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".
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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.
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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.Honest reviews on Virginia City (1940)
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.Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Virginia City (1940)
Although known more for his swashbucklers like Captain Blood and The Master of Ballantrae, Flynn easily made the transition to westerns while still in his prime. Some say this isn't his best western, overshadowed by such films as Dodge City and They Died with Their Boots On. I think it's one of his best, but others mileage may vary.The plot is very complex and was based on an actual incident that occurred in the South, but here Virginia City in Nevada is ground zero. I've been to the town several times and the historic main street has been preserved as it was in the late 19th century, but I couldn't tell if it was actually shot there.
But back to the movie, the plot has enough twists and turns to make you want to take notes just to track everything. The dialogue is strong and tight, and the direction seems very clear cut and unambiguous.
Flynn shines here as a Union spy out to stop a secret shipment of gold which is the South's last chance to turn the tide of the war. Randolph Scott as the southern officer spearheading the secret operation also stands out and he and Flynn play extremely well off each other. Eventually the two men come to respect each other's abilities as officers although they are officially enemies. Alan Hale Sr. and Big Boy Williams are perfect as Flynn's sidekicks who add a touch of humor to the film and are always showing up when Flynn's luck just seems about to run out.
Miriam Hopkins has been said to be miscast but she certainly isn't terrible here; but the role really needed someone with more verve and sassyness on screen. But other than that I thought she was fine. The love triangle between her, Scott, and Flynn provides for a dramatic romantic interest in the story.
Legendary character actor Douglas Dumbrill has a small part here but he worked in hundreds of movies playing every conceivable type of role and although never ascending to star status was a class act in whatever he did.
Overall a fine period piece that has stood the test of time.
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