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Errol Flynn Westerns Collection (Montana / Rocky Mountain / San Antonio / Virginia City) | 
 enlarge | Director: Michael Curtiz
Actors: Errol Flynn, Humphrey Bogart, Alexis Smith, Randolph Scott, Miriam Hopkins
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $49.98
Buy New: $34.98
You Save: $15.00 (30%)
New (24) Used (6) from $34.98
Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 1374
Format: Box Set, Black & White, Color, Dvd-video, Full Screen, Original Recording Remastered, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 4
Running Time: 389 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.5 x 2.5
MPN: 1000027305
UPC: 085391188216
EAN: 0085391188216
ASIN: B0018RU45U
Theatrical Release Date: January 28, 1950
Release Date: August 26, 2008 (New: Last 30 Days)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW sealed shipped daily. International Shipping via Air Mail.
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Product Description
Errol Flynn Tames the West in these Four Classic Westerns!MONTANA - Big Sky Country is cattle country! But sheep rancher Flynn has other ideas in this gun-blazing range-war saga. Alexis Smith co-stars.ROCKY MOUNTAIN - The Civil War comes to California and rebel leader Flynn finds that marauding Shoshones may be fiercer foes than the Union Army. With future Mrs. Flynn Patrice Wymore.SAN ANTONIO - A man is only as good as his aim when Flynn rides into ol' San Antone to hunt cattle rustlers. A landmark of Western excitement with an amazing saloon shoot-'em-up...and lovely Alexis Smith.VIRGINIA CITY - Union officer Flynn goes undercover to stop a gold-laden Nevada wagon train rolling to Dixie. With Randolph Scott and yes Humphrey Bogart as a pencil-mustached desperado.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: WESTERN/CLASSICS UPC: 085391188216 Manufacturer No: 1000027305
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
A mixed bag, at best. Rocky Mountain is a winner and Flynn is very good as the burdened Capt. Barstow September 6, 2008
C. O. DeRiemer (San Antonio, Texas, USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The four movies that make up this set are, for the most part, conventional westerns with plenty of action and a fair amount of entertainment value. They depend heavily on Errol Flynn's charm and star quality. The exception is Rocky Mountain. Alone among the others it packs a real punch and offers us Flynn as a man who doesn't charm, woo or perform stunts. It's a very good movie and a quality performance.
Rocky Mountain (1950):
Lafe Barstow, a captain in the Confederate army, and his seven men are holed up in the Nevada Mountains vainly waiting for promised assistance from a California renegade. Their assignment was to raise an army of Confederate sympathizers in California. It's 1865. They've rescued a stage driver and a woman passenger, the fiancée of a Union officer, from an Indian attack. They've tricked and captured a Union patrol. And they know Shoshone warriors are gathering in force to wipe everyone out.
This was the last western Flynn made. Warner Brothers put as few resources into the making of this movie as they could get away with. There are a handful of actors, with only Flynn being a name, and perhaps 50 extras on horseback. It was shot at one location outside Gallup and on what looks like just one studio set. It's in black and white. The screenplay is workmanlike, but in the best sense of the word. About a third of the movie is shot at dusk, night or early morning when a lot of set deficiencies can be covered up. In fact, Rocky Mountain is probably the smallest scale movie Flynn ever made.
It's poetic justice that Rocky Mountain turns out to be a very good film, especially because of its small scale. The movie didn't have the budget to screw things up by trying to turn the story into something bigger than it was. Flynn plays Barstow as a man with burdens. There's none of the Flynn charm and easy smiles. As Barstow's options dwindle he faces reality with none of the Hollywood posturing that takes place in bigger budget movies. To accept the situation and take action is something he and his men simply shrug their shoulders about and then get on with.
Virginia City (1940):
Could any two less likely major stars be chosen to carry a Hollywood oater? There's Errol Flynn, an Australian with an accent of sorts who made his name waving a sword at sea and shooting arrows in forests. There's Miriam Hopkins, one of the most sophisticated and slyest actresses Hollywood has ever seen, but whose career as a major star in major movies had declined since the late Thirties. Yet together with Randolph Scott and director Michael Curtiz, they turn Virginia City into a rouser, part full-blown action western and part patriotic soap opera. With the movie slightly more than two hours long, Curtiz crams in more set-ups than probably he should have, but even all those separate piece-parts look good.
Randolph Scott, a Confederate officer, is in Virginia City readying a big gold shipment destined for Richmond. Errol Flynn, a Union officer, has arrived to stop him. Miriam Hopkins, a Confederate spy, is there to help Scott but winds up liking both. Humphrey Bogart skulks around, miscast, as a villain.
San Antonio (1945):
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 to the king pin of a ruthless rustling operation. For me, the real pleasure was watching two notable actors, Victor Francen and Paul Kelly, as the villains. 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. Paul Kelly, on the other hand, was made of rougher material. If you want a sample of outstanding acting so bizarre it's memorable, just watch the scenes Kelly shares with Gloria Grahame in Crossfire.
