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List Price: $49.98 | | Label: Warner Home Video
Salesrank: 4418
Released: August 26, 2008 |
| Our Price: $17.10 |
| Used Price: $35.07 |
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Movie DVD
Description of Errol Flynn Westerns Collection (Montana / Rocky Mountain / San Antonio / Virginia City):
Errol Flynn is primarily recognized for his swashbuckling roles, but let's adjust that. As Frank Thompson notes in his characteristically droll and well-informed commentary on Virginia City, Flynn was born to star in period pictures, and that included Westerns. This son of Tasmania slipped into Stetson and six-gun mode without strain, and without having to conceal his somewhere-in-the-British-Empire accent. Which is only fair: the director of his first three Wild West outings was the Hungarian-born, English-language-mauling Michael Curtiz. Not to beat about the sagebrush, the best of Flynn's Westerns--the Curtiz-directed Dodge City (1939) and Santa Fe Trail (1940), plus Raoul Walsh's They Died With Their Boots On (1942)--are not included in this set. Of the four films that are, Curtiz's Virginia City (1940) is much the liveliest, and certainly the most handsome. Set in the closing months of the Civil War, it's about Confederate loyalists making one last effort to stave off defeat on the battlefields back East by transporting five million dollars in gold from the Nevada mining town of the title. Union spy Flynn spars with Rebel counterpart Randolph Scott, as both also vie for the love of saloon songstress and gold-plot mastermind Miriam Hopkins. Warner Bros. hoped to replicate the Dodge City hit formula, even recycling the same town set (albeit in black and white instead of Technicolor) and re-teaming cinematographer Sol Polito (who was better at black and white anyway), screenwriter Robert Buckner (strewing illogic and coincidence with abandon), and composer Max Steiner, as well as Flynn sidekicks Alan Hale and Guinn "Big Boy" Williams. But who thought of (mis)casting Humphrey Bogart as a Mexican bandito--possibly the nadir of Bogie's life as a contract player? On the upside, extensive location shooting around Flagstaff, Arizona, gave Virginia City by far the most striking scenery of any Flynn Western.
Flynn spent the WWII years concentrating on war-related films, but 1945 found him saddling up again for San Antonio (or did it?--he's clearly doubled in horseback longshots). He plays a Texas rancher turned de facto outlaw by virtue of losing his land in a cattle war and being driven into Mexican exile. Never fear, he's soon finessed his way back across the border and set about undermining those who wronged him and his friends. San Antonio was Flynn's fifth Western but only the second in Technicolor--bright, bold color, and lots of it. Truth to tell, it's a bit of a mishmash, with so much skulking around upstairs, downstairs, and backstage at chief villain Paul Kelly's Bella Union music-hall saloon that it begins to resemble Feydeau farce. The script is credited to Alan Le May (The Searchers) and W.R. Burnett, and the direction to David Butler--though Raoul Walsh is known to have lent a hand (surely "Get that drunken cat off the bar" is a Walsh touch). Leading lady Alexis Smith sings a few songs and her brassy red hair is grand for Technicolor, but her romance with Flynn is a pale shadow of their delightful pairing three years earlier in Gentleman Jim. Warner Home Video has yet to release Walsh's Silver River (1948), the last Flynn Western to boast grade-A production values and co-stars, so that leaves two virtual B movies from 1950 to round out the set. In the 76-minute Montana, an Australian sheepman ventures into Big Sky country, "where cattle was king," and overcomes years of bloody resistance to the idea that sheep and cattle can coexist not only peacefully but profitably. Alexis Smith, who had earned her first billing opposite Flynn in 1941's Dive Bomber and is paired with him for the last time here, inveigles him into a frontier duet.
