Customer Reviews

Virginia City

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Warner Bros. production of "Virginia City", has often come in for its fair share of criticism over its smaller budget than other contemporary westerns had lavished on them at this time and of the classic cases of miscasting among some of the lead performers. I for one always enjoy it and find that while it isn't anywhere near Errol Flynn's greatest role it is one where he delivers an interesting performance which can be counted among his better efforts. It is an interesting point that Errol Flynn was one of, if not the only non-American ever to find success in the western genre as evidenced by his great work in such efforts as "Dodge City", "Silver River", and in this effort.

Directed with the usual gusto by director Michael Curtiz who despite detesting Flynn personally always managed to extract fine work from him, "Virginia City" has an involved and indeed complicated story placed in the period of the American Civil war. It tells the story (based on an actual incident), of Captain Kerry Bradford (Flynn) a "yankee" who after escaping from a southern prison is sent south to Virginia City to hinder an essential shipment of $5,000,000 worth of gold secretly gathered by southern sympathisers from reaching the south's base of defence without which the war effort cannot be continued. Along the way he locks horns in a battle of wits with former goaler Captain Vance Lurby (Randolph Scott) who is determined to see that this secret shipment goes through via wagon train to Richmond to aid the cause. Also complicating Bradford's orders is the alluring dance hall singer come confederate spy Julia Hayne/Julie Adams (Miriam Hopkins) with whom he promtly falls in love and finds himself in a dilemma of mixed loyalties. Much attention has been focused on the miscasting of Miriam Hopkins in this role that perhaps required a more "sassy" type of female in the role. Hopkins always a fine actress as can be seen by her sterling work in "The Old Maid", "These Three", and "Old Acquaintance" does good work here despite being in a role not entirely suited to her screen persona. Her work in the trek on the wagon train and in particular during the spectacular attack on the wagon trains in the conclusion is excellent and goes some way toward improving her role and giving her some dramatic potential from the earlier largely unsatisfactory dance hall scenes where she does appear out of place. Humphrey Bogart also appears in the film as the villian of the piece half breed Mexican John Murrell who is determined to get his hands on this shipment of gold by fair means or foul. He is badly miscast here playing a Mexican bandito and in 1940 was only just pulling himself out of the second string villian roles which were his forte during the 1930's. He obviously still had little say in the choice of his roles which would change very quickly after his wonderful performances in films like "The Maltese Falcon". Flynn "sidekicks", Alan Hale and Guinn "Big Boy" Williams round out the cast and bring some humour to their roles as Bradford loyal friends who seem to just turn up when he most needs their support. Their easy rapport with Errol Flynn is a strong point of the film and is a real pleasure to see in "Virginia City", based no doubt on the fact that they worked more often with Errol Flynn on screen than with anyone else.

"Virginia City", an "A" class production for 1940 benefits greatly from some beautiful location photography and the camerawork and staging in particular around the scenes of the wagon train attack cannot be bettered. Perhaps this type of film cries out for technicolour which had been used to such great effect in Errol Flynn's western effort of the previous year "Dodge City", however it is still effective in the beautiful shades of black and white photography. The obvious care and attention to detail are very evident here and they are the elements that lift this film up a notch or two above your average western of the time. Indeed no Errol Flynn film in this period could ever be classed as average as he was one of Warner Bros top Box Office stars and his films brought in guaranteed fortunes upon release.

"Virginia City" with its off beat casting, unusual conclusion which I wont give away for the benefit of those who haven't seen it yet, and the chance to see Errol Flynn ideally cast in his absolute prime, has indeed much to recommend it as entertainment from this period. Not the best western ever made but still a well put together production which despite its flaws makes great viewing. Enjoy Errol Flynn and Miriam Hopkins in their only performance together in Warner Bros. "Virginia City".

Could any two less likely major stars be chosen to carry a Hollywood oater? There's Errol Flynn, an Australian with an accent of sorts who made his name waving a sword at sea and shooting arrows in forests. There's Miriam Hopkins, one of the most sophisticated and slyest actresses Hollywood has ever seen, but whose career as a major star in major movies had declined since the late Thirties. Yet together with Randolph Scott and director Michael Curtiz, they turn Virginia City into a rouser, part full-blown action western and part patriotic soap opera. With the movie slightly more than two hours long, Curtiz crams in more set-ups than probably he should have, but even all those separate piece-parts look good.

