Kit Carson (1940 film)

1940 American film

Kit Carson

Theatrical release poster

Directed by| George B. Seitz
John E. Burch (assistant)
Written by| Evelyn Wells
Screenplay by| George Bruce
Based on| newspaper serial by Evelyn Wells
Produced by| Edward Small
Starring| Jon Hall
Lynn Bari
Dana Andrews
Cinematography| John J. Mescall
Robert Pittack
Edited by| William F. Claxton
Fred R. Feitshans Jr.
Music by| Edward Ward

Production
company

Edward Small Productions

Distributed by| United Artists

Release date

* August 30, 1940 (1940-08-30) (United States)

Running time

| 97 minutes
Country| United States
Language| English

Kit Carson is a 1940 Western film directed by George B. Seitz and starring Jon Hall as Kit Carson, Lynn Bari as Delores Murphy, and Dana Andrews as Captain John C. Frémont . This picture was filmed on location at Cayente (Kayenta), Arizona[1] and was one of the early films to use Monument Valley as a backdrop. The supporting cast features Ward Bond as a character named "Ape", future Lone Ranger Clayton Moore without his mask, and Raymond Hatton as Jim Bridger.

## Plot

[edit]

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Kit Carson and his two saddle pals, Ape and Lopez are attacked by Indians. They manage to escape unscathed and make their way to Fort Bridger, where Captain John Fremont hires Carson to guide a wagon train westward to California south along the Oregon Trail. Both Carson and Fremont fall in love with pretty Dolores Murphy, on her way to her father's hacienda in Monterey. Meanwhile, General Castro, the Mexican Governor General of California, arms the Shoshone Indians in an effort to keep the Americans out of California.[2]

## Cast

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* Jon Hall as Kit Carson
* Lynn Bari as Dolores Murphy
* Dana Andrews as Captain John C. Frémont
* Harold Huber as Lopez
* Ward Bond as Ape
* Renie Riano as Miss Pilchard
* Clayton Moore as Paul Terry
* Rowena Cook as Alice Terry
* Raymond Hatton as Jim Bridger
* Harry Strang as Sergeant Clanahan
* C. Henry Gordon as General José Castro
* Lew Merrill as General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo
* Stanley Andrews as Thomas O. Larkin
* Edwin Maxwell as John Sutter
* George Lynn as James King (as Peter Lynn)
* William Farnum as Don Miguel Murphy

## Production

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The movie was one of several Edward Small made for United Artists. Victor McLaglen was originally announced for the title role,[3] and then Randolph Scott.[4] Joel McCrea and Henry Fonda were also named.[5]

Jon Hall had just made South of Pago Pago for Edward Small and was borrowed from Samuel Goldwyn Productions. Lynn Bari was borrowed from 20th Century Fox. Filming started on March 10, 1940.[6] It was shot on location near Kayenta, Arizona.[7]

The film was later remade as Frontier Uprising (1961).

## Reception

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Filmink felt that Hall was not comfortable in the lead role but the film was "saved by its production values and support cast".[8]

## References

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1. ^ "Kit Carson". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
2. ^ "Kit Carson (1940) - George B. Seitz | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie".
3. ^ DOUGLAS W. CHURCHILL (October 17, 1939). "SCREEN NEWS HERE AND IN HOLLYWOOD: Metro Will Make Picture of 'Escape,' Novel About Actress Held in Concentration Camp JAMES STEWART FILM DUE Music Hall's 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Here Thursday --Another Opening Listed John Stahl Leaves Universal Role for Marjorie Rambeau". New York Times. p. 30.
4. ^ DOUGLAS W. CHURCHILL (April 10, 1940). "SCREEN NEWS HERE AND IN HOLLYWOOD: Metro Will Produce 'Escape,' With Norma Shearer and Robert Taylor in Leads TWO FILMS OPEN TODAY Dr. Cyclops' in Local Premiere at Paramount--Criterion Bills 'One Was Beautiful' Roosevelt Changes Plans Role for Humphrey Bogart". New York Times. p. 35.
5. ^ "32 FILMS ON LIST OF UNITED ARTISTS: Pictures by Eleven Producers to Be Released by Company During 1939–40 Season LEAD FOR JASCHA HEIFETZ Will Star in Goldwyn's 'Music School'--'Rebecca' and 'My Son, My Son!' on Schedule Leslie Howard to Star "Of Mice and Men Listed"". New York Times. May 8, 1939. p. 23.
6. ^ DOUGLAS W. CHURCHILL (May 1, 1940). "SCREEN NEWS HERE AND IN HOLLYWOOD: Melvyn Douglas Gets Lead in Story of Refugee in Paris-- Wendy Barrie Signed NEW ITALIAN FILM TODAY Opens at Cine Roma--Helen Vinson Here After Playing in New Cagney Picture Of Local Origin". New York Times. p. 31.
7. ^ "Hawaiian Plays Indian in Film". Los Angeles Times. September 20, 1940. p. A13.
8. ^ Vagg, Stephen (April 9, 2022). "The Campy, Yet Surprisingly Interesting Cinema of Jon Hall". Filmiink.