Montana (1950):
Morgan Lane (Errol Flynn) shows up on horseback in the Montana Territory with a lot of sheep following him. All he wants is a chance to prove that cattle and sheep can share the same land profitably. While he's trying to do this, sometimes with humor, sometimes with his fists, men will die, a great stampede will take place and a passionate cattle queen will find out that at least one sheepman smells better than sheep. At one point Flynn strums a guitar and sings...
"I met a certain someone who makes me feel that way.
And ever since I met her I'm a singin' in the saddle
`Skidoodle diddle daddle'
all the day."
He smiles while singing this, but he must have needed a drink afterwards.
Fine movies but......... August 30, 2008
D. Germain
I would have given this set a nice big 5 stars except for one thing. Confederate Honey is editted. I asked if Warner Home Video would be sending out replacement discs about this and was told "No". I think if enough of the customers who bought it made a formal complaint about it they would reconsider, right? Couldn't hurt to try.
Why wasn't....... August 30, 2008
S. Dees (GA)
"Santa Fe Trail" rescued from public domain hell and put in this set? It has Flynn, Olivia deHavilland AND Ronald Reagan, enough said for inclusion. It certainly is better known than "Montana" and "Rocky Mountain" to be sure!
Flynn's Westerns - A Unique Sub-Genre July 2, 2008
Robert M. Fells (Centreville, VA USA)
13 out of 13 found this review helpful
There are westerns (with John Wayne, Gary Cooper, directed by John Ford, Howard Hawks, not to mention Roy Rogers and Gene Autry) and then there are Errol Flynn's westerns. I think I saw some of Flynn's westerns on TV before I saw any of the others and was therefore very surprised to find that DODGE CITY, VIRGINIA CITY, THEY DIED WITH THEIR BOOTS ON, etc., were unlike any of the other films in the genre. That said, these films created a unique western sub-genre on their own terms, mainly because Flynn was a unique screen presence and Warners figured out how to tailor stories to his personality.
This four-film collection brings together the less celebrated films. 1940's VIRGINIA CITY is basically a "prequel" to 1939's DODGE CITY with Flynn, Alan Hale, and Guinn "Big Boy" Williams playing virtually the same characters they did in the first film. My guess is that the romantic subplot with Miriam Hopkins (she and Flynn have absolutely NO screen chemistry)would have confused the love match in DODGE CITY had they played the same characters. Basically, VIRGINIA CITY is a shaggy dog story; that is, it starts off great even showing some influence of Ford's STAGECOACH with its extended sequences on a stage coach (and repeating one of STAGECOACH's best stunt scenes). But the plot gets so involved with so many characters that there's enough story for three films. You know things have gotten out of hand when you find yourself rooting for the Bogart character.
VIRGINIA CITY's saving grace is that it is an expertly made production and the money really shows on the screen. Technicolor would have been nice (as in DODGE CITY) but the b/w photography is crisp. Max Steiner contributes another fine score although some of the story's characters, like Frank McHugh, seem to get lost in the plot. This epic-scale film is a testament to the confidence Warners had in Errol Flynn at that time. It seems that almost every film he made during those years was an epic production and Flynn, at 30 years of age, never looked better.
Fast forward five years to the next film in this set, SAN ANTONIO, and we see more of a Roy Rogers influence than John Ford - Flynn even sings in this one! Glorious Technicolor is back (which makes up for a multitude of other shortcomings) but Flynn has developed a new screen persona by now. Gone is the noble Robin Hood-like knight that he more or less played in his films up to 1942. His well-publicized trial for statutory rape (he was acquitted however) persuaded Warners to reshape his character along the lines of Rhett Butler - a seeming gentleman with a shady past, decent people didn't speak to him - and this is the Flynn we see in films from about 1943 on.
SAN ANTONIO is Flynn's fifth western (of eight) and the first that was not an historical western. Played strictly as post-WWII escapist entertainment, Flynn at 35 is beginning to look like his dissipated lifestyle has started to catch up with him. His eyes were wonderfully expressive in earlier films but by now they're expressionless (check his closeups if you don't believe me). Teamed for the third time with Alexis Smith, they make a nice romantic team that almost (but not quite) makes you forget about Olivia De Havilland. Paul Kelly plays the dapper villain who seems to be based on Bruce Cabot's character in DODGE CITY. In real life, Kelly earlier served a prison term for a fist fight that turned fatal. But the climatic showdown between Flynn and Kelly that we've all been waiting for fizzles out. Duking it out in the deserted Alamo (we have a feeling that Kelly can take care of himself even against Flynn), the fight suddenly ends when Kelly falls down and hits his head against a rock, presumably killing him. What kind of climax is this!!!!