Kerry Bradford (Flynn) is a Union officer imprisoned in Libby Prison just outside of Richmond. Vance Irby (Randolph Scott) is a Confederate officer assigned to run the prison while he recuperates from war wounds. The war is not going well for the Confederates. Bradford and two pals break out just as Confederate spy Julia Hayne (Miriam Hopkins), based in Virginia City, Nevada, arrives for a meeting with old friend Irby. Confederate mine owners in Virginia City have accumulated enough gold for a major shipment to Richmond...$5 million in bullion that could change the war. With Jefferson Davis' approval, Irby is ordered to go to Virginia City and organize a wagon train to try to get the gold down to Texas and the Gulf coast, then by ship back to Richmond. But Union spies know the gold is being readied. Bradford, back in uniform, convinces his superiors to send him to Virginia City, locate the gold and stop the shipment. And who should be on the stagecoach taking Kerry and his two pals to Virginia City? Yes, Julia Hayne. And not just her. There's a man with a hairline mustache, a twitchy way, a false smile and a strangely uncertain Mexican accent. It's Humphrey Bogart, disguised as the renegade John Murrell, the leader of Murrell's Marauders, a group of hard-riding robbers and killers.

The stage is set for action...hair-breadth escapes, run-away stage coaches, tense stand-offs, rousing songs at the Sazerac Saloon (where Julia is the headliner as a singer and dancer), a desperate wagon train running out of water and attacked in the desert by Humphrey Bogart, bullet extractions, beautiful desert scenery, a court martial and a cavalry charge to the rescue, not in that order. We even get a dignified Jefferson Davis, a jocular General George Meade and a merciful and wise Abraham Lincoln, who recites parts of his second inaugural address to a teary-eyed Julia.

Errol Flynn does a bang-up job, but Miriam Hopkins and Humphrey Bogart are game but miscast. Hopkins is as unlikely an earnest Southern spy as she is a saloon singer, yet she's still highly watchable as both. She was born and raised in Georgia, but the softness of a high-bred Southern belle with something approximating a New England tease makes for an accent that's uniquely hers. Her lower choppers are charmingly irregular and she can handle a high kick with ease. Hopkins was so mischievous and sly an actress that it must have been hard to find the right movies for her. That she took Hollywood less than seriously probably didn't help. For her best work, you'll need to watch Trouble in Paradise and The Smiling Lieutenant in the Eclipse Series 8 release of Lubitsch Musicals. At 47 she was memorable as Aunt Livinia in
The Heiress.

As for Bogart, after this movie he probably counted his blessings that in the following year he broke through with High Sierra and The Maltese Falcon. If Bogart hadn't scored these two, it's just likely he would have been stuck for the rest of his life competing for character parts with J. Carroll Naish.

Thank goodness we have Randolph Scott to provide the movie's steadfastness and old-fashioned honor. He may be playing a reb, he may be up against Errol Flynn as a hero and a suitor, but Scott knows how to hold his own in these kinds of pictures. On balance, Virginia City is easy to watch, thanks to Scott and Flynn. Miriam Hopkins makes for a unique kind of heroine and even Humphrey Bogart's secondary villain is interesting in a ludicrous sort of way.

Flynn stars as an escaped prisioner during the Civil War who goes to Virginia City, Nevada to try and intercept a shipment of gold bullion earmarked for the Confederacy. His two frequent co-stars (and off screen drinking buddies), Guinn "Big Boy" Williams and Alan Hale accompany him. On the stagecoach West, Flynn meets and falls in love with a shy and secretive young woman (the woefully miscased Miriam Hopkins) He will meet her again in Virginia City under entirely different circumstances. The villian is the capable Randolph Scott who is a Confederate spy bent on getting the gold out of town. A hilariously miscased Humphrey Bogart appears as a Mexican bandito complete with black hair and a sleazy moustache and an accent worthy of the Taco Bell dog! Not to be missed for this alone! The climax is a harrowing Indian attack on the wagon train and an interesting off-beat ending.

