Dakota (1945)

John Wayne is John Devlin, who elopes with the lovely Sandy Poli (Vera Ralston) with the intention of heading to California.

She decides Dakota would make a better destination and sees land speculation in their future. After all, she has inside information from daddy that the railroad is bound for Fargo.

So that’s where they wind up, and they quickly find themselves in the middle of a land war.

Jim Bender (Ward Bond) and Bigtree Collins are the men determined to chase the farmers off their land before the railroad arrives, so that they can cash in. And if that means burning a few farms, so be it.

Seeing what’s happening, Devlin forgets land speculation and sides with the farmers, even though he’s supposed to be a no-account gambler.

But in this case, Bender also has $20,000 that belongs to his new wife.

John Wayne as John Devlin, trying to pass himself off as a wheat farmer bound for Dakota in Dakota (1945)

Vera Ralston as Sandy, coming to the realization it might not have been wise to empty her husband’s six-shooter in Dakota (1945)

Review:

Some of Wayne’s less prestigious 1940s Westerns were among his most charming; this is one example.

And while reportedly did not enjoy working with Ralston, considering her the least talented actress he was ever paired with, she helps this film work thanks to some comic touches.

She keeps prodding him along, often in directions he doesn’t want to go, often directly into trouble, only to blame him for repeatedly putting his life in danger.

Walter Brennan plays Capt. Bounce, a seafarer who befriends the newlyweds and spends the rest of his time cursing his river boat for her tendency to get stuck on sandbars.

Ward Bond as Jim Bender, the man determined to buy up farm land, then sell it to the railroad for a profit in Dakota (1945)

Walter Brennan as Capt. Bounce, a riverboat owner who befriends the newlyweds in Dakota (1945)

Directed by:
Joseph Kane

Cast:
John Wayne … John Devlin
Vera Ralston … Sandy Poli
Walter Brennan … Capt. Bounce
Ward Bond … Jim Bender
Mike Mazurki … Bigtree Collins
Ona Munson … Jersey Thomas
Olive Blakeney … Mrs. Stowe
Hugo Hass … Marko Poli
Nick Stewart … Nicodemus
Paul Fix … Carp
Grant Withers … Slagin

Runtime: 82 min.

Mike Mazurki as Bigtree Collins, Bender’s right-hand man and chief enforcer in Dakota (1945)

Grant Withers as Slagin, one of the henchmen working for Bender and Collins in Dakota (1945)

Memorable lines:

Sandy: “Pappa always wants to shoot things out. He has no more sense than you have. I do hope he doesn’t kill us. He’d never get over it.”
John Devlin: “Well, I’d feel kinda regretful about it myself.”

Sandy, arguing that the newlyweds should be Dakota bound: “But there’s nothing in California but flowers. And everyone knows flowers give you hayfever.”
Devlin, glancing at the flowers in Sandy’s bonnet: “I got it myself, right now. Look, Sandy, with $20,000, we can open a little place in the gold fields …”
Sandy: “A saloon and gambling palace with dance hall girls. Wouldn’t you just love that?”

Sandy: “Here we go.”
Devlin: “Calm yourself, Sandy. Nothing’s going to happen to us. We won’t turn up the well-known toes until old man time catches up with us.”
Shots ring out.
Sandy: “It didn’t take old man time long to catch up with us.”

Olive Blakeney as Mrs. Stowe, sitting in front of a home burned by land grabbers in Dakota (1945)

Nick Stewart as Nicodemus, trying to steer The River Bird around sand mounds in Dakota (1945)

Devlin: “I learned one thing from General Morgan, Sandy. That’s when you’re surrounded and haven’t a chance, attack.”
Sandy: “John, do you think I’ll look good in black?”

Bigtree Collins: “Didn’t hurt your gun hand, did you Mr. Devlin?”
Devlin, glancing down at his hand, then back at Collins: “I can still write with it.”

Devlin: “I’m short about $20,000.”
Jim Bender: “Oh, how did you lose it?”
Devlin: “Doing backflips.”

Sandy, after unloading John’s gun, just before pirates show up: “I’ll never touch your old gun again. And if you’re going to get your silly head shot off, I’m not going to care … much.”

Vera Ralston as Sandy and John Wayne as John Devlin, watching Capt. Bounce lose his temper with river pirates in Dakota (1945)

Vera Ralston as Sandy, alarmed when she realizes her father is trying to harm the man she just married in Dakota (1945)

Hugo Hass as Marko Poli, dictating a telegram to be sent to his estranged daughter in Dakota (1945)

Ona Munson as Jersey Thomas, the dance hall girl with eyes for John Devlin in Dakota (1945)

Paul Fix as Carp, one of the henchmen working for Bender and Collins in Dakota (1945)

Vera Ralston as Sandy, about to convince her new husband that Dakota is a better destination than California in Dakota (1945)

John Wayne as John Devlin, reacting to the realization that his wife has emptied his pistol to keep him ‘safe’ in Dakota (1945)

Vera Ralston as Sandy, casting a suspicious gaze in the direction of hubby John Devlin (John Wayne) as he introduces himself to a dance hall girl in Dakota (1945)