''Dakota'' is a 1945 American Western film directed by Joseph Kane, and starring

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films made during Hollywood's Go ...

. The supporting cast features Walter Brennan,

Ward Bond Wardell Edwin Bond (April 9, 1903 – November 5, 1960) was an American film character actor who appeared in more than 200 films and starred in the NBC television series ''Wagon Train'' from 1957 to 1960. Among his best-remembered roles are Be ...

, and Mike Mazurki.

Plot

The action is set in 1875. Wayne stars as John Devlin (

), a professional

gambler Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three elem ...

who has married Sandra (

Vera Ralston Vera Ralston (born Věra Helena Hrubá; July 12, 1919 or 1920 or 1921 or 1923 February 9, 2003) was a Czech figure skater and actress. She later became a naturalized American citizen. She worked as an actress during the 1940s and 1950s. Ear ...

), daughter of railroad millionaire Marko Poli ( Hugo Haas). John and Sandra flee her father's anger and go to Fargo in

Dakota Territory The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of N ...

, where Sandra thinks they can cash in on a land boom. But on the trip west, they are swindled out of their stake ($20,000 Sandra swiped from her father). In a desperate attempt to get back their money, Devlin enters into a heated range battle against the outlaws led by Bender. Bender steals their money & uses it to attempt to buy the properties of the landowners in Fargo, Dakota. Devlin tries to prevent it but cannot. So he offers to buy the land contracts with the threat that he can ask Sandi's father to pass through another town which will mean Bender's purchase will be useless. Right as Bender hands the lands over to Devlin an agent of Mr. Poli arrives with a secret intent to buy the lands. Bender finds out & Devlin runs away with the contract giving it to one of the settlers. As soon as Devlin leaves the house Bender's men enter & take away the contract & murder the settler. When Devlin returns to town he is greeted by Bender who attempts to frame & hang him. Right then a group of settlers arrive on horseback with the lands of the settlers burning in the background. Devlin goes looking for Bender & his second in command. As Bender is packing to skip town the second in command kills him & steals his money. Devlin tackles the second in command & as they are about to leave for California Sandy (Devlin's wife) tells him that she gave the money she had to the boat captain to help him buy a new boat (since he ran aground the other boat when carrying them to Fargo).

Cast

as John Devlin * Vera Hruba Ralston as Sandy Poli (Devlin) * Walter Brennan as Capt. Bounce of the ''Riverbird'' *

as Jim Bender * Mike Mazurki as Bigtree Collins * Ona Munson as Jersey Thomas * Olive Blakeney as Mrs. Stowe * Hugo Haas as Marko Poli * Nick Stewart as Nicodemus (as Nicodemus Stewart) *

Paul Fix Peter Paul Fix (March 13, 1901 – October 14, 1983) was an American film and television character actor who was best known for his work in Westerns. Fix appeared in more than 100 movies and dozens of television shows over a 56-year career b ...

as Carp * Grant Withers as Slagin * Robert Livingston as Lieutenant * Olin Howland as Devlin's driver (as Olin Howlin) *

Pierre Watkin Pierre Frank Watkin (December 29, 1887 – February 3, 1960) was an American character actor best known for playing distinguished authority figures throughout the Golden Age of Hollywood. He is best remembered for his roles of Mr. Skinner the ...

as Wexton Geary * Robert Barrat as Anson Stowe (as Robert H. Barrat) *

Jonathan Hale Jonathan Hale (born Jonathan Hatley; March 21, 1891 – February 28, 1966) was a Canadian-born film and television actor. Life and career Hale was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Before his acting career, Hale worked in the Diplomatic C ...

as Col. Wordin * Robert Blake as Little Boy (as Bobby Blake) *

Paul Hurst Paul Michael Hurst (born 25 September 1974) is an English football manager and former player who is the manager of club Grimsby Town. As a player, he was a defender from 1993 to 2008, notably playing his entire career at Rotherham United, b ...

as Captain Spotts * Eddy Waller as Stagecoach Driver *

Sarah Padden Sarah Ann Padden (16 October 1881 – 4 December 1967) was an English-born American theatre and film character actress. She performed on stage in the early 20th century. Her best-known single-act performance was in ''The Clod'', a stage pr ...

as Mrs. Plummer * Jack La Rue as Suade * George Cleveland as Mr. Plummer *

Selmer Jackson Selmer Adolf Jackson (May 7, 1888 – March 30, 1971) was an American stage film and television actor. He appeared in nearly 400 films between 1921 and 1963. His name was sometimes spelled Selmar Jackson. Jackson was born in Lake Mills, Iowa a ...

as Dr. Judson * Claire Du Brey as Wahtonka * Roy Barcroft as Poli's Driver

References

External links

* * * *
Review
at ''Variety'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Dakota 1945 films 1945 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films American black-and-white films Films directed by Joseph Kane Films scored by Walter Scharf Films set in North Dakota Films with screenplays by Howard Estabrook Republic Pictures films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links