Kit Carson

source: Kit Carson

Great story with many great actors including Jon Hall, Ward Bond, Dana Andrews, Raymond Hatton, Clayton Moore, Renie Riano and Harold Huber. My personal favorite Lynn Bari, "The Woo Woo Girl" gave a career performance. Aside from the opening scene, the beginning was rather soporific but developed the characters and story wonderfully thereafter. The struggles against the Shoshones contrasted nicely with the love triangle of Hall and Andrews vying for Bari's affections. The scenery of Monument Valley was spectacular with one of the best circle-the-wagon scenes ever. This could be described as a loose knit Kit Carson biopic that was wonderfully produced and a classic in it's own right.

Aside from the novelty of seeing Jon Hall and Harold Huber in a western (as neither were the type to usually do westerns), there isn't a whole lot distinctive about this western. It's one of a billion (give or take 5) that are completely fictional stories about real life westerners. In this case, it's Kit Carson--an interesting guy but also someone where about 98% of what you read and see in movies about his is complete fiction. In this case, it's pretty much more of the same. Kit (Jon Hall) and his friends (Harold Huber and Ward Bond) have just finished an adventure which includes the hilarious pastime of killing Indians and scalping them. So, when the cavalry officer (Dana Andrews) asks them to guide a wagon train west to California, Kit is not interested. However, when Kit gets a gander at a feisty lady, he completely changes his mind and leads the settlers. The problem is that an evil Spanish megalomaniac is planning on turning California into is own little fiefdom and plans on wiping out the settlers. Can Kit and the cavalry stop this nut-job and make America safe for more white folks wanting Indian scalps? Bad history but somewhat entertaining. Not a great film but a decent one if you adore the genre. Not much more I want to say about this rather forgettable film.

This Kit Carson doesn't run for historical truth, that's clear. But it's pure joyful entertainment with plenty twists and fast paced battles and a lot of surprising details (bath sequence). The tahitian Jon Hall is impressive as the leader of a convoy towards California braked by Shoshones helped by Mexican dictator Castro who wants to kill all Americans going to California. Carson is constantly determined to find quickly the right solutions to these constant dangers and it's fascinating. The triangle love story with Carson, his friend officer Frémont (a young but not yet great Dana Andrews) and beautiful Lynn Bari reminds me of some Howard Hawks movies, Carson and Frémont always being fair. I chose that DVD without knowing the director nor Jon Hall, but I saw a picture on the sleeve of the Monument Valley and that's how I decided to buy this DVD, and the Monument sequences are wonderful, I only regret it wasn't shot in colour. Anyway, a nice western that really reminds me of Howard Hawks.

Copyright 6 September 1940 by Edward Small Productions, Inc. Released through United Artists. Presented by Edward Small. New York release at Loew's State: 14 November 1940. U.S. release: 30 August 1940. Australian release: 29 May 1941. Sydney release at the Plaza: 23 May 1941. U.S. length: 11 reels. 8,676 feet. 96 minutes. Australian length: 8,714 feet. 97 minutes. SYNOPSIS: Christopher "Kit" Carson (1809-1868) leads a wagon train through hostile Indian territory, encountering all the usual obstacles along the way. COMMENT: I don't know where Fenin and Everson get the idea that the Indians are sympathetically treated in this film. Certainly it's shown they are put up to their attacks by the Mexicans, but otherwise there's not a single hint that Indians are anything but savages. However, Fenin and Everson are right about the terrific Indian-attack action sequence in the middle of the film and the obvious running-out-of-money in the final reel where the action is truncated just as it begins to get under way. Fortunately, there's a nice bit of action at the beginning of the film and 2nd unit director Arthur Rosson has contrived some striking compositions of the wagon train moving slowly across the floor of Monument Valley. When it comes to the efforts of the main unit, the film is much less interesting. The soundtrack is over-cluttered with banal dialogue and director Seitz indulges the actors from static camera positions while they ham away mightily. This fault is aggravated not only by the extremely mundane and clichéd nature of all the talk, but by the uninteresting players who are doing all the gum-washing. Hall just rattles off his lines like a mechanical automaton, Miss Bari is likewise a talking doll, and the third member of the triangle, Dana Andrews is as customarily stiff as a post (even though this was but his third outing before the cameras). Bond, Huber and Hatton overact in their usual ripe fashion, while other character actors like Stanley Andrews and particularly Edwin Maxwell (who is seen merely in the background though he is portraying the famous Sutter of Sutter's Gold) have little to do. Charley (sic) Stevens gives his usual account of a villainous renegade and C. Henry Gordon soldiers away enthusiastically - but to little account as his lines have no point and are just so much padding. In many ways, Kit Carson is a typical Edward Small production which promises more than it delivers. The producer has an obvious liking for the period historical epic filmed on a somewhat constrained budget. This one could easily be re-edited down to a reasonably lively 60 minutes. But at its present length, with the narrative sagging so badly in the last half-hour - such a let-down after the splendid, vigorously-staged action in the middle of the film - it offers in sum little more than passable entertainment. 2nd unit direction and photography are impressive, but other credits (including Edward Ward's music score derived from Stephen Foster's "I Dream of Jeannie" et al) are no more than routinely competent.

