Australian Errol Flynn was an odd choice to star in westerns, but 1939's
Dodge
City proved such a success that Warners steered the actor back to the genre
six times in the next ten years. Although westerns were less expensive to produce
than Flynn's costume epics, 1940's
Virginia City is no cheapie. The
fanciful story stretches from the Civil War in the East to the Wild West of the
Nevada gold strikes. The action includes top-quality stunts by Yakima Canutt as
well as clever visual illusions from Warners' special effects department.
Robert Buckner's script makes a claim for authenticity in an up-front title card,
but the events of this wooly Civil War tale are pure Hollywood corn, complete
with a dashing hero, a Confederate Mata Hari, buffoonish sidekicks and noble
North-South sentiments. Randolph Scott is comfortable in a supporting role, while
Miriam Hopkins and a woefully miscast Humphrey Bogart were apparently as unhappy
with the demanding director Michael Curtiz as was Errol Flynn. Just a year later
Flynn would rebel against Curtiz and refuse to work with him again.
Synopsis: Newly escaped from a Confederate prison camp, Union officer Kerry
Bradford (Errol Flynn) convinces the Federal Army brass that he needs to depart
immediately for Virginia City, Nevada. Although the South would appear to be
beaten, Confederate sympathizers in that mining town could change the course of
the war by shipping millions in gold to the rebel president Jefferson Davis
(Charles Middleton). En route with his lunkish but loyal cohorts Olaf "Moose"
Swenson and "Marblehead" (Alan Hale & Guinn "Big Boy" Williams), Kerry repulses
an attack by Mexican bandit John Murell (Humphrey Bogart). He also falls for the
charming, secretive Julia Hayne (Miriam Hopkins). In Virginia City Kerry
discovers that Julia is really a popular dance hall singer. The Confederate agent
organizing a shipment of gold bullion is revealed to be Vance Irby (Randolph
Scott), the former commandant of the rebel prison camp. Kerry vowed that if they
ever met again, he'd make Irby pay for the treatment of the prisoners.
The engaging
Virginia City plays fast and loose, with history and simple
credibility. Actual Confederate efforts to avail themselves of frontier gold from
Colorado were a disaster, and the notion of 'sneaking' a wagon train of
Au
through 2000 miles of Union territory was never very practical. True, Vance
Irby's expedition doesn't get very far, but the whole idea is as fanciful as
Auric Goldfinger knocking off Fort Knox.
History aside, this Flynn vehicle shapes up as fast moving, escapist western
fare. Official Flynn sidekick Alan Hale and the infantile Guinn "Big Boy"
Williams provide hayseed comedy relief, shooting their guns as if swatting flies
and tripping over one another while Flynn does the heroic heavy lifting. Familiar
Warners player Frank McHugh is in for a couple of scenes as a Donald Meek-like
stagecoach companion.
Miriam Hopkins handles the role of femme fatale well enough, although audiences
surely compared her unfavorably with Flynn's presumed ideal costar Olivia de
Havilland. An unlikely adventuress-Southern Belle, Hopkins' Julia Hayne seems
heavily influenced by the massive success of
Gone With the Wind. The
princely Randolph Scott need only stand straight and say his lines to make his
noble Southerner role work; the movie bends over backwards to pretend that
personal honor can heal North-South differences. When the movie should by all
rights be finished, it continues with a court-martial scene in which Flynn rather
unconvincingly tells his superiors that he was right to let $5 million slip out
of Yankee hands. Some things do require a Presidential pardon!
As charming as ever, Errol still seems an odd fit strutting amid the sagebrush,
wearing tailored suits and some of the tightest slacks West of the Pecos. He
makes remarks about being an Irishman with anti-English sentiments (what? Someone
call Charles Higham!), yet also alludes to serving with the Brits in
Afghanistan.
Virginia City ultimately takes itself a bit too seriously for its own
good. Little Dickie Jones buys the farm when a wagon loaded with tons of gold
runs him over. As the desperate rebel gold convoy naturally grabs our sympathy,
we never know which side we should be on. Further confusing things is Humphrey
Bogart's bizarre Mexican bandit, Murell. Bogart's accent comes and goes in a
laughable characterization that's only a little less absurd than his zombie lab
assistant in
The Return of Dr. X. After seeing these two films, it takes
little effort to imagine Bogart staring in a mirror and wondering if his career
was doomed. Happily,
The Maltese Falcon and major stardom were only a few
months away.
Director Curtiz crams plenty of action into the story, giving stuntman Yakima
Canutt the opportunity to do his under-the stagecoach trick as well as several
murderous-looking horse falls. A tumble down a steep ridge sends one unlucky
horse (who may have been tripped) flying end-over-end like a puppy in a clothes
dryer. The horse gets up and is apparently unharmed, but we wouldn't be surprised
to be told that it dropped dead one frame after the camera cuts away. Michael
Curtiz had a reputation for being almost as rough on horses as he was on actors,
and ASPCA sympathizers will definitely not be amused.
Warners' DVD of
Virginia City far surpasses the quality of old TV prints;
a new digital transfer brings out every detail of Fred Koenecamp and Byron
Haskin's special effects. Watch the scene where Humphrey Bogart leaps from a
bridge into a river, and notice that he transforms from a miniature to live
action while crossing behind matte paintings of overhanging tree branches. We
also can pick out Ward Bond and George Reeves in bit roles.
The release is given the full "Warner Night at the Movies" treatment, including a
newsreel and two cartoons. Garish Technicolor adorns a grating kiddie musical
version of
Cinderella as well as a tribute to Clara Barton of the American
Red Cross. A making-of featurette for
The Charge of the Light Brigade is
also included.
Virginia City is at this time available only as part of the
Errol Flynn
Westerns Collection, with
Montana, Rocky Mountain and
San
Antonio.
For more information about
Virginia City, visit
Warner Video.To order
Virginia City,
go to
TCM Shopping.
by Glenn Erickson
