kevin olzak 1940's "Chad Hanna" was a colorful feast for the eyes, but far stronger on atmosphere than incident. We open in New York state, 1841, and the circus is coming to town. B. D. Bisbee (John Carradine) works as the advance agent for the Huguenine Circus, garnering attention wherever he goes, building up the audience to a fever pitch by emphasizing both male AND female acrobats...in tights! In the title role, Henry Fonda performs another expert character study, playing a Canastota stable boy who literally runs away to join the circus to escape a vengeful slave catcher whose daughter Caroline (Linda Darnell) later joins him, also a victim of her father's rage. Chad instantly falls for equestrienne Albany Yates (Dorothy Lamour), the star attraction for this one ring circus, but she soon spurns Huguenine for a rival circus that has an elephant. It's a shame that the filmmakers chose to showcase the dramatically anemic, predictably absurd romantic triangle over the more interesting circus life rarely depicted at that time. Fonda and Carradine are teamed for the fifth and last time, from "Jesse James," "Drums Along the Mohawk," "The Grapes of Wrath," and "The Return of Frank James." Carradine was no stranger to lovely Linda Darnell- "Brigham Young," "Blood and Sand," "Fallen Angel," and the 1958 WAGON TRAIN, "The Dora Gray Story." After such a powerful introduction, Carradine instantly fades into the background, disappearing completely after Chad and Caroline marry 54 minutes in. Sharp eyed viewers can catch canvasman Rondo Hatton at the 34 minute mark, looking quite menacing on the far right, one line of dialogue spoken in his own voice: "all right men, up to the next street!"

MartinHafer "Chad Hanna" is a film that might not be for you. While it's a very good film, it is a bit slow and if you are looking for huge thrills and excitement, you might be a bit disappointed--even though it is a film about the circus. But the acting is very, very nice and I think it's worth your seeing.The film is set in the US in the 1840s. Chad Hanna (Henry Fonda) is a country boy who gets himself into trouble trying to help a runaway slave. So, he takes refuge with a traveling circus run by Guy Kibbee and Jane Darwell (who is wearing a fat suit for the movie). There, he becomes infatuated with a lady trick rider (Dorothy Lamour). At the same time, a young lady (Linda Darnell) runs away from her abusive father--the same guy who is the scum-bag tracking down the escaped slave. Over time, Hanna Fonda's character falls for Darnell and they marry. What happens next you'll need to see for yourself.There are a few exciting moments here and there--but not that many. Even the film's big crisis near the end isn't THAT big--and it resolves itself rather quickly and easily. But the film is fun and it's worth seeing for the acting. In particular, it's amazing to see how beautiful and poised Darnell is--as she' only 17 when she made the film. This does, by the way, make her love scenes with Fonda a bit....ooky. Still, it's well worth seeing.Twentieth Century-Fox must have had high expectations for this film, as it was made in beautiful Technicolor--something reserved for only a few movies this year since it was very expensive to make a color film at this time.Also, if you care, one of the thugs at the 34 minute mark in the film is Rondo Hatton in an unbilled role--he's the one that talks, by the way.Twentieth Century-Fox must have had high expectations for this film, as it was made in beautiful Technicolor--something reserved for only a few movies this year since it was very expensive to make a color film at this time.

bkoganbing Henry Fonda did his third and last big screen adaption of a Walter Edmonds story about upstate New York with Chad Hanna. The other two were his debut film The Farmer Takes A Wife and the John Ford classic Drums Along The Mohawk. Though Chad Hanna is the least of the three it's still an entertaining film and Fonda could play these rustic characters well, investing in them a sense of dignity and strength.He's got the title role in Chad Hanna who's a farm boy who gets a yen to join the traveling circus after seeing a poster of Dorothy Lamour as a bareback rider. That's Hank's hormones talking there, but later on another runaway in the person of Linda Darnell and it's the two of them that are fated for each otherThe circus business back in the day was one dangerous profession and I'm not just talking about under the big top. Guy Kibbee and Jane Darwell's show is plagued by the much bigger outfit that Ted North runs and he wants them out of business. North even steals Lamour away from Kibbee's show, but that only serves to give Darnell a break and making her the top bareback rider.Just the names I've mentioned so far indicate that Chad Hanna has a cast of some colorful players and you can add John Carradine to that list as well as Kibbee's advance man. One thing I don't understand is why Kibbee thought Fonda would make a good ringmaster when Kibbee was injured in a fracas with North's show. He promoted the shy Fonda over Carradine who has one of the great voices in the English language. Go figure that one. Despite that faux pas, Chad Hanna remains a fine film done in nice technicolor and does capture the flavor of rural western New York back in the next to last century.

Robin Moss "Chad Hanna" is truly the kind of film they don't make any more. A pity! Chad Hanna (Henry Fonda) is a country farm boy who helps a black slave to escape, and then runs away with a circus together with a slave tracker's daughter (Linda Darnell). Originally dazzled by a seemingly glamorous circus performer (Dorothy Lamour), Chad eventually falls in love with the daughter and marries her, and they both make the circus their way of life. Nothing very enthralling happens, and the charm of the film comes from watching famous people early in their careers.Linda Darnell is particular is a revelation. She was about seventeen years of age when she made "Chad Hanna", yet already her rapport with the camera is evident. So too is the warmth of her personality and the skill of her underplaying. With the benefit of hindsight, it is easy to see why she became a big star, but what is intriguing is that in "Chad Hanna" Dorothy Lamour, who was already a big star, no longer seems attractive or interesting. It is not obvious why she was so popular at that time. Henry Fonda, of course, was already a movie "natural". He never seems to be acting, but somehow he is always both likable and believable. Fonda really holds this movie together.20th Century Fox was the first major studio to master colour in movies. In the late 'thirties and early 'forties, most colour in films was garish and gaudy, but several Fox films had really beautiful colour, and "Chad Hanna" is one of them."Chad Hanna" is certainly a throw-back to the past, and quite possibly people who judge movies only in terms of their kinetic imagery will find it slow. For those who are not stimulated by violence and synthetic excitement, "Chad Hanna" is well worth watching.