1. On a personal level, this movie is special to me because it is the only one I have ever seen when it first came out that was the entertainment provided for a kid's birthday party! In 1940, l was invited to a cousin's birthday celebration that featured the matinee showing of Kit Carson at a neighborhood movie theater. This was something rather unique and made all the more enjoyable because the audience primarily consisted of a bunch of pre-adolescent boys (and no girls!). Such matinee movie parties were much more common then than they are now. 2. I recently saw the Kit Carson film again. The experience confirmed my earlier impression of the movie. It is a pleasant narrative in the classic Western tradition that does not pretend to be representing the absolute truth. In that sense, seeing the movie is somewhat like the way many feel after eating an enjoyable Chinese restaurant meal--quite satisfied at the time but soon needing something more. 3. Perhaps the best feature of this movie is its great location photography. It may be favorably compared to the work of John Ford in his classic Stagecoach lensed just a year earlier. Monument Valley certainly was spectacular in both films! 4. This movie contains one of the very few leading man action-type roles that Jon Hall performed without resort to a "sarong" or similar exotic native-type garb. His naturalistic understated acting style was quite appealing. Too bad that he was afforded so few future opportunities to attempt similar acting challenges. 5. Hall's male co-star was a very young and inexperienced Dana Andrews. He appears as real life character John C. Fremont, with an unflattering mustache and a tight-fitting Army uniform. He labored in undistinguished movies for four more years until his breakthrough performance as the portrait-obsessed cop in the classic thriller Laura in 1944. Andrews ended up greatly surpassing Hall in popularity, and became a major leading man film actor for many years.

Something tells me that there are a lot of facts missing from this story of Kit Carson, the Indian Scout who helped the army protect a wagon train across the wild west. With the tribe in cahoots with the Mexican government to prevent the wagon train to make it through (lead by evil Mexican general C. Henry Gordon), my eyebrows raised when the Indian leaders revealed that Kit was guilty of various crimes against native Americans, yet the film makes him out to be a hero. Of course, there is the obligatory romantic between Kit (Jon Hall), the beautiful Lynn Bari and Army officer Dana Andrews which dominates most of the movie when there aren't battle scenes with the Indians. In spite of the motivation of the Native Americans to attack the wagon trains, they are presented rather one dimensionally, manipulated by the stereotypical Mexicans who are mearly using them for their own agenda against the whites (to keep control of California), which made me ask, what made the settlers think they had the right to take over it anyway? In spite of those misgivings concerning this film, I still found it entertaining, and extremely well photographed with a depth of perception of the outdoor scenes usually flat in dimension in most westerns. I must add that I saw a computer colorized version of this film which was actually fine for the outdoor settings but not for the facial features of the actors who look like they are suffering from jaundice.

