A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Seton and Cantrell compete for both district marshal and pretty Mary McCloud on the eve of the Civil War.Generally, the results are uneven, probably due to three big-time leads, each of whom must get adequate screen time. I expect for little Republic, stars like Trevor and Pidgeon were more expensive than usual. However, the romantic triangle (Wayne-Trevor-Pidgeon) gets a lot of dialog time, too much for a title that promises lots of action. Still, Wayne is little short of terrific. It's before he became frozen into the tough-guy icon that didn't demand much besides a growl and a hard-eyed stare. But here, catch his first cozy talk with Trevor. His subtle reactions are perfectly calibrated, proving he could deliver sensitivity when called upon.Pidgeon too, is excellent as the commanding Cantrell, along with Gabby Hayes providing his usual comic relief and with teeth, no less. Except, I don't think I'll be making an appointment with him anytime soon. And, of course, there's a young Roy Rogers, making an apt impression in a role that's almost a lead, along with the severe Marjorie Main in an odd and inessential role. Anyway, Republic popped for a lot of extras, especially for the last battle scenes. So if the big action's a long time coming, it's worth waiting for. Then too, note how the script avoids denigrating either the Union or the Confederacy in the lead up to the big war. This was very much a feature of many 40's and 50's westerns. After all, a movie's going to be shown in Atlanta as well as New York.All in all, the film's as much an actor's showcase as it is an epic western, a movie of parts rather than well-blended whole. Nonetheless, in my book, it's John Wayne at his physical and histrionic best, totally convincing as the virile and unaffected young Seton. And if the 94- minutes is somewhat uneven, Wayne certainly is not.

Well, there are Civil War Movies that just do not work, and this is of them - made in 1940, it features younger John Wayne who is, well, rather bland in here and does not persuade us in his Seton personality as Kansas militia man. The very theme of Bleeding Kansas and guerrilla war is very cool, but c'mon, here it falls flat as the very unlikely comedy twist makes this albeit serious topic a bit unsuitable and weird. The extremely naive pavilion shots of some chase or nature are laughable, and the dialogs - well, they are typical old Western style dialogs - bland, simple and unassuming. This is a very wrong take on the good interesting theme, and thus, 90 minutes drag slowly and you just wait for the final battle and final result, that is very predictable, very trite, banal and rather simple. Do not watch this and do not waste your time on that. Sometimes, some films simply soar and some fall. THis one fell badly

I have always liked westerns and this is a great one. Older westerns were closer in time to the events portrayed and even where the production values were not as stunning as those evident in newer film, these older westerns often brought an understanding of the people and the circumstances that is not the same thing as historical accuracy. It may have a character use the wrong kind of gun or an event portrayed may have ended differently but, as to the important things, older westerns get it right and that includes the nature of the people and the cadence of their lives. This is a wonderful movie and a portrayal of the mid-nineteenth century American that resonates even now. The older I get the more I enjoy and appreciate John Wayne's film persona. Whatever his real life behavior,the character he consistently portrayed was the kind of man who did build this country and is the kind of man I would have wanted to know and to introduce to my children. By speech and action, he was decent, gallant and manly --all in short supply in current film. This is a movie that deserves our time and our respect.

This is director Raoul Walsh's second film with Wayne the male lead. The first, "The Big Trail", was Wayne's first film as a major player, having just acquired a new stage name. Hugely expensive and one of the first talkie westerns, unfortunately, it was a box office bomb, with Wayne unfairly shouldering most of the blame. The present film is a mixed western-Civil War drama/comedy, set in bleeding Kansas. Wayne has plenty of support from a cast of well known actors in this well-paced film. Claire Trevor is actually given top billing, as the belle around which Wayne, Walter Pigeon and a young Roy Rogers revolve. It seems highly implausible that Wayne, as illiterate drifter Bob Seton, should become infatuated with prim snobbish Claire, nor that she could ever consider him husband material. Wayne's persistence in promoting this unlikely union, even after her marriage, is a recurring source of comedy and drama. Initially, another source of comedy is the recently established working partnership between Wayne and Gabby Hayes, a former doctor, reformulated as a traveling dentist, barber and whatever else he can fix for you. Character actor Raymond Walburn also provides a comedic touch as a bug-eyed stammering stuffed-shirt of a judge and apparent mayor of Lawrence, Kansas. Roy Rogers looks rather incongruous as the frustrated brother of Claire, under his father's overbearing thumb, who yearns to be a cowboy or soldier. His hot head gets him into big trouble several times during the film. Wayne, on the other hand, with the backing of Hayes, changes from an apparent hot-head to an honest coolheaded sheriff, despite his illiteracy. Walter Pigeon is the eloquent-speaking legally literate but financially struggling rival of Wayne for the affections of Claire and for the office of sheriff. The striking contrast in personalities and skills of Wayne and Pigeon in their various competitions is another recurring source of comedy and drama. We wonder why Pigeon, with his obvious talent for oratory and knowledge of law, isn't a lawyer rather than a poorly paid schoolteacher? We suspect that he has been a lawyer, but was forced to resign for some transgressions. In engineering Roger's defense in his murder trial, we see the snake that he is behind all that eloquence.Things get a lot more serious and complicated as the story progresses. Pigeon, as William Cantrell, knows he is a natural leader of men. Frustrated in obtaining a prominent position in the political establishment of Lawrence, he organizes a large band of outlaws posing as Confederate soldiers, as did his historical counterpart, William Quantrell. The film title may suggest this evil gang of thieves and murders, or it may equally suggest the fact that most of the violent and smuggling encounters take place at night. Pigeon faces the difficult task of trying to justify or hide from his new wife his ongoing rapacious activities. The continuing back and forth relationships between Wayne, Rogers, Pigeon and Claire provide much of the drama in the later part of the film. In fact, their tangled relationships remind me very much of those in another western released just the year before: "Union Pacific", another of my favorite westerns.