Contrary to popular belief, this movie was not a sequel to DODGE CITY, the Technicolor epic Flynn made with Olivia de Havilland the year before. This movie was originally intended to contain a better plotted script than it's predessesor, but something went wrong. Flynn plays a Union officer who escapes from the Confederate Libby Prison and goes to Virginia City to block a $5 million gold shipment that Southern sympathizers are preparing to smuggle through the Union lines to the hard-pressed Confederacy. Randolph Scott is the former commandant of Libby Prison who plans to send the gold to Richmond by wagon train and Miriam Hopkins is quite frankly miscast as the dancer-hall entertainer functioning as a Southern spy. Even more ludicrous is the usually reliable Bogey - here he's cast as a half-breed outlaw who speaks with a most unconvincing dialect. Although the final shooting script of this film tells a good story, the wooden dialogue and scenes work considerably against it. All the characters, with the exceptions of Jefferson Davis and President Lincoln (he's seen in shadow only) are fictitious, however the basic incident of the gold shipment is based on fact.

Towards the end of the Civil War, Union spy Errol Flynn is sent to Virginia City to stop a secret Confederate shipment of gold from reaching its destination, thus giving the South money to finance its failing war effort. Randolph Scott is the Confederate soldier in charge of the operation, and Miriam Hopkins is the dance hall girl/Confederate spy who helps to set it all up. Fans of Dodge City will find this Flynn western to be a disappointment, since it lacks the colour and spectacle and sense of fun of Dodge City. Flynn walks his way through the role without much conviction, but then again, he is saddled with less than acceptable co-stars. Scott is boring in his role, and poor Miriam Hopkins was a terrible choice for hers. She is very out of place in the story, not convincing as a spy and even less convincing as a showgirl! This role needed Ann Sheridan or Alexis Smith. But an even worse bit of casting is Humphrey Bogart as a Mexican (!) bandit. Max Steiner provides a rousing Western score, but sadly, the story defeats it. Some of the action is good, but the film never involves the audience much, and the ending left me cold. Errol Flynn and director Michael Curtiz made several other films together that are quite a bit better than this one.

Warner Bros. Pictures presents "VIRGINIA CITY" (1940) (121 min/B&W) (Fully Restored/Dolby Digitally Remastered) -- Starring Errol Flynn, Miriam Hopkins, Randolph Scott, Humphrey Bogart, Frank McHugh, Alan Hale & Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams

Directed by Michael Curtiz

After escaping from a Confederate prison during the Civil War, Union officer Flynn vows to stop a $5,000,000 gold shipment from reaching the South. He is challenged by Southern sympathizer Randolph Scott, whose interest in the gold is patriotic, and by outlaw Humphrey Bogart whose interests are purely mercenary. Adding spice to the proceedings is Miriam Hopkins as a dance hall chanteuses-cum-Confederate spy.

Three of my favorite actors during this era Flynn, Scott and Bogart, never be another like them.

As usual a great Max Steiner score.

BIOS:
1. Michael Curtiz [aka: Manó Kertész Kaminer] [Director]
Date of Birth: 24 December 1886 - Budapest, Austria-Hungary (now Hungary)
Date of Death: 10 April 1962 - Hollywood, California

2. Errol Flynn [aka: Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn]
Date of Birth: 20 June 1909, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Date of Death: 14 October 1959, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Mr. Jim's Ratings:
Quality of Picture & Sound: 3 Stars
Performance: 3 Stars
Story & Screenplay: 3 Stars
Overall: 3 Stars [Original Music, Cinematography & Film Editing]

Total Time: 121 min on VHS ~ Warner Bros. Pictures ~ (12/07/1994)

Could any two less likely major stars be chosen to carry a Hollywood oater? There's Errol Flynn, an Australian with an accent of sorts who made his name waving a sword at sea and shooting arrows in forests. There's Miriam Hopkins, one of the most sophisticated and slyest actresses Hollywood has ever seen, but whose career as a major star in major movies had declined since the late Thirties. Yet together with Randolph Scott and director Michael Curtiz, they turn Virginia City into a rouser, part full-blown action western and part patriotic soap opera. With the movie slightly more than two hours long, Curtiz crams in more set-ups than probably he should have, but even all those separate piece-parts look good.

