Santa Fe Trail

Santa Fe Trail (1940)

Where the railroad and civilization ended, the Sante Fe Trail began!

As a penalty for fighting fellow classmates days before graduating from West Point, J.E.B. Stuart, George Armstrong Custer and four friends are assigned to the 2nd Cavalry, stationed at Fort Leavenworth. While there they aid in the capture and execution of the abolitionist, John Brown following the Battle of Harper's Ferry.

Date of release
1940-12-20
TMDB
5.7 / 10 (67)
Runtime
1h 50m
Genres
Western
Director
Michael Curtiz

Casting

Interesting facts

Santa Fe Trail is a 1940 American historical drama film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Raymond Massey, Ronald Reagan and Alan Hale. Written by Robert Buckner, the film focuses largely on the abolitionist John Brown and his controversial campaign against slavery before the American Civil War. In a subplot, Jeb Stuart and George Armstrong Custer—who are depicted fictionally as friends from the same West Point graduating class—compete for the hand of de Havilland portraying a fictional character called Kit Carson Holliday.

Production

The film was based on a script by Robert Buckner. At one stage, Randolph Scott was mentioned for the lead. However, by April 1940 it had become a vehicle for Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland.

Raymond Massey signed to play John Brown in June.

John Wayne was mentioned as a possibility for Flynn's costar. Dennis Morgan was announced for the role of George Custer. Morgan was borrowed to appear in Kitty Foyle and replaced by Ronald Reagan before filming began. Van Heflin was signed to play the villain following his success on Broadway in The Philadelphia Story; it was his first movie since 1937.

In June 1940, Warner Bros. announced the film as part of its slate. It was one of five films the studio announced for Flynn, the others being The Constant Nymph, Captain Horatio Hornblower, Shanghai, and Jupiter Laughs.

Filming started in July 1940, delayed by a recurrence of Flynn's malaria.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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