Review of Virginia City (1940) by Van R — 04 Mar 2010

No, Michael Curtiz's "Virginia City" is not as memorable as "Dodge City." Curtiz helmed "Dodge City"(1939) about the taming of that historic frontier railroad & cattle town with Errol Flynn triumphing over the elements of chaos.

He refuses to pin on a lawman's badge until the villains kill a helpless little boy. Warner Brothers lensed "Dodge City" in Technicolor , whereas the Burbank studio filmed "Virginia City" in black & white.

The characters in "Dodge City" possess greater charisma, including Bruce Cabot's villainous Jeff Surrett. Robert Buckner, who penned the screenplay for "Dodge City," also wrote "Virginia City.

" Furthermore, lenser Sol Polito photographed both epics, and his cinematography is outstanding, except that the gorgeous desert locations in "Virginia City" lanquish by comparison in black & white.

Although Warner Brothers wanted to capitalize on the success of "Dodge City," the studio cut many corners on this quasi-sequel. Whereas "Dodge City" was a rip-snorting, larger-than-life western, "Virginia City" differs because the good guys and the bad guys behave differently in the last quarter-hour.

The last 30-minutes are pretty contrived and the hero makes a moral decision that conflicts with his command imperatives as a Union officer. The resolution seems rather far-fetched and an effort to wrap up everything with a happily-ever after ending.

Humphrey Bogart makes an uncharacteristic appearance as a mustached Mexican bandit who preys on our heroes. The first time that he encounters Kerry Bradford (Errol Flynn) on a stagecoach, he tries to rob him, but Bradford outsmarts him.

Actually, Bogart is the only genuine villain in this Civil War era oater that takes place in Nevada. Flynn plays a resourceful U.S. Army officer Bradford who tangles with Randolph Scott's Confederate Army officer Vance Irby.

They are sworn enemies from the outset with Flynn and his cohorts Alan Hale and Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams holed up in the notorious Libby Prison with Irby as a Confederate officer in charge who catches them trying to dig their way out.

Later, they blow-up a powder magazine while tunneling to freedom when Irby is off elsewhere. Meantime, Captain Vance Irby (Randolph Scott of "She") and Julia Hayne (Miriam Hopkins of "Barbary Coast") devise an audacious scheme to transport $5-million in gold ingots from Virginia City to the South.

President Jefferson Davis (Charles Middleton of "Flash Gordon") approves of the plan. Bradford and company set out to thwart Irby and Hayne. Although it is in black & white, Curtiz and Polito provide a good-looking picture and Flynn makes a first-class hero.

Scott qualifies as a quasi-villain because Flynn and he wind up on the same side when Bogart's Hispanic outlaw attacks the wagon train led by Scott. The Confederates have cleverly concealed the gold in wagons with false bottoms.

Naturally, Flynn falls in love with Hopkins. The action scenes are terrifi, especially when Murrell and his army surround the Southern wagon train in the desert!