Kerry Bradford (Flynn) is a Union officer imprisoned in Libby Prison just outside of Richmond. Vance Irby (Randolph Scott) is a Confederate officer assigned to run the prison while he recuperates from war wounds. The war is not going well for the Confederates. Bradford and two pals break out just as Confederate spy Julia Hayne (Miriam Hopkins), based in Virginia City, Nevada, arrives for a meeting with old friend Irby. Confederate mine owners in Virginia City have accumulated enough gold for a major shipment to Richmond...$5 million in bullion that could change the war. With Jefferson Davis' approval, Irby is ordered to go to Virginia City and organize a wagon train to try to get the gold down to Texas and the Gulf coast, then by ship back to Richmond. But Union spies know the gold is being readied. Bradford, back in uniform, convinces his superiors to send him to Virginia City, locate the gold and stop the shipment. And who should be on the stagecoach taking Kerry and his two pals to Virginia City? Yes, Julia Hayne. And not just her. There's a man with a hairline mustache, a twitchy way, a false smile and a strangely uncertain Mexican accent. It's Humphrey Bogart, disguised as the renegade John Murrell, the leader of Murrell's Marauders, a group of hard-riding robbers and killers.

The stage is set for action...hair-breadth escapes, run-away stage coaches, tense stand-offs, rousing songs at the Sazerac Saloon (where Julia is the headliner as a singer and dancer), a desperate wagon train running out of water and attacked in the desert by Humphrey Bogart, bullet extractions, beautiful desert scenery, a court martial and a cavalry charge to the rescue, not in that order. We even get a dignified Jefferson Davis, a jocular General George Meade and a merciful and wise Abraham Lincoln, who recites parts of his second inaugural address to a teary-eyed Julia.

Errol Flynn does a bang-up job, but Miriam Hopkins and Humphrey Bogart are game but miscast. Hopkins is as unlikely an earnest Southern spy as she is a saloon singer, yet she's still highly watchable as both. She was born and raised in Georgia, but the softness of a high-bred Southern belle with something approximating a New England tease makes for an accent that's uniquely hers. Her lower choppers are charmingly irregular and she can handle a high kick with ease. Hopkins was so mischievous and sly an actress that it must have been hard to find the right movies for her. That she took Hollywood less than seriously probably didn't help. For her best work, you'll need to watch Trouble in Paradise - Criterion Collection, The Smiling Lieutenant in Eclipse Series 8 - Lubitsch Musicals (The Love Parade / The Smiling Lieutenant / One Hour with You / Monte Carlo) (Criterion Collection) and Design for Living in The Gary Cooper Collection (Design for Living / The Lives of a Bengal Lancer / Peter Ibbetson / The General Died at Dawn / Beau Geste). At 47 she was memorable as Aunt Livinia in The Heiress (Universal Cinema Classics).

As for Bogart, after this movie he probably counted his blessings that in the following year he broke through with High Sierra (Keepcase) and The Maltese Falcon Three-Disc Special Edition (1941 & 1931 versions / Satan Met a Lady). If Bogart hadn't scored these two, it's just likely he would have been stuck for the rest of his life competing for character parts with J. Carroll Naish.

Thank goodness we have Randolph Scott to provide the movie's steadfastness and old-fashioned honor. He may be playing a reb, he may be up against Errol Flynn as a hero and a suitor, but Scott knows how to hold his own in these kinds of pictures. On balance, Virginia City is easy to watch, thanks to Scott and Flynn. Miriam Hopkins makes for a unique kind of heroine and even Humphrey Bogart's secondary villain is interesting in a ludicrous sort of way.

Warner Bros. presents "VIRGINIA CITY" (23 March 1940) (121 mins/B&W) (Fully Restored/Dolby Digitally Remastered) -- Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn was an Australian film actor, most famous for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films and his flamboyant lifestyle --- Flynn became an overnight sensation with his first starring role in Captain Blood (1935). He became typecast as a swashbuckler and made a host of such films, including The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), The Dawn Patrol (1938) with his close friend David Niven, Dodge City (1939), The Sea Hawk (1940), and Adventures of Don Juan (1948).

Flynn played opposite Olivia de Havilland in eight films, including Captain Blood, The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), The Adventures of Robin Hood, Dodge City, Santa Fe Trail (1940), and They Died with Their Boots On (1941). While Flynn acknowledged his attraction to her, film historian Rudy Behlmer's assertions that they were romantically involved during the filming of Robin Hood (see the Special Edition of Robin Hood on DVD, 2003), have been disputed by de Havilland. Their relationship was, she said in an interview for Turner Classic Movies, platonic, mostly because Flynn was already married to Lili Damita. The Adventures of Robin Hood was Flynn's first in Technicolor.

