San Antonio (1945)

Simply Perfect

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Hero Clay Hardin's(Errol Flynn) first and last scenes with gorgeous stage entertainer Jeanne Starr(Alexis Smith) involve him climbing through the window of a traveling stagecoach, after transferring from his horse. They thus serve as a sort of running gag. The first of these episodes serves as the equivalent of Flynn's swinging down on a vine from a tree perch to surprise a royal outing through Sherwood Forest, in "The Adventures of Robin Hood". Hardin then proceeds to convince the neophyte passengers that he is an asset in protecting them from a locally notorious badman named Clay Hardin. Typical Flynn shenanigans! Also in this stage are Jeanne's companions Sacha Bozic(the immimical "Cuddles" Sakall), who serves as her manager and orchestra conductor, and Henrietta(Florence Bates), who is like her mother. They have been contracted to provide entertainment at the Bella Union saloon, in San Antonio. I enjoyed this film, for the most part. In fact, it's one of my favorite westerns, that seems to get better with each viewing, mostly on Encore Westerns, at present. Also, available on DVD as part of Flynn's (incomplete) westerns collection. Alexis is superb as a feisty classy entertainer and woman, although her singing was dubbed. The music is first rate for a western. The presence of 3 very different European or Australian -bred actors, all quite charismatic, helps distinguish this western from others.The story is mainly about a war in south Texas between cattle ranchers and a huge rustler conglomerate headed by one Roy Stuart, who also owns the main San Antonio saloon:Bella Union. Many ranchers, including Hardin, have been ruined and sometimes killed by this cartel. Thus, Hardin has been hiding out in Mexican Laredo, across the Rio Grande from Texan Laredo. He has killed one of Stuart's henchmen sent to finish him off and apparently to drive stolen cattle across into Mexico. Serendipitiously,from this body, Harden recovered a notebook describing in detail the recent rustling activities of this cartel, thus providing the possible basis for legal proceedings against it. Longtime friend Charlie Bell(John Litel) joins Hardin as they cross the Rio Grande into Texan Laredo, where they kill two of Stuart's men sent to kill them. On to San Antonio, where Hardin makes a surprise appearance, having been reported as dead.Hardin weighs his options of trying to jail the kingpins via legal proceedings, motivating the US cavalry to suppress the gangs, or organizing the remaining ranchers into vigilante action. Meanwhile, Bell is murdered by Stuart's saloon manager, Legare, who recovers the incriminating notebook, but whose complicity in the murder is not immediately apparent, even to Stuart.The army cavalry is forced to bow out. Thus, Hardin decides that a showdown between an aggregation of ranchers and rustlers is his best option. This occurs at the Bella Union, where a massive brawl and shootout between the groups occurs, essentially destroying Stuart's establishment.Stuart and Legare escape into the adjacent Alamo ruins, followed by Hardin. It's a 3-way gun battle in the dark, as Stuart and Legare actually detest each other. It's not over yet, as an obligatory horse chase and fist fight follow. Now, Hardin just has to convince his fleeing lady love to return to start a new life. It didn't take much convincing. The interspersed 'action' sequences, involving shootouts, murders, brawls and fistfights, I thought were generally among the least interesting features of the film, although I appreciate that many viewers expect these in a western. At 35, Flynn still looked good, and is in top form in the various facets of his personality. Just prior to the big saloon brawl, he walks menacingly in front of the lineup of opposition, then kicks the backwards-leaning chair from under one, sending him sprawling. This is the defiant equivalent of throwing that deer carcass down in front of Prince John, as Robin Hood.This is one of 4 films in which Alexis costarred with Flynn. With her flaming hair, gray-green eyes, and often spectacular outfits, she was made for Technicolor, which we enjoy in this film and the later, much shorter, "Montana" western. Sakall also returned for the latter film, although he disappears half way through it. Already a practiced actor in his native Hungary, Sakall appeared as a distinctive emotional English-mangling senior character actor in many films in the '40s and early '50s, including many lesser known musicals. Along with Carmen Miranda and Desi Arnes, for example, his thick imperfect(to say the least) English was presented as cute, although some viewers find him irritating.Veteran actor Paul Kelly makes a cold, creepy, rock-jawed mostly silent, villain, in contrast to his urbane partner/nemesis: Victor Francen, as Legare. Their 'reluctant buddy' relationship I think quite interesting. Music-wise, the new "Some Sunday Morning" rightly dominates. It's about anticipating a marriage ceremony. Alexis does it nicely on stage, appropriately followed by a male quartet echo. Later she does "Somewhere in Monterey" on stage, interrupted by the big brawl. I also enjoyed the "Mexican Hat Dance" and, in the background, the classic romantic standard "La Golandrina".Hardin might have been loosely modeled on Albert Fountain, who headed a successful concerted effort by a volunteer militia to clean up NM's chronic rustling problem, after the skeletal territorial judicial system and the army cavalry proved inadequate or unwilling to solve the problem.

