CommentsXp Best movie ever!

ChicRawIdol A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

kindtxgal Very refreshing western film starring Errol Flynn and Patrice Wymore, his last wife/widow who remembers Flynn much more gently than previous wives. For me, the script was fresh, not-so-predictable nor of the same campy flavor of previous Flynn westerns. I'm happy this one turned out so well. Another hidden gem. This film sketches out the story of a tiny band of rebel soldiers led by Flynn's character, Lafe Barstow, whose mission is to wait for a rebel renegade to rendezvous with them atop Rocky Mountain, originally called Ghost Mountain. They save a stagecoach from raiding Shoshone which carries a Northern lady on her way to meet her Yankee fiancée, a lieutenant at a nearby garrison. For the rest of this story, you'll have to rent and watch it yourself! But it's captivating, not the usual cheesy, run-of-the mill cookie cut westerns Flynn often had to play for his studio. The film draws the viewer in emotionally by focusing on each rebel band members individual stories from their homes in the South starting with a fantastic introduction of each by Flynn at the beginning. Trivia: Flynn met his future, final wife during this film. The film was shot in Gallup, New Mexico. This was the last Western film Flynn starred in and it's one he gives a solid performance. Great stuff all way around!

Prismark10 Another western featuring Unionists and Confederates. Once again in a civil war film the rebels are shown to be honourable and principled whereas the Unionists are regarded as somehow disreputable. Let me remind you that the civil war was about the abolition of slavery and the confederates wanted to keep slavery. Maybe it tells us a lot about the attitudes to race of the Hollywood film studios.Errol Flynn is a Confederate officer whose small band of men travel 2000 miles to California to meet up with southern sympathisers and outlaws to stir up rebellion. Things do not go according to plan as they fail to meet up the support and get sidetracked when they rescue a girl and driver from a stagecoach during an attack by Indians. They then have to contend with the girl's fiancé, a Union cavalry officer who comes looking for her with his troops and some Indian scouts.When it turns out that the Indian scouts have betrayed the Union soldiers, Flynn and his small army are overwhelmed by the Indians and decide to sacrifice themselves to save the girl.The film was photographed in New Mexico and has a John Ford feel to it with some of the photography, however the nighttime battle scenes ends up at the viewer looking at a dark screen!Flynn does well as a jaded but gallant officer but the film lacks action with plenty of lulls, there is some good horse chase sequences, a decent battle at the end with the Indians and a loyal dog that will bring a tear to the most cynical eye.

rogerblake-281-718819 Errol Flynn was the hell raisers hellraiser lucky to survive to 50.However up to the early 1950s he could just about pull him self together to swash a reasonable buckle in such films as "Against all Flags" and "The Master of Ballentrae", even as late as 1955in the "Dark Avenger" there was still a trace of the old magnificent Flynn,then the rapid decline.Rocky Mountain was the last western Flynn made and it's not bad at all his lived in face was just right for the character he was playing a war weary Confederate cavalry captain called Lafe Barstow who in March 1865 is under orders with 7 troopers to travel 2000 miles to California meet up with local outlaw Cole Smith and his men and start a war there,mission impossible from the start. things start to go wrong when they go to the rescue of a stagecoach under attack from a Shoshone war party they save the life of the driver and his young female passenger(Patrice Wymore) Things get even more complicated when her fiancé(Scot Forbes)a union officer is captured when he comes to her rescue.The plot then has many twists and turns,Forbes character escapes and is presumed killed when there is the sound of gun fire,with the Shoshone gathering for a mass attack Flynn and his men in an act of Southern chivalry decide to act as decoys to draw the Shoshone off allowing Miss Wymore and the stagecoach driver to make their escape the ruse works but Flynn and his men they find themselves trapped in a box canyon."they have seen our backs now let them see our faces"then with the Confederate banner flying they charge head first in to the Shoshone and are heroically slaughtered. Flynn's demise is similar to his death in"They Died With There Boots On"Forbes has escaped but turns up to late with the Yankee cavalry,They are buried with full military honours and while the Confederate flag is flown from the highest butte the Warner Brothers choir sing a moving version of Dixie it is a truly awesome scene,Warner Brothers recycled it in all there t.v. westerns in the next decade when Ifirst saw this film as a lad the whole cinema audience stood up and cheered(we were all English for goodness sake)this is a fine film with many pleasures not least FLynn's boys Slim Pickens,Guinn Williams utterly reliable, Sheb Wooley who forgets his southern chivalry when he makes a pass at Miss Wymore he redeems him self at the end. Dickie Jones plays a 16 year old he has a nice moment when he tells Miss Wymore of the time at Gettysburg when General Lee(the most beloved of American generals) graciously excepts a skillet lid of black eyed peas,"Thank you son that's elegent"Flynn mentions that he has a large plantation back home were the cotton fields extent as far as the eye can see does that make him a slave owner ha also says that his Lady died a long time ago,A natural death or a war crime the film dosen't elaborate on either point,indeed the causes of the war are not mentioned Flynn is excellent his charismatic officer is similar to the one he played in "Operation Burma"As a last thought the Confederate cavalry in films such as "The Last Outpost"and Two flags West" seem to spend all their time rescuing the Yankees from rampaging indians who are attacking their forts, it's a pity the yanks can't re turn the compliment here.

dr-holliday I have to agree with mvescovi in an earlier review. One aspect of "Rocky Mountain" which is seldom mentioned is the remarkable horsemanship of the actors involved. For the most part these guys were real cowboys. Among them - Dickie Jones, a trick rider almost from the time he could walk; an amazing athlete. Slim Pickens - a rodeo performer in his youth and a rodeo clown. (Today those clowns prefer to be called "bull fighters" since they risk their lives daily to protect both amateur and pro bull riders). Sheb Wooley - a rodeo rider as a teen; one of the best in his home state of Oklahoma. He gets to show a bit of his expertise in the opening moments of "High Noon" in his role as Ben Miller. As another reviewer mentioned, this was the first feature film for both Pickens and Wooley.And let's not leave out Errol Flynn. That fellow could certainly ride with the best, as evidenced in this film and many others, and who looked better on a horse than Flynn? My fondest memories of this film as a child were those which included the dog and Dickie Jones' character, Buck Wheat. I always was a sucker for horses and dogs.All the characters were well-defined. You knew these men, their good points and their bad and you formed an opinion about each. You cared about what happened to them. How often can you say that about characters in one of today's movies? The photography was striking and I found the characters' tattered clothing remarkably realistic for a change - more authentic than many films. These men were, after all, weary travelers, soldiers on the losing side of a civil war - their country (the CSA) existing on what little remained to them.As to the romance part - to me there really wasn't one! Flynn's character is respectful and admiring of the lady and although there is certainly chemistry between them, there is no silly romance to mar the storyline or make it seem insipid. Flynn met his future wife, Patrice Wymore, on this set. They married after the film.Finally, the story itself is not overly sentimental. The soldiers ultimately behave as soldiers, doing their duty, going to their end bravely and with honor despite any previous differences. The ending shot, with the Union cavalryman riding to the top of the butte to install the Confederate Flag, was moving and again, the honorable thing to do. A brave man is a brave man no matter which side he fights upon.This is a fine film, a fine western and a fitting end to Flynn's career in oaters. What must we fans do to get "Rocky Mountain" out on video and DVD? It is an honor long overdue.