## External links

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* Kit Carson at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
* Kit Carson at IMDb
* Kit Carson at the TCM Movie Database

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by George B. Seitz

1910s|

* The Exploits of Elaine (1914)
* The Romance of Elaine (1915)
* The Iron Claw (1916)
* The Fatal Ring (1917)
* The House of Hate (1918)
* The Lightning Raider (1919)
* Bound and Gagged (1919)
* The Black Secret (1919)

1920s|

* Pirate Gold (1920)
* Velvet Fingers (1920)
* Rogues and Romance (1920)
* The Sky Ranger (1921)
* Hurricane Hutch (1921)
* Go Get 'Em Hutch (1922)
* Speed (1922)
* Plunder (1923)
* The Way of a Man (1924)
* Leatherstocking (1924)
* The Fortieth Door (1924)
* Into the Net (1924)
* Galloping Hoofs (1924)
* Sunken Silver (1925)
* Wild Horse Mesa (1925)
* The Vanishing American (1925)
* Desert Gold (1926)
* The Last Frontier (1926)
* The Ice Flood (1926)
* Pals in Paradise (1926)
* Jim, the Conqueror (1926)
* The Blood Ship (1927)
* Great Mail Robbery (1927)
* The Isle of Forgotten Women (1927)
* The Tigress (1927)
* The Warning (1927)
* After the Storm (1928)
* Ransom (1928)
* Beware of Blondes (1928)
* Court-Martial (1928)
* The Circus Kid (1928)
* Blockade (1928)
* Hey Rube! (1928)
* Black Magic (1929)

1930s|

* Murder on the Roof (1930)
* Guilty? (1930)
* Midnight Mystery (1930)
* Danger Lights (1930)
* The Lion and the Lamb (1931)
* The Drums of Jeopardy (1931)
* Arizona (1931)
* Shanghaied Love (1931)
* Night Beat (1931)
* Sally of the Subway (1932)
* Temptation's Workshop (1932)
* Docks of San Francisco (1932)
* Sin's Pay Day (1932)
* Passport to Paradise (1932)
* The Widow in Scarlet (1933)
* Treason (1933)
* The Thrill Hunter (1933)
* The Women in His Life (1933)
* Lazy River (1934)
* The Fighting Ranger (1934)
* Buried Loot (1935)
* Society Doctor (1935)
* Shadow of Doubt (1935)
* Times Square Lady (1935)
* Calm Yourself (1935)
* Woman Wanted (1935)
* Kind Lady (1935)
* Exclusive Story (1936)
* Absolute Quiet (1936)
* The Three Wise Guys (1936)
* The Last of the Mohicans (1936)
* Tarzan Escapes (1936)
* Mad Holiday (1936)
* Under Cover of Night (1937)
* Mama Steps Out (1937)
* A Family Affair (1937)
* The Thirteenth Chair (1937)
* Between Two Women (1937)
* My Dear Miss Aldrich (1937)
* You're Only Young Once (1937)
* Judge Hardy's Children (1938)
* Yellow Jack (1938)
* Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938)
* Out West with the Hardys (1938)
* The Hardys Ride High (1939)
* 6,000 Enemies (1939)
* Thunder Afloat (1939)
* Judge Hardy and Son (1939)

1940s|

* Andy Hardy Meets Debutante (1940)
* Kit Carson (1940)
* Sky Murder (1940)
* Gallant Sons (1940)
* Andy Hardy's Private Secretary (1941)
* Life Begins for Andy Hardy (1941)
* A Yank on the Burma Road (1942)
* The Courtship of Andy Hardy (1942)
* Pierre of the Plains (1942)
* Andy Hardy's Double Life (1942)
* Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble (1944)

* v
* t
* e

Films produced by Edward Small

1910-20s|

* Who's Your Neighbor? (1917)
* The Sporting Lover (1926)
* The Cohens and Kellys (1926)
* The Gorilla (1927)
* McFadden's Flats (1927)
* Ladies' Night in a Turkish Bath (1928)
* The Cohens and the Kellys in Paris (1928)
* My Man (1928)
* Companionate Marriage (1928)
* Song of Love (1929)

