This very controversial B&W Warner film of 1940 is both an entertaining cavalry western, with several horse chases and shootouts, and an exposition of the philosophical conflicts between pro and anti-slavery proponents, that foreshadowed secession and a long bloody war between the states. As entertainment, it provides an excellent mix of action, drama, humor, mesmerizing monologues by Raymond Massey(John Brown), romance with Olivia de Havilland, and patter within and between the buddy pairs of Errol Flynn(JEB Stuart) and Ronald Reagan(Custer), and Alan Hale and 'Big Boy' Williams.
Van Heflin's purely fictional obnoxious character provides an additional element of conflict as a sinister devote of Brown, who proves to have more in common with Benedict Arnold, after not receiving his expected due share of glory and monetary reward for his contributions to the cause. His vengeful role of alerting Federal troops in Washington to Brown's current raid on the Harper's Ferry arsenal has no historical relevancy. Brown's actual force was much smaller than depicted, and mostly neutralized by local militia before Federal troops arrived.
As others have abundantly detailed, there are numerous historical inaccuracies in the details in the story of Brown's quest to end slavery in the US, which is what this film is essentially about. Unfortunately, this was standard fare for most Hollywood films of this era. This film has received more than it's share of criticism in this regard because of the emotional central issue of slavery and because the gist of the story is widely known. For example, I don't see damning criticism of the highly distorted contrasts between historic kings Richard and John, in "The Adventures of Robin Hood", because these distortions are not known by the American audiences and lack the emotional impact of Brown's story. Despite all the historical inaccuracies and distortions in details, I believe this film still captures the essence of the times, which is what historically-oriented films should attempt to do.
This film clearly favors the view, articulated by Flynn, that slavery would have gradually disappeared from the South over time, without the necessity of southern secession or a bloody war. Clearly, this view offends many reviewers. However, without the ill-advised secession of the southern states as an unwarranted knee-jerk response to the election of Lincoln as president, this is what likely would have happened, despite the schemes of abolitionists. Savvy southern leaders, such as R.E. Lee, Jefferson Davis(both briefly included in the film), and Sam Houston, opposed secession as unwise, realizing that it failed to solve the problem of a lack of new territories for selling excess slaves, and risked widespread destruction by a stronger Union military response.
Many reviewers are sarcastic about the convenient fictional West Point 'class of '54', which included a bunch of commonly recognized names in the future Civil War. Of those mentioned, only Flynn's JEB Stuart actually graduated that year. Seems like his buddy in the film should have been his Union counterpart in the war: Phil Sheridan, who graduated the year before. Presumably, the much younger Custer was chosen because of his much more widely recognized name. In any case, the short-shorn Flynn and Reagan bore no physical resemblance to the normally long-haired or well-bearded historical personages.
It's Massey's fervent portrayal of Brown that makes this film most memorable. This was the role of a lifetime for him. In some scenes, Brown is portrayed as a murdering madman. In other scenes, he seems the Christ-like messiah he fancies himself to be, thus providing a basis for either view. Brown's hanging is staged as resembling Christ's crucifixion on Calvary Hill, including his Christ-like speech.. Massey often played fanatics or villains, including Lincoln, who was fanatical about making the southern states rejoin the Union, at the cost of a long bloody war. Other memorable characters he played include: the crooked salvager of sunken ship cargoes , in "Reap the Wild Wind", and the slimy villains in the Scott western "Carson City" and the musical "Desert Song".
It's my contention that all 3 of Warner's Flynn-starring films released in 1940 have an intended subliminal message of presenting a strong united front against the very clear threat of a fascist-dominated Europe. This is most obvious in the Elizabethan sea war drama "The Sea Hawk", in which the Spanish clearly are presented as analogous to the Nazis in their ambition to take out England as a rival. In "Virginia City", near the end, Union and Confederate elements join together to fight off Bogart's bandidos, who want to steal the contested large gold shipment. This is followed by Flynn's eloquent Lincolnesk speech about binding the nation's wounds, after Lee's surrender. The present film features future Union and Confederate military leaders fighting together to suppress fanatical agitators who threaten to instigate a disunion of the states. Also, I strongly suspect that Brown, as characterized, is actually a metaphor for the dangerous fanatical Hitler: once a street agitator himself. As he is hanged, Lee remarks: "So perish all such foes of mankind". Going back a couple of years, we see a similar message in the replacement of Saxon-abusing acting -King John with the united ethnic policy of King Richard, in the Flynn-starring "Adventures of Robin Hood".
