William Clarke Quantrill, the Confederacy's most notorious guerrilla leader, has been depicted in at least a dozen Civil War-themed movies, though most of the characterizations of the young marauder bear little resemblance to the historical person. In Dark Command, Raoul Walsh delivers probably the most bizarre account of Quantrill and his infamous attack on Lawrence, Kan., on August 21,1863. The movie's star is a youthful John Wayne, who plays itinerant Texan Bob Seton. The pro-Union Seton finds himself in ideologically divided Kansas on the eve of the war. He decides to put down roots, influenced no doubt by the presence of the striking Claire Trevor, who plays Mary McCloud, daughter of a local pro-Southern banker. But Mary has another suitor, local schoolteacher William Cantrell (clearly intended to be Quantrill), played by the urbane Walter Pidgeon.
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