By the 1950s, Flynn had become a parody of himself. Heavy alcohol and drug abuse left him prematurely aged and bloated, but he won acclaim as a drunken ne'er-do-well in The Sun Also Rises (1957), and as his idol John Barrymore in Too Much Too Soon (1958). His autobiography, My Wicked, Wicked Ways, was published just months after his death and contains humorous anecdotes about Hollywood (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Under the production staff of:
Michael Curtiz - Director
Hal B. Wallis - Producer / Executive Producer
Robert Buckner - Screenwriter / Screen Story
Howard Koch - Screenwriter
Norman Reilly Raine - Screenwriter
Sol Polito - Cinematographer
Max Steiner - Composer (Music Score)
George J. Amy - Editor
Ted Smith - Art Director
Robert M. Fellows - Associate Producer
Perc Westmore - Makeup
Byron Haskin - Special Effects
H.F. Koenekamp - Special Effects
Sherry Shourds - First Assistant Director

Our story line and plot, Union officer Kerry Bradford (Errol Flynn), Olaf Swenson (Alan Hale) and 'Marblehead' (Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams) escapes from Confederate Prison and is set to Virginia City in Nevada --- Once there he finds that the former commander of his prison Vance Irby (Randolph Scott) is planning to send $5 million in gold to save the Confederacy --- John Murrell (Humphrey Bogart) sporting a mustache, was a half-breed outlaw hired by Scott to divert Flynn --- but Bogey finds the temptation of having the money for himself irresistible --- The performance of Bogart, despite his determination to be animated, he is doing his best but is somewhat wooden --- We find Bogey is out of place in westerns set in the old west --- Bogey could fit into the modern west of his period, and gave first rate performances in "THE PETRIFIED FOREST" (1936), "HIGH SIERRA" (1941) , and (best of all) is "THE TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRES" (1948) --- Virginia City is a good film even though it is true Bogey was terribly miscast --- Randy Scott is wonderful as the Rebel officer and somewhat carries the film and Flynn gives a poignant performance as the union officer, particularly when they had scenes of them in the Rebel POW camp --- Mirima Hopkin's version of "Battle Cry Of Freedom." is one of the best with sincere and touching moments --- there's good support cast members from Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, Alan Hale, Sr., John Litel, and Moroni Olsen, all veterans of the Western genre --- Plus the stirring music score by Max Steiner, add sweeping vistas of the West, and the struggles of the Confederate sympathizers in their efforts to succeed in their task, and you have a film that could have been great, but falls short --- however it is still a good film worth the price of a ticket.

the cast includes:
Errol Flynn ... Kerry Bradford
Miriam Hopkins ... Julia Hayne
Randolph Scott ... Vance Irby
Humphrey Bogart ... John Murrell
Frank McHugh ... Mr. Upjohn
Alan Hale ... Olaf Swenson
Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams ... 'Marblehead'
John Litel ... Marshall
Douglass Dumbrille ... Major Drewery (as Douglas Dumbrille)
Moroni Olsen ... Cameron
Russell Hicks ... Armistead
Dickie Jones ... Cobby
Frank Wilcox ... Union Soldier
Russell Simpson ... Gaylord
Victor Kilian ... Abraham Lincoln
Charles Middleton ... Jefferson Davis
Hank Bell ... Saloon patron
Ward Bond ... Confederate sergeant checking passengers
Lane Chandler ... Irby's orderly at Libby
Paul Fix ... Murrell's henchman
William Hopper ... Lieutenant reporting Murrell's attack
Reed Howes ... Union sergeant
Walter Miller ... Sergeant in saloon reporting Irby's whereabouts
Frank Mills ... Prisoner at Libby Prison
Monte Montague ... Wells Fargo stage driver
Bud Osborne ... Ted
Eddie Parker ... Lieutenant
George Reeves ... Maj. Drewery's telegrapher

BIOS:
1. Errol Flynn
Date of Birth: 20 June 1909 - Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Date of Death: 14 October 1959 - Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

2. Miriam Hopkins
Date of Birth: 18 October 1902 - Savannah, Georgia
Date of Death: 9 October 1972 - New York, New York

3. Randolph Scott
Date of Birth: 23 January 1898 - Orange County, Virginia
Date of Death: 2 March 1987 - Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California

4. Humphrey Bogart
Date of Birth: 25 December 1899 - New York, New York
Date of Death: 14 January 1957 - Los Angeles, California

Hats off and thanks to Les Adams (collector/guideslines for character identification), Chuck Anderson (Webmaster: The Old Corral/B-Westerns.Com), Boyd Magers (Western Clippings), Bobby J. Copeland (author of "Trail Talk"), Rhonda Lemons (Empire Publishing Inc) and Bob Nareau (author of "The Real Bob Steele") as they have rekindled my interest once again for B-Westerns and Serials --- If you're into the memories of B-Westerns with high drama, this is the one you've been anxiously waiting for --- please stand up and take a bow Western Classics --- all my heroes have been cowboys!

