Richie-67-485852 If you like westerns and Errol Flynn and who doesn't, prepare to be entertained. Cattle, sheep, a woman, ranches, shootings and all the rest take place in a rather quick paced plot that serves its purpose. It would have been a 5-6 rating but Errol is always a pleasure to watch as he has this way of acting that looks so effortless. Hollywood did well to take advantage how the camera loves this man. Good movie to eat a sandwich while watching with a tasty drink and perhaps some choice candy. There is a couple parts where they sing and in the bat scene, the song is quite catchy. Listen to the words or read them if you have closed captioning. It gives us a glimpse of life back then, what people liked and song subjects can be revealing. Just listen and learn. Okay boys, lets ride

zardoz-13 This lackluster Errol Flynn oater qualifies as one of his minor efforts. Clocking in at a sheer 73 minutes, "Montana" doesn't waste its time getting down to basics, but the narrative has its lapses. One character shows up and then is gone without an explanation. The performances are good and the Warner Brothers production values are bed-rock. Seasoned western writers such as James R. Webb and Borden Chase penned the screenplay, but they deliver little in the way of memorable dialogue and there are absolutely no surprises in this formulaic horse opera. Some of the situations, like our hero being duped into riding an unbreakable bronco, are old hat.Basically, Morgan Lane (Errol Flynn of "The Sea Hawk") plunges his flock of sheep into cattle country in 1879 and the cowboys refuse to tolerate these sheep-nanigans. No sooner has Lane and his flock entered cattle country than the cowboys descend on them at night with their guns blazing death. An unarmed, young Mexican shepherd becomes the first casualty with a bullet in the back. The following day Lane and company encounter Papa Otto Schultz (S.Z. Sakall of "Casablanca") who drives his peddler's wagon into their camp. Lane and Papa Otto become partners almost instantly and the two ride into Fort Humboldt to peddle his wares. Initially, Lane receives a chilly reception in the Little Big Horn Saloon where Slim Reeves (Ian MacDonald of "High Noon") goads him into a showdown after he labels Lane a sheep-man. Although he knows that it isn't any of his business, a bearded, leathery-looking Tecumseh Burke (Paul E. Burns of "Son of Paleface") pokes his nose into the confrontation. The older gunman offers Lane the use of his hardware since our hero doesn't pack a pistol. Tecumseh warns Lane that the trigger is tied back and he will have to fan the weapon. Slim shoves the holstered revolver and gun belt at Lane. Everybody clears out of the way so the two can shoot it out. Tecumseh starts the countdown to three, but the bushwhacking skunk that Slim is tries to shuck his six-shooter on two. Lane blows the revolver neatly out of his adversary's fist as easily as he might blow out a candle. The ruffian apologizes because he insists no sheepman could possibly wield a shooting iron with such dexterity."Montana" features a romance between the principal players. Predictably, it doesn't take our hero long to meet, greet, and get sweet with cattle queen Maria Singleton (Alexis Smith of "San Antonio"), even though she is engaged to marry rancher Rod Ackroyd. Lane has Maria eating out of his hand after he wagers that he can ride a bronco that nobody else has managed to stay aboard for a full minute. Sneaky Reeves whittles away at the cinch and Lane barely missing staying in the leather long enough. Apparently, the colossal loss of money that Papa sacrificed not only drove him out of his partnership with Lane but also out of the movie. Papa vanishes and is never heard from again. Meanwhile, Maria decides to lease Lane some land to run his steers on since he didn't tame the bronco. At this point, things take a turn for the worse for our protagonist. Inexplicably, Lane's sheep dog Jeanne prances into town that same day that Lane steps outside the bank with Maria with the lease for the land. Reeves and his cohorts expose Lane as a sheepman when the mutt goes to him. Naturally, Maria is furious, but what she doesn't know is that her fiancée has been two-timing her with the lawman's girlfriend. Indeed, the lawman, Sheriff Jake Overby (Lane Chandler of "Samson and Delilah") doesn't know that he, too, is being two-timed.Meantime, the ornery cattlemen cannot shed their deep-seated prejudice toward the mutton-minded Lane. Lane argues that sheep and cattle can get along together. He has seen it in Mexico, but the cattlemen don't believe him. Gunslinging cattleman Rod Ackroyd (Douglas Kennedy of "The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold") leads the charge against Lane and his sheep and bites the dust. The showdown in front street at the end of the action looks like a mild imitation of "Red River" with our colorful heroine shooting the man that she loves. Flynn was looking a mite long in the tooth when he made this oater and the alcohol had robbed him of his spontaneity but not his charm. He looks a little more heavyset than usual. Smith doesn't look like she has changed since their last collaboration on "San Antonio" except that her outfits aren't as flamboyant. Mind you, she is a bit more hard-hearted and tough as a cattle queen who lost her father and brother in the war against the sheep herders."Montana" doesn't rank in the same league with Flynn's more prestigious westerns like "Dodge City," "Virginia City," and "They Died With Their Boots On." In fact, "Montana" rates as one of his least appealing westerns. At least the Technicolor makes this modest western look good. Strangely, the peddler that Sakall plays vanishes inexplicably from the action. If you want to see a genuinely entertaining cattle versus sheep western, watch director George Marshall's comedy western "The Sheepman" (1958) with Glenn Ford.

