Tonight's Movie: San Antonio (1945) - A Warner Archive Blu-ray Review

The Errol Flynn Western SAN ANTONIO (1945) was recently released on Blu-ray by the Warner Archive Collection.

I first reviewed the film in 2009, shortly after it was released on DVD as part of the 2008 Errol Flynn Westerns Collection.

It was later reissued on DVD by the Warner Archive Collection in 2016.

I remember the original DVD print as looking quite good, but even so it's hard to imagine it looking any better than this spectacular new Blu-ray.

Combine an outstanding print and sound with a very entertaining movie, and the Warner Archive has itself a real winner with this release.

Flynn plays Clay Hardin, a Texas cattleman whose herd has been stolen. With the help of his lifelong friend Charlie Bell (John Litel) Clay plans to deal with the bad guys and reclaim his herd.

Clay also has a blossoming romance with entertainer Jeanne Starr (Alexis Smith), whom he first meets on a stagecoach as she travels to an engagement in San Antonio.

As I described in 2009, this 110-minute movie has just about everything, from a gorgeous, sumptuously gowned (by Milo Anderson) leading lady to spectacular Technicolor to a climactic barroom brawl that, above everything, seems to be a stuntmen's demonstration. It features one amazing drop after another!

Best of all, the movie has Flynn, confidently battling and romancing with good humor. He's perfect, and he's well teamed with Smith, who I think is my favorite of his leading ladies after Olivia de Havilland.

Paul Kelly and Victor Francen are the baddies, S.Z. "Cuddles" Sakall and Florence Bates are comic relief as Jeanne's conductor and manager, and also on hand are Tom Tyler, Chris-Pin Martin, Robert Shayne, Robert Barrat, Pedro de Cordoba, Doodles Weaver, and Monte Blue.

Tyler has a downright creepy shootout with Flynn early in the film. Viewers aren't likely to soon forget Tyler's exit.

The movie, written by Alan LeMay and W.R. Burnett, was directed by David Butler and the uncredited Robert Florey and Raoul Walsh. It was filmed by Bert Glennon and the uncredited William V. Skall, including location work in Calabasas.

The movie was filmed in late 1944, then sat on the shelf for about a year after production. This was fairly common with Warner Bros. films in that time frame; there was too much product available for the market to handle.

Max Steiner's main theme recycles Flynn's DODGE CITY (1939); indeed, my husband heard the music from the next room and asked if I was watching DODGE CITY. According to IMDb there was also uncredited work on the film by Erich Wolfgang Korngold.

In addition to the trailer, the Blu-ray contains the 18-minute short FRONTIER DAYS (1945) with Robert Shayne and Dorothy Malone, directed by Jack Scholl, and the cartoon TRAP HAPPY PORKY (1945).

For an idea of what SAN ANTONIO looked look in the days when many of us were only able to watch it on commercial television, check out the unrestored trailer on this disc. Memories of watching movies looking like that are why Blu-rays and DVDs still seem like a miracle to me many years after they were each first introduced.

Both this film and the Blu-ray are happily recommended.

Thanks to the Warner Archive for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray. Warner Archive Blu-rays may be ordered from Movie Zyng, Amazon, and other online retailers.

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