“Well, if you ain’t the contrariest critter I ever seen.” —Doc Grunch
Today’s quick review: Dark Command. In the years leading up to the Civil War, Bob Seton (John Wayne), a cowboy from Texas, settles in Lawrence, Kansas, and beats Will Cantrell (Walter Pidgeon), the local schoolteacher, in the election for town marshal. Bob uses his authority to keep order in the town, and he gradually begins to win over Mary McCloud (Claire Trevor), the daughter of a Southern banker. Meanwhile, Will descends into a life of crime.
Dark Command is a Western drama with romantic elements. John Wayne stars as Bob Seton, an honest man with the bravery to court Mary McCloud and keep the town of Lawrence from descending into mob violence. Dark Command charts the shifting fortunes of Bob, Mary, and Will as war breaks out and tensions flare in the border territory of Kansas. This setup has enough variety to carry the movie in spite of a few minor flaws.
Dark Command differs from other Westerns in the way it approaches its conflict. The individual elements are all familiar—an outsider sheriff, an outlaw band, and a trigger-happy frontier town—but the plot centers around the choices of its characters rather than flashy shootouts. Cantrell’s fall from grace, the stop-and-go relationship between Mary and Bob, and the simmering tensions of the Civil War are all potent drivers of the story.
Although Dark Command is capably executed, it does not excel. Bob, Will, and Mary are all satisfying characters who fit the needs of the story, but none of them are outstanding or memorable. The story taps into the broader conflicts going on in the country at the time, but there are no brilliant twists to set it apart. And while the final battle is suitably climactic, viewers expecting the classic slate of Western gunfights will be disappointed.
Give Dark Command a shot if you are interested in a dramatic conflict that retains its sense of humanity. Dark Command takes the standard components of the Western genre and builds something different with them. It is not different enough to appeal to critics of the genre, and its caliber of execution cannot match the best the genre has to offer. But imperfections aside, Dark Command is a capable story with plenty to offer.
For a much more dramatic classic set during the Civil War, try Gone with the Wind. For a lighter movie about a drifter who takes over law enforcement in an embattled frontier town, check out Support Your Local Sheriff!. For a Western with a similar conflict that plays out in a more typical style, try Shane.
[6.8 out of 10 on IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032383/). I give it a 6.5 to 7.0 for well-handled rural drama.