Total Time: 121 min on VHS/DVD ~ Warner Home Video ~ (8/26/2008)

The Michael Curtiz directed "Virginia City" was a glorified Hollywood Western spectacle with an accomplished group of actors who were inanely miscast.

A clearly out of step Miriam Hopkins playing Southern sympathizer Julia Hayne, a dance hall girl from a fine Virginia family now living in Virginia City, Nevada comes to Confederate president Jefferson Davis with a plan. In these waning days of the Civil War, the vanquishing of the South looms near. Hopkins proposes a donation of 5 million dollars in gold courtesy of the Southern rooted owners of the fabled Comestock mine to help prolong the struggle.

Capt. Vance Irby played nicely by Randolph Scott, commandant of Richmond's Libby prison is chosen to lead the wagon trail loaded with the booty back to Richmond. One of Scott's inmates Capt. Kerry Bradford played by Errol Flynn escaped the prison with two comrades and is commissioned by Union bigwigs to prevent the purported convoy of gold from reaching the Confederate coffers.

Both Scott and Flynn and their minions converge on Virginia City to complete their respective missions. Thrown into the equation is John Murrell a Mexican half breed desperado played by a woefully miscast Humphrey Bogart, sporting a pencil thin mustache and an awful accent, who leading a band of renegades has designs on securing the rich hoard of gold being transported.

The plot plods on depicting the heroic struggles of the wagon train destined for the South but bogged down in the barren deserts of the Southwest. The conclusion was far too melodramatic to be even remotely palatable and ultimately destines the film to mediocrity.

"Virginia City" is another Errol Flynn/Michael Curtiz collaboration - this time for a western released in 1940. Curtiz and Flynn did a dozen films together including "Captain Blood" (1935), "Charge of the Light Brigade" (1936),"Robin Hood" (1938), and "Dodge City" (1939). In 1940 alone they produced 3 films - "Virginia City", "The Sea Hawk", and "Santa fe Trail". While they had an extremely successful on screen relationship, off screen they were bitter enemies, complicated by the fact that Flynn's first wife had earlier been married to Curtiz.

In his autobiography, Flynn (1909-59) said he was aggravated by Curtiz's "charming habit of blaming everything on everyone else" and his disregard for actors' safety as a "ruthless perfectionist" looking for "real bloodshed". He said he spent "5 miserable years with him."

Flynn got his big break as "Captain Blood" (1935) because Robert Donat turned down the part following his success in "The 39 Steps" and his refusal to play a one dimensional swash buckler. Flynn had no such compunctions and the rest is history. By 1940 Flynn was a top star with such films as "The Charge of the Light Brigade" (1936), "The Adventures of Robin Hood" (1938), and "Dodge City" (1939) in 1940. In this film Flynn plays a Union officer who escapes from a Confederate prison, although originally he was supposed to play the part of the Confederate prison commander, a role that Randolph Scott played.

In his autobiography Flynn said "Putting me in cowboy pictures seemed to me the most ridiculous miscasting."

Though Curtiz did a lot of work with Flynn, and was nominated for their first collaboration "Captain Blood", Curtiz received 2 more nominations for films with Jimmy Cagney ("Angels with Dirty Faces" in 1938 and "Yankee Doddle Dandy" in 1941) and one win for a film with Bogart ("Casablanca" in 1942), one of eight they made together. Curtiz had a sense of humor about himself - he once declared "The next time I want an idiot to do this, I'll do it myself."

The film co-stars Miriam Hopkins, Randolph Scott, Humphrey Bogart with Alan Hale Sr., Frank McHugh, Big Boy Williams, and Russell Simpson. Ward Bond, Paul Fix, and George Reeves are also there, but if you sneeze you'll miss them.