1950's MONTANA is the third film in the set but Technicolor seems to be used to disguise the fact that this film is a 76 minute B-picture. By now, Flynn was starting to really look haggard and Warners was pulling the plug on his films (and for the first time loaning him out to other studios). The previous year's ADVENTURES OF DON JUAN was Warners' last effort to promote Flynn in a big budget film. His absences, lateness, and general lack of cooperation on JUAN convinced the studio to just let him serve out the remaining films in his contract in routine productions. By 1950, the studio was hiring Gary Cooper and James Stewart for big budget westerns that a few years earlier almost certainly would have starred Flynn. MONTANA reunited Flynn and Alexis Smith for the fourth and last time - she looks ageless while he has clearly seen better days.
The last film in this set is ROCKY MOUNTAIN, a better production than MONTANA but a far cry from DODGE CITY, VIRGINIA CITY, SANTA FE TRAIL, and THEY DIED WITH THEIR BOOTS ON, which were made about a decade earlier. His co-star from most of those earlier films, Big Boy Williams, is with Flynn in ROCKY MOUNTAIN and there are moments when Williams almost seems to say to Flynn, "What happened - how did we wind up in this thing?" (OK, you can accuse me of having an overactive imagination.)
If you enjoy any of the earlier Flynn westerns, you will want to have this set although it unintentionally documents the decline of one of Hollywood's greatest stars. Finally, I can recommend the book, "THE FILMS OF ERROL FLYNN" by Tony Thomas, et al. Originally published in 1969, it is chock full of great photos, credits, etc. from all his films. My only complaint is that the authors are dismissive of many good Flynn films - but they made their judgments almost 40 years ago. A number of the Flynn films beyond the essentials (CAPTAIN BLOOD, ROBIN HOOD, SEA HAWK) have grown in stature through the years as it has become obvious that we will never see the likes of Flynn or the wonderful films that Warners produced for him ever again.
Essentially a volume 3 of the Flynn Signature series May 11, 2008
calvinnme (Fredericksburg, Va)
27 out of 27 found this review helpful
Only "Virginia City" has an A-film feel about it with Michael Curtiz directing and notable Warner costars. The other three are B Westerns in my opinion, but Flynn's presence always made any film much better. His performances in all of these films are very good, he just doesn't always have the best material with which to work, and in some cases he is working with some very bizarre casting. The extra features bring this package up to four stars in my opinion, but I don't understand why WHV just didn't go ahead and add "Silver River" to the set and make it the usual five film classic box set. Someone else has already done an excellent job of summarizing each film. So I'll just mention the extra features for the set, the director in each case, and my personal rating of each film on a five star scale:
Montana (1950) directed by Ray Enright. (3/5)
The weakest of the four films in the set.
Extra Features:
Vintage Newsreel
Warner Night at the Movies 1950 Short Subjects Gallery
Joe McDoakes Comedy Short: So You Want a Raise
Classic Cartoon: It's Hummer Time
Trailers of Montana and 1950's Chain Lightning
Bonus Gallery of Santa Fe Trail Series Western Shorts: Oklahoma Outlaws, Wagon Wheels West and Gun to Gun
Rocky Mountain (1950) directed by William Keighley (3.5/5)
Begins well, ends well, but the middle does sag a bit, which is unusual for a Flynn film of any genre.
Extra Features:
Commentary by biographer Thomas McNulty [McNulty looks at Flynn's career, his unique qualities as a Western hero and his romance with costar Patrice Wymore.]
Warner Night at the Movies 1950 Short Subjects Gallery
Vintage Newsreel
Trailers of Rocky Mountain and The Breaking Point
Bonus Gallery of Santa Fe Trail Series Western Shorts: Roaring Guns, Wells Fargo Days and Trial by Trigger
Classic Cartoon: Two's a Crowd
Joe McDoakes Comedy Short So You Want to Move
San Antonio (1945) directed by David Butler (3.5/5)
Extra Features:
Warner Night at the Movies 1945 Short Subjects Gallery:
Vintage Newsreel
Oscar-Nominated Vitaphone Varieties Short Story of a Dog
Vintage Shorts: Frontier Days and Peeks at Hollywood
Classic Cartoons: A Tale of Two Mice and Wagon Heels
Trailers of San Antonio and The Corn Is Green
Virginia City (1940) directed by Michael Curtiz. (4/5)
How weird to see Humphrey Bogart playing his role of the bandit with some of the oddest diction ever. Not nearly as good as Dodge City but still good.
Extra Features:
Commentary by historian Frank Thompson [Thompson discusses this all-star collaboration with Flynn, Humphrey Bogart, Randolph Scott and Miriam Hopkins, and the challenges faced by director Michael Curtiz throughout production.]
Warner Night at the Movies 1940 Short Subjects Gallery
Vintage Newsreel
Technicolor Shorts: Cinderella's Feller and The Flag of Humanity
1936 WB Short: The Light Brigade Rides Again
Classic Cartoons: Cross Country Detours and Confederate Honey
Trailers of Virginia City and A Dispatch from Reuters
Recommended for the Errol Flynn completist. If you haven't got them already, get the excellent two volumes of Errol Flynn's Signature Collection. They are a very good introduction to Flynn's work - especially volume one - and should give you a better idea if you would like this set.
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