vincentlynch-moonoi This is not one of "the great" Westerns, but it is well above average, and I recommend you watch it if you like Westerns at all.What are the negatives? Well, there aren't a lot, other than a degree of predictability. For example, it took 60 minutes for one of the good guys to get killed...something I had figured out within the first 10 minutes of the film. But, maybe it's difficult to write in really new angles when you are working in a well worked over genre.What are the positives. Well, clearly this is a big budget production. Some of the best sets I've seen in a Western. And, the cast is very good. The star -- Errol Flynn -- was still in his peak...handsome, fit, and suave; yet tough. I've never been overly impressed with Alexis Smith in films, but she's very good here as the love interest. S.Z. Sakall is around for laughs. Victor Francen is good as one of the sort-of bad guys. John Litel is very good as the hero's best friend. Paul Kelly is, as usual, the intelligent bad guy. Florence Bates is also here, and she was always quite delicious in her comic dowdiness.If there's anything about the plot that might bother you, it's the constant ego-maniacal comments about Texas. But aside from that, our hero (Flynn) is out to settle the score with cattle thief Kelly. Of course, we know how it will end. But in between there's a rather pleasant love story between Flynn and performer/singer Alexis Smith.I do need to comment on the HUGE ALL-OUT shoot out late in the film. To be honest, it is overdone. From the piano sliding down the stairway (you can actually see the tracks it slides on) to the impressive falls (although you can actually see the landing cushions), it's something to behold, but with mixed results. You might say it's a bang-up ending!It isn't that this film is that unique, but it is mostly done extremely well, and is very entertaining.

jpdoherty Warner Bros. SAN ANTONIO just about passes muster as an entertaining western thanks, in no short measure, to the presence of its star Errol Flynn. Produced in 1945 by Robert Bruckner for the studio it was at least beautifully photographed in glowing Technicolor by the great Bert Glennon and stylishly enough written by Alan LeMay. Unremarkably directed by the pedestrian David Butler this was one of eight westerns to feature the great swashbuckler which began in 1939 with the hugely successful "Dodge City" and continued with even greater success later with "Virginia City" (1940), "They Died With Their Boots On"(1941) and finishing in 1950 with "Rocky Mountain". Flynn was one of the few non-American actors to be an acceptable western hero. A phenomenon that baffled Flynn himself no end and prompted him to refer to himself on one occasion as the 'rich man's Roy Rogers'.SAN ANTONIO is a thinly plotted oater. The story has Flynn as cattleman Clay Hardin trying to bring down baddie Roy Sturt (Paul Kelly) who is heading a syndicate of cattle thieves who have been raiding from herds all over Texas. Sturt also owns the local saloon in San Antonio where the newly arrived bar-room entertainer Jeanne Starr (Alexis Smith) performs and who Hardin immediately has the hots for. There is also great jealousy and mistrust between Sturt and his partner in crime LeGarre (The sinister looking Victor Francen) culminating in them both gunning for each other and pursued by Hardin into the hallowed shrine of the historic Alamo ruins standing in the town.SAN ANTONIO isn't a great movie at all and without Flynn would be totally forgotten. There is little or no action except for a well staged saloon brawl and a final chase sequence that ends with Flynn and Kelly slugging it out in a river. Here and there abysmal attempts at humour and comedy occur especially from the irritating S.Z.Sakall. And with the exception of the striking looking Victor Francen performances are routine. The characters are all cardboard cutouts who make it impossible for you to engage with them as with Paul Kelly and the teak-like Alexis Smith. Flynn, on the other hand, is the best in it. His boyish charm as appealing as ever. He also looks extremely handsome throughout the picture with his Stetson tilted to one side on his head, his well fitted figured-in three quarter length coat and his bone-handled sixgun slung across his left midriff just like a sword. Like few others in Hollywood the man could certainly present himself as a dapper elegant figure and that glint in his eye telling us he knew it. SAN ANTONIO is the kind of movie Flynn could do in his sleep but it remains one of his least liked pictures and alongside "Montana" (1950) is his weakest western. Best things about the film is the glorious colour cinematography by the master Bert Glennon and the wonderful score by the tireless Max Steiner. The great composer skillfully reused his title theme from "Dodge City" for the credits here and it worked perfectly well. And besides a sprightly Stagecoach theme there is also an Oscar nominated song "Some Sunday Morning" written by the studio's music director Ray Heindorf and sung in one scene by Miss Smith. Steiner interpolated the song into his score and used it for the film's softer moments.

