Dark Command (1940)
1h 34m
Running Time
April 15, 1940Release Date
Dark Command (1940)
1h 34m
Running Time
April 15, 1940Release Date
Plot.
When transplanted Texan Bob Seton arrives in Lawrence, Kansas he finds much to like about the place, especially Mary McCloud, daughter of the local banker. Politics is in the air however. It's just prior to the civil war and there is already a sharp division in the Territory as to whether it will remain slave-free. When he gets the opportunity to run for marshal, Seton finds himself running against the respected local schoolteacher, William Cantrell. Not is what it seems however. While acting as the upstanding citizen in public, Cantrell is dangerously ambitious and is prepared to do anything to make his mark, and his fortune, on the Territory. When he loses the race for marshal, he forms a group of raiders who run guns into the territory and rob and terrorize settlers throughout the territory. Eventually donning Confederate uniforms, it is left to Seton and the good citizens of Lawrence to face Cantrell and his raiders in one final clash.
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Currently Dark Command is available for streaming online, rent, buy or watch for free on: Plex, Plex Player, Plex Channel, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, FlixFling, Apple TV, Vudu, Microsoft Store, Pluto TV
Streaming in:🇺🇸 United States
Cast & Crew.
Claire Trevor
Mary McCloud
John Wayne
Bob Seton
Walter Pidgeon
William 'Will' Cantrell
Roy Rogers
Fletch McCloud
George 'Gabby' Hayes
Doc Grunch
Porter Hall
Angus McCloud
Marjorie Main
Mrs. Cantrell
Raymond Walburn
Judge Buckner
Jan Fortune
Writer
J. Farrell MacDonald
Dave
Joe Sawyer
Bushropp
Trevor Bardette
Mr. Hale
Helen MacKellar
Mrs. Hale
Ernie Adams
Townsman
Raoul Walsh
Director
Richard Alexander
Phil - Guerrilla Guarding Seton
Grover Jones
Writer
Lionel Houser
Writer
Earl Askam
Guerrilla
Hank Bell
Townsman
F. Hugh Herbert
Writer
Ray Bennett
Guerrilla
W.R. Burnett
Writer
Victor Young
Composer
Stanley Blystone
Tough
Ed Brady
Juror
Jack A. Marta
Cinematographer
Al Bridge
Slave Trader
William Morgan
Editor
Roy Bucko
Brawler
Nora Bush
Townswoman
Budd Buster
Townsman
Yakima Canutt
Townsman on Balcony
Bob Card
Townsman
Horace B. Carpenter
Townsman
Burr Caruth
Minister
Noble 'Kid' Chissell
Guerrilla
Edmund Cobb
Juror #3
Tex Cooper
Townsman
Harry Cording
Angry Townsman in Bank
Bobby Crandall
Child
Marvin Davis
Child
Art Dillard
Guerrilla
John Dilson
Town Leader
Edward Earle
Town Leader
Betty Farrington
Townswoman
Robert Ferrero
Child
Joseph Forte
Townsman
Mildred Gover
Ellie - Mary's Maid
Herman Hack
Townsman
Frank Hagney
Tough Yankee #2
Al Haskell
Townsman
Edward Hearn
Jury Foreman
Howard Hickman
Southerner Orating for Votes
Lloyd Ingraham
Townsman
Jack Kirk
Guerrilla
Ethan Laidlaw
Guerrilla
Mike Lally
Townsman
Tom London
Messenger
Walter Long
Townsman
Jack Low
Juror #2
Herbert MacGregor
Child
Cactus Mack
Townsman
Nelson McDowell
Farmer
Joe McGuinn
Guerrilla
John Merton
Cantrell Man
Jack Montgomery
Guerrilla
Dolly Nardon
Child
Lawrence Osman
Child
Russell Palmer
Child
Harvard Peck
Child
Dick Rich
Dental Patient #1
Lee Riggin
Child
Jack Rockwell
Assassin of Angus McCloud
Clinton Rosemond
Tom - McClouds' Servant
Tom Smith
Posse Rider
Harry Strang
Man About to Withdraw Money from Bank
Glenn Strange
Tough Yankee #1
Bob Sáenz
Guerrilla
Hal Taliaferro
Angry Townsman in Bank
Media.
Details.
Release DateApril 15, 1940
StatusReleased
Running Time1h 34m
Content RatingNR
Genres
Wiki.
Dark Command is a 1940 Crime western film starring Claire Trevor, John Wayne and Walter Pidgeon loosely based on Quantrill's Raiders during the American Civil War. Directed by Raoul Walsh from the novel by W. R. Burnett, Dark Command is the only film in which western icons John Wayne and Roy Rogers appear together, and was the only film Wayne and Raoul Walsh made together since Walsh discovered Wayne working as a prop mover, renamed him, and gave him his first leading role in the epic widescreen Western The Big Trail a decade before.
The film also features George "Gabby" Hayes as Wayne's character's sidekick.
The film was nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Original Score and Best Art Direction by John Victor Mackay.