SANTA FE (1951) * I have to admit that this film had the exact opposite effect-to the extent that it had any at all-on me as they intended. Yes Abraham Lincoln's efforts to reunify a torn nation were brilliant and honorable, if neither quite as straightforward or simplistic as we're taught in school. And, incredibly, this film catches a piece of that, and mentions it as a central aspect to the plot whilst hoping that no one will notice. They make sure that you understand that the Randolph Scott character is a badass right away, so he's no coward in the most common sense of the term. But what else is he, philosophically? Here's a family that got its plantation ripped off by the Yankees under some absurd legal loophole, so what's he do? Put his tail between his legs and join them as a functionary, then oppose his brothers who are trying to regain what's rightfully theirs the only way it can be done (that is, as outlaws in the eyes of the corrupt system that ripped them off). It's not easy for me to detect the heroism in that, though they grandstand it about as the central feature. Someone who loves to write term papers could write one on his competing ideals and interests. The dynamic between the railroad companies (again, an honorable and historic undertaking) is interesting; what with their trying to mislead each other and rip each other off in an effort to get the best routs. I don't know how historically accurate the portrayal is, but the dynamic feels right. So they had the makings of an interesting film, except that they played the central point totally wrong, and couldn't have pulled it off with a film in which no character is interesting, no matter how potentially promising their milieu and opportunities.
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