Van Heflin's purely fictional obnoxious character provides an additional element of conflict as a sinister devote of Brown, who proves to have more in common with Benedict Arnold, after not receiving his expected due share of glory and monetary reward for his contributions to the cause. His vengeful role of alerting Federal troops in Washington to Brown's current raid on the Harper's Ferry arsenal has no historical relevancy. Brown's actual force was much smaller than depicted, and mostly neutralized by local militia before Federal troops arrived.
As others have abundantly detailed, there are numerous historical inaccuracies in the details in the story of Brown's quest to end slavery in the US, which is what this film is essentially about. Unfortunately, this was standard fare for most Hollywood films of this era. This film has received more than it's share of criticism in this regard because of the emotional central issue of slavery and because the gist of the story is widely known. For example, I don't see damning criticism of the highly distorted contrasts between historic kings Richard and John, in "The Adventures of Robin Hood", because these distortions are not known by the American audiences and lack the emotional impact of Brown's story. Despite all the historical inaccuracies and distortions in details, I believe this film still captures the essence of the times, which is what historically-oriented films should attempt to do.
This film clearly favors the view, articulated by Flynn, that slavery would have gradually disappeared from the South over time, without the necessity of southern secession or a bloody war. Clearly, this view offends many reviewers. However, without the ill-advised secession of the southern states as an unwarranted knee-jerk response to the election of Lincoln as president, this is what likely would have happened, despite the schemes of abolitionists. Savvy southern leaders, such as R.E. Lee, Jefferson Davis(both briefly included in the film), and Sam Houston, opposed secession as unwise, realizing that it failed to solve the problem of a lack of new territories for selling excess slaves, and risked widespread destruction by a stronger Union military response.
Many reviewers are sarcastic about the convenient fictional West Point 'class of '54', which included a bunch of commonly recognized names in the future Civil War. Of those mentioned, only Flynn's JEB Stuart actually graduated that year. Seems like his buddy in the film should have been his Union counterpart in the war: Phil Sheridan, who graduated the year before. Presumably, the much younger Custer was chosen because of his much more widely recognized name. In any case, the short-shorn Flynn and Reagan bore no physical resemblance to the normally long-haired or well-bearded historical personages.
It's Massey's fervent portrayal of Brown that makes this film most memorable. This was the role of a lifetime for him. In some scenes, Brown is portrayed as a murdering madman. In other scenes, he seems the Christ-like messiah he fancies himself to be, thus providing a basis for either view. Brown's hanging is staged as resembling Christ's crucifixion on Calvary Hill, including his Christ-like speech.. Massey often played fanatics or villains, including Lincoln, who was fanatical about making the southern states rejoin the Union, at the cost of a long bloody war. Other memorable characters he played include: the crooked salvager of sunken ship cargoes , in "Reap the Wild Wind", and the slimy villains in the Scott western "Carson City" and the musical "Desert Song".
It's my contention that all 3 of Warner's Flynn-starring films released in 1940 have an intended subliminal message of presenting a strong united front against the very clear threat of a fascist-dominated Europe. This is most obvious in the Elizabethan sea war drama "The Sea Hawk", in which the Spanish clearly are presented as analogous to the Nazis in their ambition to take out England as a rival. In "Virginia City", near the end, Union and Confederate elements join together to fight off Bogart's bandidos, who want to steal the contested large gold shipment. This is followed by Flynn's eloquent Lincolnesk speech about binding the nation's wounds, after Lee's surrender. The present film features future Union and Confederate military leaders fighting together to suppress fanatical agitators who threaten to instigate a disunion of the states. Also, I strongly suspect that Brown, as characterized, is actually a metaphor for the dangerous fanatical Hitler: once a street agitator himself. As he is hanged, Lee remarks: "So perish all such foes of mankind". Going back a couple of years, we see a similar message in the replacement of Saxon-abusing acting -King John with the united ethnic policy of King Richard, in the Flynn-starring "Adventures of Robin Hood".