1930s|

* Clancy in Wall Street (1930)
* Igloo (1932)
* I Cover the Waterfront (1933)
* Palooka (1933)
* The Count of Monte Cristo (1934)
* Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round (1934)
* Let 'Em Have It (1935)
* Red Salute (1935)
* The Melody Lingers On (1935)
* The Last of the Mohicans (1936)
* The Bride Walks Out (1936)
* We Who Are About to Die (1937)
* Sea Devils (1937)
* New Faces of 1937 (1937)
* Super-Sleuth (1937)
* The Toast of New York (1937)
* The Duke of West Point (1938)
* King of the Turf (1939)
* The Man in the Iron Mask (1939)

1940s|

* My Son, My Son! (1940)
* The Son of Monte Cristo (1940)
* South of Pago Pago (1940)
* Kit Carson (1940)
* International Lady (1941)
* The Corsican Brothers (1941)
* A Gentleman After Dark (1942)
* Twin Beds (1942)
* Miss Annie Rooney (1942)
* Friendly Enemies (1942)
* Up in Mabel's Room (1944)
* Abroad with Two Yanks (1944)
* Brewster's Millions (1945)
* Getting Gertie's Garter (1945)
* Temptation (1946)
* The Return of Monte Cristo (1946)
* T-Men (1947)
* The Black Arrow (1948)
* The Fuller Brush Man (1948)
* Raw Deal (1948)
* Walk a Crooked Mile (1948)
* Black Magic (1949)

1950s|

* Davy Crockett, Indian Scout (1950)
* The Iroquois Trail (1950)
* Valentino (1951)
* Lorna Doone (1951)
* The Texas Rangers (1951)
* Indian Uprising (1952)
* Scandal Sheet (1952)
* The Brigand (1952)
* Cripple Creek (1952)
* Kansas City Confidential (1952)
* The Bandits of Corsica (1953)
* Captain John Smith and Pocahontas (1953)
* Dragon's Gold (1953)
* Gun Belt (1953)
* The Neanderthal Man (1953)
* 99 River Street (1953)
* Raiders of the Seven Seas (1953)
* Sabre Jet (1953)
* The Steel Lady (1953)
* Wicked Woman (1953)
* Captain Kidd and the Slave Girl (1954)
* Khyber Patrol (1954)
* The Lone Gun (1954)
* Overland Pacific (1954)
* Return to Treasure Island (1954)
* Southwest Passage (1954)
* Down Three Dark Streets (1954)
* New York Confidential (1955)
* The Naked Street (1955)
* Top Gun (1955)
* Comanche (1955)
* Gun Brothers (1956)
* UFO (1956)
* Chicago Confidential (1957)
* 5 Steps to Danger (1957)
* Gun Duel in Durango (1957)
* The Iron Sheriff (1957)
* Monkey on My Back (1957)
* Curse of the Faceless Man (1958)
* Hong Kong Confidential (1958)
* It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958)
* Toughest Gun in Tombstone (1958)
* Witness for the Prosecution (1958)
* The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake (1959)
* Guns, Girls and Gangsters (1959)
* Inside the Mafia (1959)
* Invisible Invaders (1959)
* Pier 5, Havana (1959)
* Riot in Juvenile Prison (1959)
* Solomon and Sheba (1959)
* Timbuktu (1959) (had name removed from credits)
* Vice Raid (1959)

1960s|

* Cage of Evil (1960)
* A Dog's Best Friend (1960)
* Gunfighters of Abilene (1960)
* The Music Box Kid (1960)
* Noose for a Gunman (1960)
* Oklahoma Territory (1960)
* Three Came to Kill (1960)
* The Walking Target (1960)
* Boy Who Caught a Crook (1961)
* The Cat Burglar (1961)
* Doctor Blood's Coffin (1961)
* Frontier Uprising (1961)
* Five Guns to Tombstone (1961)
* The Flight That Disappeared (1961)
* The Gambler Wore a Gun (1961)
* Gun Fight (1961)
* Mary Had a Little... (1961)
* Operation Bottleneck (1961)
* Police Dog Story (1961)
* Secret of Deep Harbor (1961)
* The Snake Woman (1961)
* Three on a Spree (1961)
* When the Clock Strikes (1961)
* You Have to Run Fast (1961)
* The Greengage Summer (1961)
* Beauty and the Beast (1962)
* The Clown and the Kid (1962)
* Deadly Duo (1962)
* Gun Street (1962)
* Incident in an Alley (1962)
* Jack the Giant Killer (1962)
* Saintly Sinners (1962)
* Tower of London (1962)
* Diary of a Madman (1963)
* Twice Told Tales (1963)
* I'll Take Sweden (1965)
* Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! (1966)
* Frankie and Johnny (1966)
* The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz (1968)
* The File of the Golden Goose (1969)
* The Christine Jorgensen Story (1970)

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