Dark Command
Dark Command is a 1940 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. Plot. Mary McCloud marries the seemingly peaceful Kansas schoolteacher William Cantrell, before finding out that he harbors a dark secret. He is actually an outlaw leader who attacks both sides in the Civil War for his own profit. After capturing a wagon loaded with Confederate uniforms, he decides to pass himself off as a Confederate officer. Her naive, idealistic brother Fletcher joins what he believes is a Rebel guerrilla force. Meanwhile , Cantrell's stern, but loving mother refuses to accept any of her son's ill-gotten loot. A former suitor of Mary's, Union supporter Bob Seton, is captured by Cantrell and scheduled for execution. After being rescued by a disillusioned Fletcher McCloud, Seton and Mary Cantrell race to the town of Lawrence (site of an actual infamous Quantrill-led massacre) to warn the residents of an impending attack by Cantrell's gang. Production. W.R. Burnett's novel was published in 1938 and became a best seller. It was a rare historical novel from Burnett, who was better known for  modern day crime stories. Film rights were purchased by Republic Pictures who announced the film in May 1939 as part of their slate for 1939–40. Director Raoul Walsh had discovered John Wayne in 1929 when Wayne was a 23-year-old prop man named Marion "Duke" Morrison. Walsh was reading a biography of General "Mad Anthony" Wayne at the time and gave the prop boy the last name "Wayne" after casting him as the lead in "The Big Trail" (1930), a 70 mm Grandeur widescreen epic shot on location all across the West. "Dark Command" remains the only other film  upon which both Walsh and Wayne collaborated during their lengthy careers. The film was financed on a larger budget than Republic normally provided. It was a similar scale to a successful historical drama they had made the year before, "Man of Conquest". Walter Pidgeon was borrowed from MGM. Filming started November 1939. "Dark Command" was the second film John Wayne made with Claire Trevor after "Stagecoach", the other being "Allegheny Uprising" (1939). Roy Rogers was given a key support role in "Dark Command", the only time John Wayne and Roy Rogers made a movie together. Release. "Dark Command" premiered in  Lawrence, Kansas. It received favorable reviews and box office, and encouraged Republic to continue to allocate more money for John Wayne films.