Santa Fe Trail: Michael Curtiz

Here's an interesting little Western.  Santa Fe Trail follows the exploits of a young J.E.B. Stuart and George Armstrong Custer as they are assigned positions in Kansas shortly after graduating from West Point.  Once there, they battle a clearly psychotic John Brown at Harpers Ferry who believes that splitting the Union will be the best way to end slavery.  The curious part of this film is how the characters and events within are portrayed.  The Southerns, including Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis, are depicted as righteous men who understand that they are on the wrong side of a bitter conflict, yet believe that the South should be left alone to solve its own problems.  Soldiers who would one day be separated and forced to fight against each other in the Civil War literally laugh at the idea that they would come to blows over such an issue.  The true villain is John Brown.  In a sense, John Brown is presented as a scapegoat for the start of the Civil War, thereby implying that the South had nothing to do with its initiation.  All of this was due to the time that the film was released.  The film premiered in 1940 after World War Two had already begun to ravage Europe and the Pacific.  The filmmakers didn't want to create a film that would polarize viewers in the North and the South.  So, in Santa Fe Trail, both the North and the South are depicted as friendly rivals who are forced into battle due to the actions of a crazed prophet.  It's a fascinating historical anachronism committed to celluloid.  It may not be accurate, but it's still an experience that both Yanks and Rebs can enjoy.

7/10