Dodge City (1939)

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1. 

   Siskoid

   One of the more obvious inspirations for Blazing Saddles, Dodge City stars Errol Flynn as a rather too sophisticated cowboy, but somehow it works. He's engaging, as are his sidekick played by Alan Hale and Olivia de Havilland's headstrong (but unfortunately not action-ready) romantic interest/newspaper woman. I won't remember the main villain by tomorrow, but the real threat is the town itself. Dodge City is so lawless, so violent, that it was almost a parody before Mel Brooks reimagined it in his spoof. The bad guys are merely its natural organisms, until enough is enough and Flynn decides to play Wyatt Earp and clean the place up. The movie is indeed quite violent, and there are a lot of innocent people who don't deserve their fates, but I don't know what it is, whether the bright colors, Flynn's persona, or the boisterous set pieces, the film manages to feel fun and playful through all the carnage. An amusing footnote: At the end of the movie, Flynn's character is invited to go clean up Virginia City next. The next year, Michael Curtiz and Flynn did in fact team up on another western called Virginia City. Strangely (but perhaps not, as I'm sure there's a new love interest etc.), it's about a different character. 3 years 10 months ago
2. 

   kzer_za

   The saloon brawl is amazing. The rest is an ok western. 5 years 5 months ago
3. 

   Prof. Lumpcicle

   About as good as action gets in the 1930's. 10 years 6 months ago

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