After escaping from a Confederate prison, Union officer Errol Flynn is sent to Virginia City, Nevada, on a mission to prevent a gold shipment from making its way to the Rebels. But in charge of the gold shipment is Confederate officer Randolph Scott, the same man who was in charge of the prison Flynn escaped from. Complicating matters further is Scott's sister and Rebel spy Miriam Hopkins. She meets Flynn and, well, you know. Also muddying the waters is Mexican bandit Humphrey Bogart (!!!), who Scott enlists to help get the gold past Flynn without ever thinking what would happen when you wave a shipment of gold in front of an outlaw.
Decent western with a Civil War backdrop directed by Michael Curtiz. It has a little bit of everything but not enough of anything of merit. It's a long movie for its time; an early example of Hollywood's wrong-headed "longer is better" approach to filmmaking that we still deal with today (it's even worse today). Flynn goes through the motions with his usual roguish charm. Miriam Hopkins has poor chemistry with him and honestly drags the movie down. But I'm not a fan of hers in general. Scott does fine in a sympathetic quasi-villain role. One of the more interesting things about the movie is its reluctance to paint either the North or South in a completely bad light, just some 75 years removed from the Civil War. The funniest part of the movie, and probably what gets it any attention today, is the miscasting of Humphrey Bogart as a Mexican, complete with a laughable accent that comes & goes and a Cesar Romero mustache. Hilarious stuff. Curiously Bogart's character shares a name with real-life bandit John Murrell, who died two decades before this movie takes place and, to my knowledge, was as white as Cool Whip.
It's not a bad movie by any means. No picture can be bad with this director and these stars, as well as a supporting cast that includes Alan Ladd, Frank McHugh, John Litel, Douglas Dumbrille, Charles Middleton, and Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams. There are some nice actions scenes and some good dramatic ones. The ending is also a pip. It's just a bit overlong and feels like it was made just to mimic the success of previous Curtiz/Flynn classic Dodge City. But it's definitely worth a look for fans of the stars or director.
Decent western with a Civil War backdrop directed by Michael Curtiz. It has a little bit of everything but not enough of anything of merit. It's a long movie for its time; an early example of Hollywood's wrong-headed "longer is better" approach to filmmaking that we still deal with today (it's even worse today). Flynn goes through the motions with his usual roguish charm. Miriam Hopkins has poor chemistry with him and honestly drags the movie down. But I'm not a fan of hers in general. Scott does fine in a sympathetic quasi-villain role. One of the more interesting things about the movie is its reluctance to paint either the North or South in a completely bad light, just some 75 years removed from the Civil War. The funniest part of the movie, and probably what gets it any attention today, is the miscasting of Humphrey Bogart as a Mexican, complete with a laughable accent that comes & goes and a Cesar Romero mustache. Hilarious stuff. Curiously Bogart's character shares a name with real-life bandit John Murrell, who died two decades before this movie takes place and, to my knowledge, was as white as Cool Whip.
It's not a bad movie by any means. No picture can be bad with this director and these stars, as well as a supporting cast that includes Alan Ladd, Frank McHugh, John Litel, Douglas Dumbrille, Charles Middleton, and Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams. There are some nice actions scenes and some good dramatic ones. The ending is also a pip. It's just a bit overlong and feels like it was made just to mimic the success of previous Curtiz/Flynn classic Dodge City. But it's definitely worth a look for fans of the stars or director.