The lavish 1945 Warner Brothers western release "San Antonio" with Errol Flynn, Alexis Smith, Paul Kelly, and S.Z. "Cuddles" Sakall qualifies as an above average frontier fracas, probably the last really top-notch oater that Flynn made before his career dried up in the late 1950s. Mind you, Flynn, Smith, and Sakall reassembled for Ray Enright's "Montana" in 1950. The chief asset of war-time western is Bert Glennon's glorious Technicolor photography. Check out the shots near the beginning as a horseman is silhouetted against a burnished gold sky and the night-time long shot inside the Alamo, these shots look dazzling even on my ancient 20 inch color TV. The action in this World War II era sagebrusher is fairly ordinary on cursory inspection until you've seen it a few times and you think about how anarchic things are in Texas that the hero is forced into exile in Mexico while the villains live things up in the lap of luxury in San Antonio. Flynn never made a movie where his heroic character was in such a bad way that he had to voluntarily leave America and conceal himself. Of course, in his incomparable "Captain Blood," he was wrongly imprisoned, but he didn't imprison himself. Flynn fans will enjoy his cheerful banter with co-star Alex Smith. Many feel that she was not as compatible with him the way that dainty little Olivia De Havilland was in their five films together. Actually, I think that the Smith & Flynn relationship is more even, because she projects a greater physical presence than De Havilland. In other words, Smith could go toe to toe with Flynn better than the diminutive Ms. De Havilland. The other outstanding thing about "San Antonio" is its Oscar nominated theme song "One Sunday Morning." This knock-out tune bolsters the movie and it improves with each viewing. The other Oscar nomination went to the art direction which the beautiful Technicolor lensing brings in fabulous detail. "San Antonio" ranks at the very least as an all around good looking western with a superb song, spectacular color photography, and Max Steiner's lively contribution to the orchestral score is unmistakable.The action opens with Texas cattleman Charlie Bell (the ever reliable John Litel) crossing the Tex-Mex border to root Clay Hardin (Errol Flynn) out of exile. As it turns out, Clay has been biding his time before he returns to Texas for a showdown with lead heavy Roy Stuart (Paul Kelly of "The Springfield Rifle") who is the chief architect behind a massive cattle rustling ring that has robbed and stolen thousands of dollars from Texas cattlemen. It seems that Clay liberated a tally book from one of Stuart's henchmen has all the dirty details. Charlie Bell warns Clay that the opposition is expecting him and wants to kill him, but threats of death and violence do not deter Clay Hardin. He tells Charlie to get him a ticket on the next stage to San Antonio. Of course, Charlie regards this as a brazen and unwise thing to do, but Clay goes ahead with it anyway. Meanwhile, two Stuart henchmen are waiting for our hero who stops off along the way to catch a ride on a different stagecoach, one chartered for a New Orleans entertainer Jeanne Star (Alexis Smith of "The Doughgirls") who is supposed to sing in Roy Stuart's saloon. Jeanne's likable but befuddled business manager Sacha Bozic (lovable flabby jowled S.Z. "Cuddles" Sakall of "Casablanca") lined up the engagement through an old acquaintance of her Jeanne's Legare (shifty-eyed Victor Francen of "The Desert Song") who is partners with Roy Stuart. Along the way, Clay tangles with Stuart-sent gunman Lafe Williams (Tom Tyler of "The Adventures of Captain Marvel") and guns him down in a memorable shoot-out. The rest of "San Antonio" consists of Clay Hardin and Roy Stuart circling each other warily like a mongoose and a cobra in an arena that only one can exit alive. The action really gathers momentum after an exciting scene where Legare guns down Charlie Bell in a back ally and the shadow of Sacha looms over both. Legare threatens to kill Sacha if the funny little fat man utters a word. Meanwhile, Clay gets the mistaken notion that Jeanne set him up for Roy Stuart. Later, we get to see a massive saloon shoot-out on the scale of the saloon brawl in Michael Curtiz's "Dodge City." The eventful, hard-as-nails frontier action in an above-average script by "Little Caesar" scenarist W.R. Burnett and Alan Le May—best known for his novel "The Searchers" that became a John Wayne classic—offsets the antics of Cuddles. Anybody who knows anything about Warner Brothers movies from that age knows that a lot of Cuddles' dialogue sounds like something that Michael Curtiz would have said. When Cuddles spots a rider less horse, he turns to the stagecoach driver and proclaims, "There goes an empty horse." This line immortalized first in David Niven's autobiography about the time that he made "The Charge of the Light Brigade" with Flynn and Curtiz referred to bare-backed horses as "empty" horses. The dialogue turns out to be filled in loads of quotable dialogue. Cuddles' comic dialogue sounds almost as good as the Marx Brothers with lines like: "If you can't say nothing, don't speak." Kelly and Francen make excellent villains as does Tom Tyler at the beginning of the film. Let's not overlook those sexy costumes that Alexis flaunts her oh-so-hottie body in.You can't go wrong with "San Antonio."