Randolph Scott (1898-1987) started in silent films and made a name for himself in the 40s playing a variety of characters in a variety of films - "My Favorite Wife" (1940), "To the Shores of Tripoli" (1941), "Captain Kidd" (1945), "Home Sweet Homicide" (1946) - but by the 50s he was appearing exclusively in B westerns - "Sugarfoot" (1951), "Carson City" (1952), "The Bounty Hunter" (1954), "7th Calvary" (1956), "Westbound" (1958) - most of which were directed by Budd Boetticher (7 films) or Andre de Toth (6 films). By the time he made "Ride the High Country" (1962), one of the best damned westerns ever filmed, Scott had amassed a fortune from California real estate investments, and he retired from film making because he considered his performance in "High Country" to be a good note to go out on.

Little need be said about Humphrey Bogart (1899-1957). In the 30s, Bogart played second fiddle to Warner's biggest star James Cagney(e.g., "The Oklahoma Kid", "Angels with Dirty Faces", "Dead End"), but in 1941 Bogart starred in "High Sierra" and "The Maltese Falcon" and from that point onward, Bogart became a big name star, eventually surpassing Cagney in 1943 on the tail of his performance in "Casablanca". "Virginia City" is one of the last films in which Bogie played second fiddle to anyone. In this film Bogie plays a half-breed bandit with a Mexican accent. This may be his worst performance of all time, so the film is worth viewing from that perspective alone.

Miriam Hopkins (1902-72) plays a dance hall girl (and secret spy for the South), a role that the great Olivia de Haviland turned down. Hopkins was nominated for an Oscar for "Becky Sharp" (1935) and for a Golden Globe for "The Heiress" (1949). She was a top rival to Bette Davis throughout the 40s. Hopkins is completely inappropriate for the role. There is no chemistry, and she looks more like Flynn's mother than his love interest. Her dancing routines are so ordinary one can't help but fondly remember how great Marlene Dietrich was as the dance hall girl in "Destry Rides Again"

Alan Hale Sr. (1892-1950) was a frequent sidekick to Flynn in films such as "Robin Hood" (1938), "Dodge City" (1939), "The Sea Hawk" (1940), "Santa Fe Trail" (1940), and "Gentleman Jim" (1942). He's teamed up with "Big Boy" Williams (1899-1962) who worked with Flynn and Hale on several films.

Flynn referred to these guys as his "Corps of actors". Hale was the "Sarge" and Williams was the "Corporal" - Flynn was "the Baron". He called Hale "the most feared character actor in Hollywood" and Williams "probably one of the most powerful men you could ever find."

Frank McHugh (1898-1981) provided comic relief to over 100 films. He was part of the original "Irish Mafia" and appeared in a dozen films with fellow mafia member Jimmy Cagney and 13 films with mafia member Pat O'Brien. McHugh appeared with Flynn in "Dodge City" (1939). He appears as an insurance salesman.

Russell Simpson (1880-1959) appears as an old, scraggy man, a role he reprised more than 200 times in a career dating from 1914 through 1959. His lanky appearance and deep voice were used effectively in films with Flynn ("Dodge City", "Santa Fe Trail"), Henry Fonda ("My Darling Clementine"), and John Wayne "The Horse Soldiers"). He was a favorite of John Ford, and he gave his most memorable performance in Ford's "Grapes of Wrath" as Pa Joad.

The legendary Hal Wallis (1899-1986) produced. Wallis worked with Flynn and Curtiz on "Captain Blood" and "Robin Hood", both of which were nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture. Wallis won the Oscar for "Casablanca" (1943). His other films include "I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang" (1932), "The Maltese Falcon" (1941), and "Yankee Doodle Dandy" (1942).

Variety said "As a shoot `em up, the picture is first class." Indeed, the film is very ambitious, covering the civil war, spies, cavalry, gunfights, acrobatics aboard a stagecoach under attack, Mexican bandits, dance hall routines, etc. The only thing missing is the Indians.

There are no bad Errol Flynn films, so "Virginia City" is certainly worth watching. But this is probably his weakest film in his halcyon period from 1935 to 1945 when he made so many great films. The problems lie with the love interest and the bad guy. Miriam Hopkins just doesn't hold water against Olivia de Haviland or Bette Davis, and Randolph Scott's confederate spy is certainly not the kind of guy to elicit jeers. Bogart's unintentionally comical villain is hardly a match for Basil Rathbone ("Captain Blood", "Robin Hood"), Raymond Massey ("Santa Fe Trail") or Anthony Quinn ("They Died with their Boots On"). Without love sparking the way, and with no formidable impediment, Flynn wanders through this film smiling and laughing as only he could.