It's really rewarding when you can find a gem where you weren't expecting to. I watched "Kit Carson" because it was raining and golf was cancelled, and I wanted to kill some time. What a surprise to see Jon Hall, of all people, in an action-packed story better than many with higher ratings. I figure it must have been the second feature paired with a more expensive picture, but this one held its own. It moves along at a good clip with some good second unit work on several fight scenes between the settlers and the Cavalry troop, led by Capt. Dana Andrews, chief scout Jon Hall and sidekick Ward Bond. One of the settlers wagons is driven by Clayton Moore - you can close your eyes when he talks and he becomes the Lone Ranger. Close your eyes again, and Jon Hall sounds like Randolph Scott, soft drawl and all. See it when it's on again if you like surprises and action westerns, and overlook the plot holes. It's one of those pictures that is better the younger you are. I found it was nice to be young again. Star rating is in the heading. The website no longer prints mine.

This is a semi-historical western adventure film, featuring the historic Kit Carson(Jon Hall) and J.C. Fremont(Dana Andrews) as the leaders of the American expedition to establish a wagon trail from Ft. Bridger, in SW Wyoming, to central California, across much barren land and the Sierras. Carson refused Fremont's request that he serve as his scout. However, he was convinced to act as wagon master for the wagon train that became attached to Fremont's cavalry unit. This split command offered more opportunities for disagreements on routes, policies, and romance. They are pursued relentlessly by Shoshone all along their route, until they have crossed the Sierras.(Historically, the Shoshone were probably more important in attacking wagons and settlements along the Oregon Trail, although they did range from western Wyoming through Utah and Nevada, as indicated in this film. Once over the Sierras, their enemy became General Castro's Mexican forces. He had supplied the Shoshone with rifles, in their attacks on the Americans.(General Castro is an appropriate historical name). Castro doesn't cause trouble on the trip to Monterrey, on the coast. A celebration is held at the Murphy hacienda. Murphy is a rich man by California standards. His daughter, Dolores(Lynn Bari) was a member of the wagon train(why?). She developed some romantic attachment to both Carson and Fremont during their long trip. She prefers Carson at this point, but he mysteriously leaves for the plains and some beaver traps. Dolores assumes she will never see him again. However, Kit's plans change when he learns of Castro's plan to destroy the Murphy Hacienda. Kit returns to the hacienda to lead it's defense, and take an important part in the movement by the small American community to wrest California from the Mexicans. Throughout, until near the end, Kit has 2 partners in Ape(Ward Bond) and Lopez(Harold Huber). The 3 were the only survivors of a sizable party of trappers who were attacked by Shoshone in the Ft. Bridger area, losing all their beaver pelts....Raymond Hatton plays Bridger, whom we meet at his fort, where the principle characters first meet....It's nice to see Lynn Bari in a leading role. Usually, she was relegated to a supporting role, often 'the other woman'. Much of this was shot in Monument Valley, as was often clear in the background. This was just a year after John Ford discovered this spectacular area for "Stagecoach" and several subsequent films. Unfortunately, neither film was shot in color. As a rather muddled historical adventure, the film isn't bad. Lots of action, and cursory romance between. See it in B&W at YouTube.

Well they just don't make them like this anymore. I for one would enjoy new releases of this calibre of the western genre. The original western cowboy and the officer and a gentleman vying for the heart of the classy lady who is travelling across the prairies heading for California to re-unite with her wealthy cattle rancher father. The only problem is there are hundreds of Indians behind the tall hills who do not want the Americans settling on the land that they already are sharing with the Mexicans who also have aspirations of taking the beautiful state of California land as their own. The rugged frontiersman is a real life cowboy named Kit Carson (played by Jon Hall) who has teamed up with two of his best friends and loyal followers whose names appropriately are Ape (Ward Bond), and Lopez (Harold Huber). These three amigos agree to be the lead scouts for the wagon train that the unmarried damsel named Dolores Murphy (Lynn Bari) has secured their services for a wheel barrel full of cash. The wagon train also has a flank of American soldiers at their side led by Captain John C. Fremont (Dana Andrews). What is different about this western/romance is that the two alpha males who are vying for Ms. Murphy's affections act more like the courteous animated chipmunks Chip and Dale then two adversaries. Both are true gentlemen and only want Ms. Murphy to be happy with her choice for her future husband. This film is filled with action, light humor, cowboys and Indians, chivalry, romance and a pretty darn good ending for a black and white film released 78 years ago. I liked it a lot and I give it a sound 7 out of 10 rating.