The somewhat better Rocky Mountain (83 minutes) borrows a leaf from Virginia City to propose another Confederate adventure in the West, an Army patrol attempting to join with Rebel sympathizers in California and foment an armed uprising. The mission gets sidetracked at Ghost Mountain, where the presence of hostile Shoshone Indians urges Rebs and Yankee cavalry to make common cause. Flynn plays it low-key throughout, as though his character, a man of honor in a world that scarcely recalls the notion, had already accepted the lostness of his cause. Each member of Flynn's small command has enough of a backstory to sit around and philosophize about--a narrative tactic anticipating how 90 percent of screentime in the coming decade of Westerns on TV would be filled. William Keighley (who would direct Flynn's last Warner film, The Master of Ballantrae, in 1953) breaks things up as best he can with the multi-tiered rockscape setting. Incidentally, Flynn's leading lady this time is his third and final wife, Patrice Wymore, cast as a Union officer's fiancée whose stagecoach gets ambushed nearby. Each of the films rates its own disc, with accompanying "Warner Night at the Movies" shorts and trailers from the season when the movie was released. Only two boast a commentary, and of these, only the one on Virginia City is worth the listen. Visual and technical quality is excellent overall. --Richard T. Jameson
Errol Flynn Westerns Collection (Montana / Rocky Mountain / San Antonio / Virginia City) Reviews:
Errol Flynn 
2009-08-17 - It was a present for my 86 year old Dad, he wanted San Antonio and he has enjoyed watching the set of 4 DVD's. He likes Errol Flynn when he acted in these Movies.
Errol Flynn Westerns Collection
2009-07-02 - Even if you are not a Flynn admirer - what is wrong with you?! - this collection of films has all the ingredients of great action/ western films; good cast, plots, both comedy and drama, a dab of romance & as always, amusing dialogue. It's all there.
If you are a Flynn fan, he is just as swashbuckling in these later epics as he was in his sword - duelling days! Great stuff! You will also notice some of his old pals there too, Alan Dale's back in the saddle for example.
Ah, they don't make um' like they used to!
Classic Westerns Movies Starring Errol Flynn 
2009-06-22 - Errol Flynn Westerns Collection (Montana / Rocky Mountain / San Antonio / Virginia City)[[ASIN:B0007OY2PS The Errol Flynn Signature Collection, Vol. 1 (Captain Blood / The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex / The Sea Hawk / They Died with Their Boots On /
Dodge City / The Adventures of Errol Flynn)]]
The Errol Flynn Westerns collections, are exciting classic western adventures. His westerns movies keeps you on the edge of your seat, awaiting the hero to take over and prevail against the bad guys. The hero(Flynn) also gets the leading lady, in all of his flims. Great A movies to watch and enjoy hours of adventure and excitement. Errol Flynn collection of westerns movies, are my favorites. For all you classic western movie watchers, these are must movies to have.
Go out west with Flynn!
2009-04-12 - I suppose that when most people think of Errol Flynn, they think of the swashbuckling hero of Robin Hood, Captain Blood and The Sea Hawk. One doesn't really think of him as a Western star, and when compared to big names like John Wayne or Gary Cooper, Flynn's Western career was less significant. Nonetheless, previous boxed sets of his movies have included such nice movies as Dodge City and They Died With Their Boots On. Errol Flynn - The Warner Bros. Western Collection collects four of his other films in the genre.
First in the set, chronologically, is Virginia City, which takes place in the waning days of the Civil War. Flynn is a Union spy sent west to the title town in Nevada where he hopes to stop a gold shipment from going to the Confederates and resurrecting their war effort. Randolph Scott is Flynn's Southern adversary, Miriam Hopkins is the showgirl falling for Flynn despite the fact that he's on the other side and Humphrey Bogart makes a rare Western appearance as the leader of some bandits.
San Antonio has Flynn as a cattleman after the thieves who stole from him. He now has the evidence to put the head thief away, but the man is practically running the title town, with only a military presence keeping any sort of legitimate order. Since it's San Antonio, the Alamo will play a part, with at least one character making his last stand there. And for all the mention that Olivia DeHavilland gets as Flynn's biggest costar (not only being with him in a lot of movies, but also in his biggest films), it is worth noting that Alexis Smith also had her share of movies with Flynn. In earlier sets, she was in Dive Bomber and Gentleman Jim. Here, she is not only in San Antonio but also the next film, Montana.
Montana has Flynn herding sheep instead of cattle, resulting in a major conflict with the cattlemen who detest sheep. Flynn is intent on getting grazing land and also in achieving a measure of peace. Smith plays the heiress to a cattle throne who is adamant in her enforcement of the no-sheep rule, a stand that only softens a little when she falls for Flynn.
With its title, you might initially think that Rocky Mountain takes place in Colorado or thereabouts, but the title doesn't refer to that middle-of-America range. Instead, it is a California mountain where Flynn has led a group of Confederate soldiers to rendezvous with some insurrectionists in the Golden State. Union forces are a threat, but the more immediate problem is a group of hostile Shoshones. This is the darkest movie in the set, with Flynn a little more antiheroic and a definite feeling of doom hanging over him and his company; since the movie takes place only a month before the end of the war, you know that the mission cannot succeed.