srpwx Errol Flynn, as a sheep-herder? Say it ain't sew! No wonder Flynn drank his way through this turgid Western. I'd be pulling the wool over your eyes by saying Flynn doesn't mail it in. Lots of short scenes with many edits plus obvious studio cuts against outdoor backdrops. Flynn's first film in 1950 but the miles and trials were taking a toll on Errol. His eyes were too bloodshot to shoot some scenes.Nevertheless, the Technicolor cinematography (Calabasas Ranch)is first rate plus production values make up for the drab characters. It's tough to care about anyone except beautiful, flaming redhead, Alexis Smith. I've never seen whiter teeth in my life. Cute little scar on her chin too. Flynn and Smith have some nice scenes plus sing a fun little ditty: Reckon, I'm in love! Seriously, it's not bad! A sheep-herder invades cattle country! If this sounds like a bum steer of a film, you're probably right but it's Flynn in his final decade. He went downhill fast from here but "amoung other things", he still looks good next to Alexis.

Terrell-4 "Montana Territory...1879...where cattle was king...where the law was a gun...and the men who drove the great herds up from Texas made the rules. They were hard men...they had to be hard to keep alive..." And not just the men. Cattle queen Maria Singleton (Alexis Smith) is not about to let a bunch of stinkin' sheep onto prime cattle land. She and Rod Ackroyd (Douglas Kennedy), equally prejudiced against mutton, run things in this section of Montana Territory. It's not going to be easy or pleasant when Morgan Lane (Errol Flynn) shows up on horseback with a lot of sheep following him. All he wants is a chance to prove that cattle and sheep and share the same land profitably. While he's trying to do this, sometimes with humor, sometimes with his fists, men will die, the sneaky Ackroyd will get his, a great stampede will take place and Maria will find out that at least some sheepmen don't stink as much as their sheep. This routine oater is competently enough made, but there's not an original idea in either the script or the direction. At some point Raoul Walsh is said to have stepped in to help with the directing. Perhaps that's why there are some scenes involving Errol Flynn that have a little juice in them. At 41, Flynn looks his age. He may not be entirely convincing in a fistfight, but for the most part the movie shows him using more charm and brains, not brawn. His looks hadn't yet fallen victim to booze and gravity. That would come in the next two or three years. In The Master of Ballantrae, 1953, he looks as tired and worn as Roger Livesey looks corrupted and drunk, but Livesey was wearing make-up. The Fifties saw Flynn as just another alcoholic and the punch line of jokes. His last movie, released in 1959, the year of his death at age 50, was something called Cuban Rebel Girls. For those who enjoy S. Z. "Cuddles" Sakoll, this shtick-carrying character actor, so cute...so wobbly...so predictable, shows up early in the movie and then just disappears. For those who enjoy music, we hear Celito Lindo warbled around a nighttime campfire and Old Dan Tucker sung by rough cowboys in close harmony. For those who enjoy the bizarre, we even have Errol Flynn strumming a guitar and singing "Reckon I'm in Love"... "I met a certain someone who makes me feel that way. And ever since I met her I'm a singin' in the saddle 'Skidoodle diddle daddle' all the day." Flynn smiles while singing this, but he must have needed a drink afterwards.