Rather dated by modern standards, with badly staged shootouts and obvious rear projection setups for when the stars are in close-up, this is still a fairly entertaining olde tyme western, thanks to a strong dash of Civil War intrigue, some (then) cutting edge work by legendary western stunt director Yakima Canutt and some truly magnificent desert scenery. Director Michael Curtiz was the model of an economical studio director and produced his usual smooth results. The movie looks good, moves efficiently and shows no evidence of flab or waste. Errol Flynn is likable as ever as a Union officer on the trail of a confederate gold shipment. Flynn was never long on acting chops, but he had a lot of amiability on screen and here he is at something close to his best. Randolph Scott is also very good as his opposite number, a stalwart Rebel captain with a plan to keep the bankrupt Confederacy in the war business. Unfortunately, the rest of the casting was a major weakness. Humphrey Bogart, a year before his star-making break in The Maltese Falcon, is here badly miscast as a Mexican bandit (I am not making this up) complete with cheesy moustache and even cheesier accent. And that's not the worst. Miriam Hopkins once again begs the question as to how she got to be a top-billed movie star. Ordinary looking and one- dimensionally earnest, she demonstrates no hint of that special uniqueness that ear-marks a movie star, and in her two rather embarrassing musical numbers fails to hint at a talent for either dancing or singing. If Judy Garland represents an 'A', and, let's say Betty Hutton gets a 'B', Hopkins would be hard pressed to crack a 'D-'. But if you can overlook the deficiencies of its leading actress, this is an efficient piece of old fashioned family entertainment of a sort not produced in a long time.
Review of Virginia City