As with other Warner boxed sets, this one is loaded with extras. Not only do the first and last movies have commentaries, but all the films come with the Warner Night at the Movies feature that provides an old movie trailer and newsreel along with one or more short subjects and cartoons. I think most people would be hard-pressed to say these are Flynn's best movies, but they're all decent enough. That is, if you're a fan of Flynn, this is a set to get; if you're a fan of Westerns, this is a nice but non-essential collection.
Could Have Been Better 
2009-03-17 - While I'm glad to see another Errol Flynn collection released, this collection of Flynn's westerns is definitely a disappointment. While Virginia City and San Antonio are very worthwhile additions, Montana and Rocky Mountain pale in comparison, being little better than B movies made during the twilight years of Flynn's contract with Warner Brothers.
Virginia City was produced and released during Flynn's pinnacle years. As such, the production values are very high across the board. Having Randolph Scott in the movie was great casting. Unfortunately, Miriam Hopkins is way out of her element in this type of movie and there is no on-screen chemistry between Hopkins and Flynn. I don't know who had the idea of casting Humphrey Bogart as a half-breed Mexican outlaw. Bogart, being a true pro, tries to play the part with conviction. It would have made a lot more sense to have someone else play the part, or at least, not make it one where the character has to speak with a Mexican accent. Virginia City was very popular at the time of its release and is still a pretty good film to this day.
San Antonio was Flynn's first western after the war years and his first since They Died With Their Boots On. I believe I read somewhere that San Antonio was one of the top grossing films when it was released. Although the story's weak and the characterizations lack any depth, it's a pretty entertaining production featuring Alexis Smith and S.K. Zakall in the supporting cast. The featured song from the movie "Some Sunday Morning" won an Academy Award.
Montana was probably Flynn's weakest western. The story's lame, Flynn tried to a certain extent but this was a very ordinary western in terms of story, script and production. The only redeeming qualities were Alexis Smith in her final co-star appearance with Flynn and the Technicolor process which was surprisingly used.
Rocky Mountain had a better story and some decent moments. William Keighley, in his final directorial effort, got a understated, believable performance from Flynn. The supporting cast performed credibly and included Flynn's third wife, Patrice Wymore. Not a bad little western but certainly nothing like the spectacular productions which characterized Flynn's westerns prior to WWII.
Two Errol Flynn western movies which could and should have been included are Santa Fe Trail and Silver River. Both have superior production values and are indicative of Flynn's first-tier star status throughout most of the 1940's. Their exclusion is puzzling and highly disappointing. Substituting Santa Fe Trail and Silver River for Montana and Rocky Mountain would have made this colletion much stronger and more on a par with the two earlier Flynn Signature Series collections.
Santa Fe Trail had all the excellent production values of Virginia City. It was directed by Michael Curtiz, Max Steiner did the musical score, Olivia DeHavilland was the romantic interest, Ronald Reagan was Flynn's comrade-in-arms and romantic rival, Raymond Massey gave a convincing performance as John Brown and Alan Hale and Guinn "Big Boy" williams were along as Flynn's buddies, both on and off screen. The story and Flynn's performance weren't as good as in Virginia City but having Olivia DeHavilland in the movie with Flynn more than makes up for those shortcomings and helps make Santa Fe Trail a good movie nonetheless.
Silver River features one of Flynn's best acting performances. Flynn was reportedly excited about the script and the character he would portray and it shows on film. With Ann Sheridan as his co-star and Raoul Walsh directing, Flynn gives a thoughtful, provacative portrayal of a hardened, embittered veteran of the Civil War who's wrongfully dismissed from the service. The film chronicles his struggles to become a succesful businessman in the tough frontier world and win the love of Ann Sheridan. Unfortunately, the middle of the film really sagged with too much ordinary dialogue and not enough action. For its faults, it's still well worth watching, particularly for the strength of Flynn's performance.
In many respects, I feel Flynn's fans were short-changed. I'm sure some fans would feel it would have been preferable not to issue the westerns collection at all rather than have half the selections be sub-par and not reflective of Flynn's overall body of work in the western genre. All in all, though, The Errol Flynn Westerns Collection is not a bad collection but it would definitely have been better entertainment and value had it contained a better selection of films.