Terrell-4 "You mean to tell me this little mud Indian village is San Antonio?" says the singer, Jeanne Starr (Alexis Smith), as her stagecoach swings into the plaza. "Oh, it's nice! You will like it!" bubbles her manager, Sacha Bozic (S. Z. Sakall). "As far as I'm concerned it's just another place full of wild savages." She's already met Clay Hardin (Errol Flynn), so we know the town can't be that bad. On the other hand, she has yet to encounter the movie's two murderous villains, Roy Stuart (Paul Kelly) and the smooth Legare (Victor Francen). 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 the king pin of a ruthless rustling operation. Cattle are stolen, run across the Rio Grande to Mexico, resold in a sham scheme to obtain false documents, then brought back across and resold for big profits. Hardin, beaten and run off once, is determined to come back to San Antonio with the evidence he now has...a tally book of the cattle sales in Mexico, with names, dates, brands and prices. On his way back he has to deal with killers sent to stop him, a stage coach that carries Jeanne Starr on her way to an engagement at the Bella Union Music Hall in San Antonio, and, when the stage arrives, a face-to-face encounter with the tough Roy Stuart himself, the man behind it all. And not just Stuart. His partner is the smiling and unscrupulous Legare. We're in for shoot outs, back shots, bad odds and Alexis Smith singing a couple of songs. The movie has solid production values, a creepy night-time shoot out in the ruins of the Alamo and one of the most entertaining, over-the-top shoot 'em ups, set in the Bella Union, I've ever seen. Men take bullets too fast to count, then bounce off the bar or grab their chests and fall to the floor. Mirrors shatter, a large, full bar quickly and loudly explodes into glass shards and, in a rococo moment, one villain in a balcony next to the stage is shot, tips over, gets his legs twisted in the curtain ropes and swings and twitches back and forth for a while. Eventually, justice is done in a workmanlike way. We hear the praises of Texas and, in a nice echo of Hardin's and Jeanne's first meeting in a stagecoach, another stagecoach turns around to head back to San Antonio. For me, the real pleasure was watching two notable actors, Victor Francen and Paul Kelly. 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. You'll recognize him when you see him. Paul Kelly, on the other hand, was made of rougher material. He once served time for beating a man to death. Kelly also was a fine actor when given a chance. On Broadway, he won the Tony for lead actor when he starred in Command Decision. Naturally enough, when Hollywood made Command Decision into a movie Kelly's role was given to Clark Gable. If you want a sample of outstanding acting so bizarre it's memorable, just watch the scenes Kelly shares with Gloria Grahame in Crossfire. As for Errol Flynn, he does the kind of job only a charismatic movie star can deliver. Few were better when it came to smiling at danger or laughing at death. Flynn seemed at his best in costumes in his youth, uniforms during WWII and, in my opinion, in well-cut business suits afterwards. After the mid-Forties, costumes, whether cowboy outfits or tight breeches, just didn't seem to do much for the increasingly tired visage or for the notoriety he created. (Kim is the exception.) A suit and a tie, however, were another matter. The movies he made in civilian gear often weren't very good, but he seemed to keep some of his old charisma as well as to be challenged to actually act. That Forsyte Woman is as careful and respectful as an arthritic butler but Flynn as Soames Forsyte does a fine job. In Cry Wolf opposite Barbara Stanwyck, I think he does a superior job in this under-rated old-dark-house movie. (You can watch both occasionally on cable.)

jotix100 "San Antonio", directed by David Butler must have been a vehicle for the handsome, and debonair Errol Flynn, who could do nothing wrong during that period of his career. Warner Bros. went all out to make this film that has a little bit of everything to please the fans of the Western genre.The surprise of the film was Alexis Smith, who was at the height of her beauty at the time. She makes a wonderful Jeanne Starr, an entertainer, who is the center of attraction among the men one sees in the film. Not only was she a gorgeous woman who blended well with her screen partners, in this case with Mr. Flynn.The supporting cast does good work under Mr. Butler's direction. The adorable S. Z. Sakall is wonderful as the conductor of the orchestra in the saloon where Jeanne plays. Also, Glorence Bates, an accomplished character actress appears as Jeanne's maid, Henrietta. Also in heavier roles Victor Francen and Paul Kelly do wonders with their evil roles."San Antonio" has kept its wonderful colors. Max Steiner's musical score also helps the action.