Other uses|Santa Fe Trail (disambiguation)}} {{Infobox film| name = Santa Fe Trail | image = Santa Fe Trail (film) poster.jpg | caption = Theatrical release poster | producer = [[Hal B. Wallis]]<br>[[Robert Fellows]] | director = [[Michael Curtiz]] | writer = [[Robert Buckner]] (screenplay) | starring = [[Errol Flynn]]<br>[[Olivia de Havilland]]<br>[[Raymond Massey]]<br>[[Ronald Reagan]] | music = [[Max Steiner]] | cinematography = [[Sol Polito]] | editing = [[George Amy]] | | distributor = [[Warner Bros.]] | released = {{start date|1940|12|28}} | runtime = 110 minutes | country = {{Film US}} | language = English | }} '''''Santa Fe Trail''''' is a [[1940 in film|1940]] [[Western (genre)|western]] film directed by [[Michael Curtiz]] and starring [[Errol Flynn]] and [[Olivia de Havilland]]. Despite glaring historical inaccuracies and racist overtones,{{Opinion|date=July 2010}} the film was one of the top-grossing films of the year, being the seventh Flynn-de Havilland collaboration. The film also has nothing to do with its namesake, the famed [[Santa Fe Trail]] except that the trail started in Missouri. Instead, it follows the life of [[J.E.B. Stuart]], a [[cavalry]] commander (and future [[Confederate Army]] general). The outdoor scenes were filmed at the [[Movie ranch#Famous Players-Lasky Movie Ranch - Ahmanson Ranch|Lasky Movie Ranch]], on the Lasky Mesa area of the [[Simi Hills]] in the western [[San Fernando Valley]].<ref>[http://employees.oxy.edu/jerry//lasky.htm oxy.edu. access date:5/15/2010.] 'Lasky Movie Ranch' set photos</ref> One can visit the film location site, now in the very large [[Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve]] (a.k.a. Ahmanson Ranch), with various trails to the Lasky Mesa locale.<ref>http://www.lamountains.com/pdf/Ahmanson_History_movies.pdf www.lamountains. "Ahmanson: filming location history." access date: 5/11/2010.</ref> The film entered the [[public domain]] in 1968, after [[United Artists]] failed to renew the [[copyright]]. UA had gained ownership of the film when they bought [[Associated Artists Productions]] (a.a.p.) - then the owners of the pre-1950 WB library - in 1958. The original film elements are now held by a.a.p. successor companies [[Turner Entertainment]] and [[Warner Bros. Television]] - both subdivisions of what is now called Warner Bros. Entertainment, with [[Warner Home Video]] owning the rights to release a restored DVD from the original elements, although no official release is currently available (a VHS release by [[MGM Home Entertainment|MGM/UA Home Video]] made in the 1990s is out-of-print). == Plot == {{Editorial|date=July 2010}} The film purports to follow the life of [[J.E.B. Stuart]] ([[Errol Flynn]]) before the outbreak of the [[American Civil War]]. Among its sub-plots are a romance with the fictional Kit Carson Holliday ([[Olivia de Havilland]]), friendship with [[George Armstrong Custer]] ([[Ronald Reagan]]), and battles against [[abolitionist]] [[John Brown (abolitionist)|John Brown]] ([[Raymond Massey]]). Among the many glaring inaccuracies has Stuart leading a cavalry charge against John Brown's "fort" in Harpers Ferry. In fact Stuart was at Harper's Ferry-but John Brown was captured in an infantry assault by [[US Marines]] under command of US Army Lieutenant Colonel [[Robert Edward Lee]]. Another inaccuracy is the film has Stuart, Custer, [[John Bell Hood]], [[George Pickett]], [[James Longstreet]], and [[Philip Sheridan]] all having been part of the West Point graduating class of 1854. In fact, Longstreet was of the class of 1842, Pickett was of the class of 1846, Sheridan and Hood were of the class of 1853, Stuart 1854, and Custer not until 1861-a year early because of the onset of the Civil War. In addition, Stuart and Custer are shown to be the best of friends when in fact they did not know each other. Shortly after graduation, Stuart transferred to the newly formed [[1st Cavalry Regiment (United States)|1st U.S. Cavalry Regiment]] at [[Fort Leavenworth]] (not the 2nd Cavalry as the movie states) and was involved in Kansas during the [[Bleeding Kansas|fighting]] there. After his graduation from West Point in 1861, Custer joined the [[2nd Cavalry Regiment (United States)|2nd Cavalry Regiment]] during its operations in [[Virginia]] in the first months of the war. They did encounter each other in a number of battles during the war including [[Battle of Brandy Station|Brandy Station]], [[Battle of Hanover|Hanover]] and [[Battle of Yellow Tavern|Yellow Tavern]] where Stuart