Dark Command Overview:

Dark Command (1940) was a Western - Romance Film directed by Raoul Walsh and produced by Sol C. Siegel.

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Dark Command (1940)

By Beatrice on May 7, 2014 From Flickers in Time

Dark Command Directed by Raoul Walsh Written by Grover Jones, Lionel Houser, and F. Hugh Herbert from a novel by W.R. Burnett 1940/USA Republic Pictures First viewing/Streaming on Amazon Instant Video Bob ‘Shortcut’ Seton: No, Mary, just common clay. It bakes kind of hard in Texas. This ... Read full article


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Quotes from

[she holds a rifle on her son, William, to prevent him from going upstairs after his wife]
William Cantrell: Say, what's the matter with you? What's that gun for?
Mrs. Cantrell: It's for you, Will. I thought I'd borned a man-child when I first hear'd you squallin'. But I didn't. I borned a dirty murderin' snake that's broke my heart to see it crawlin' along. You're no good, Will.
William Cantrell: I've killed a lot of men for saying less than that.
Mrs. Cantrell: You've killed a lot of men for sayin' nuthin' at all! Kansas is red with their bleedin'. I curse the day I ever had you.


Angus McCloud: Four killings in a week! It's got to stop!
Judge Buckner: Four! Did you say four? That's right, four! Well, we're going to be quite a town, ain't we? I doubt that they have that many in Dodge City. No, I don't think so.
Angus McCloud: We aim to compete with any city in size, but not in lawlessness!


Bob 'Shortcut' Seton: Folks, it's true. I don't know much about the law. Ain't had much book learning. But the good Lord gave me a nose for smelling a horse thief a mile off. And what you need in these parts is a marshal that's better at smelling than spelling.


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Facts about

The character of Will Cantrell is loosely based on the real life Confederate guerrilla leader William Quantrill. Like Cantrell, Quantrill was born in Ohio, taught school in Lawrence, Kansas, became a guerrilla fighter on the Confederate side and burnt Lawrence to the ground. However, the Confederacy eventually distanced itself from, and eventually disowned, him because of his band's propensity for executing prisoners, massacring civilians, looting and raping. The real Quantrill was killed in an ambush, beheaded by a Union cavalryman's saber, in Kentucky at the ripe old age of 27 instead of at the hands of Bob Seton.
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Also produced by Sol C. Siegel




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