I noticed that "San Antonio" was nominated for two Oscars and won none.The first it deserved i.e. Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color. Yes indeed, that saloon bawdy house was done impeccably,rich and lavishly. The second nomination was unwarranted--Best Music, Original Song "Some Sunday Morning" Ray Heindorf (music), M.K. Jerome (music) & Ted Koehler (lyrics. You can go crazy from that song. Every time a stagecoach moved, it moved with it in the background. EVERY TIME. THE WHOLE PICTURE. Then what do you think Alexis Smith, the saloon chanteuse sings? Right--same thing. And after she's done, what does a male quartet sing? Right again. It's not a bad tune but OVER and OVER and OVER....Good Grief!The film's about the wild wild west of the mid 1800s. So my question is this: Errol Flynn has an English accent; S.Z. Sakall has a Hungarian accent and villain Victor Francen has a French accent. Now don't get me wrong; I'm neither xenophobic nor bigoted because my own father was a European immigrant but he didn't wear a ten gallon hat and carry a Colt .45 either. What do Europeans have to do with a story of the rootin' tootin' shootin' wild west? Sorry but Mr. Flynn who speaks like someone out of Oxford doesn't belong with the tumbleweed crowd.The plot is all about revenge as are so many films. There is a quasi-romantic angle of course because of the gorgeous Alexis Smith who was one of Hollywood's great natural beauties and quite surprisingly, a very good job is done by John Litel who is Flynn's best friend. I rated the film a 6 because it's neither great nor rotten; has excellent color and holds your interest. One thing--they showed too many cattle and not enough Alexis Smith.

"San Antonio" is a lively movie, with a lot going for it: two very attractive leads who look good together, beautiful Technicolor, enjoyably unsubtle and melodic Max Steiner score, good villains. It's a Saturday-afternoon kind of film, best accompanied with a bucket of buttered popcorn. The script isn't inspired, but it moves, and the big fight sequence toward the end is quite spectacular and well choreographed, and made me really appreciate the contributions of stunt players in this kind of film. Alexis Smith is gorgeous and well-costumed, if a bit reserved, and gets to lip-sync two very pretty songs. There was always something very identifiable about Warner Bros. orchestration for musical numbers--a cheeky brassiness. Errol Flynn is characteristically cheeky in his own slightly self-mocking way, as when he carries on a conversation while interspersing it with bits of a romantic song, also strumming a guitar. Florence Bates does a reprise of her "mentor to the female lead" from "Saratoga Trunk." Victor Francen and Paul Kelly make a good, hissable pair of bad guys.