was mortally wounded. In the movie, Brown's son Oliver is shot and killed in Kansas when in fact he was killed inside the Engine House at Harpers Ferry. Another son Jason is portrayed as a 15-year old (played by [[Gene Reynolds]]) who is accidentally shot by Van Heflin's character and dies in Kansas. At the time of Bleeding Kansas, Jason was around 34 years old. Though involved in his father's abolitionist work, he did not die in Kansas and was not involved at Harpers Ferry. Future Confederate president Jefferson Davis is shown inaccurately ordering Lee to Harpers Ferry when it was in fact President [[James Buchanan]]. At the time of Harpers Ferry, Davis was no longer [[Secretary of War]] but a senator from [[Mississippi]]. == Controversy == The movie confronts the multiple perspectives to issues leading up to the Civil War. It is drastically critical of [[John Brown (abolitionist)|John Brown]],{{Citation needed|date=April 2009}} but realistic in its portray of his willingness to destroy the Union and his choice of terrorist activities. It also shows accurately mixed reactions by slaves, from the frightened to the content. While some of the [[African-Americans]] rejoice at their freedom, others find that they might have had greater safety in their life as it was.{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}} Massey's John Brown eagerly endorses breaking apart the union of the United States. The movie was made on the eve of [[World War II]], and its tone and political subtext express a desire to reconcile the nation's dispute over slavery which brought about the [[American Civil War]] and appeal to moviegoers in both the southern and northern United States. The [[American Civil War]] and abolition of slavery are presented as an unnecessary tragedy caused by an anarchic madman. The heroic protagonists such as Flynn's Jeb Stuart and Reagan's Custer seem unable to conceive how the issue of slavery could place them at odds in the near future, even though by 1859 hostility between the pro/anti-slavery states had reached a boiling point.{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}} ==Vitasound== In its initial release, Warner Brothers premiered this film in some large cities with an experimental sound system called '''Vitasound'''. Not a [[stereophonic]] system as sometimes reported, Vitasound employed a second track between the regular soundtrack and the sprocket holes. This second track would control additional speakers in the theater to create louder sounds for battlefield scenes, and so forth. (Source: IMDb) This system was unrelated to Disney's [[Fantasound]] system which had just been used for [[roadshow]] engagements of ''[[Fantasia (film)|Fantasia]]'', released 13 November 1940. == Cast == * [[Errol Flynn]] ''as'' [[J.E.B. Stuart|James "Jeb" Stuart]] * [[Olivia de Havilland]] ''as'' Kit Carson Holliday * [[Raymond Massey]] ''as'' [[John Brown (abolitionist)|John Brown]] * [[Ronald Reagan]] ''as'' [[George Armstrong Custer]] * [[Alan Hale, Sr.|Alan Hale]] ''as'' Tex Bell * [[William Lundigan]] ''as'' Bob Holliday * [[Van Heflin]] ''as'' Carl Rader * [[Gene Reynolds]] ''as'' Jason Brown * [[Henry O'Neill]] ''as'' [[Cyrus K. Holliday]] * [[Guinn Williams (actor)|Guinn Williams]] ''as'' Windy Brody * [[Alan Baxter]] ''as'' Oliver Brown * [[Moroni Olsen]] ''as'' [[Robert E. Lee]] * [[Erville Alderson]] ''as'' [[Jefferson Davis]] ==See also== * [[Ronald Reagan filmography]] * [[List of films in the public domain]] ==References== {{Reflist}} == External links == * {{imdb title|id=0033021|title=Santa Fe Trail}} * {{Internet Archive film|id=Santa_Fe_Trail_movie|name=Santa Fe Trail}} ([http://www.archive.org/details/Santa_Fe_Trail alternative link]) * {{tcmdb title|id=3623|title=Santa Fe Trail}} * [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7229528168169320559&q=Santa+Fe+Trail Complete film at Google video] {{Michael Curtiz}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Santa Fe Trail (Film)}} [[Category:1940 films]] [[Category:American films]] [[Category:Warner Bros. films]] [[Category:Romantic Western (genre) films]] [[Category:Black-and-white films]] [[Category:English-language films]] [[Category:Films directed by Michael Curtiz]] [[Category:American Civil War films]] [[de:Land der Gottlosen]] [[es:Camino de Santa Fe (película)]] [[fr:La Piste de Santa Fe]] [[it:I pascoli dell'odio]] [[nl:Santa Fe Trail (1940)]] [[pt:A Estrada de Santa Fé]] [[ru:Дорога на Санта-Фе (фильм)]]
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