One of the few films to dramatize the often overlooked importance of newly mined Western gold and silver in the financing of primarily the Union war machine during the Civil War. It also dramatizes the historic tunneling escape of 100 Union officers from the notorious Richmond Libby Prison. And who else to star in such a drama than Errol Flynn, with true southerner Randy Scott as his chief Confederate nemesis. Throw in some Mexican bandidos, implausibly led by Humphrey Bogart, as the third element in the fight for the gold bullion, Miriam Hopkins as a Southern spy, dance hall girl,and romantic bait for Flynn and Scott, and great Max Steiner background music, and you have the basics for a complicated and exciting Civil War Western screen play.... A decade later, in "Hangman's Knot", Scott would again play the leader of a small Confederate cavalry detachment intent on stealing gold out of Nevada to help prolong a nearly dead Confederacy. Again, there was a 3 -way battle for the gold and, again, the fate of the gold is diplomatically left unsettled.
While the screen play provides for an interesting film, this is not to say that is the most plausible screen play. Thus, Flynn and Scott are initial antagonists in the Libby Prison. Later, they are very coincidentally assigned as opponents in relation to a planned secret gold shipment from Virginia City to Texas. Given the dramatized difficulties of the overland transport of a large amount of gold over primitive roads, through mud, sand and occasional rivers, the Confederacy would likely have been long dead, even in the unlikely case that this gold eventually reached Richmond. Near the end of the film, symbolism clearly overtakes plausibility as the driving force of the plot. Some reviewers find this incongruous turn of events a flaw, but I see it as a device to get across the take home message behind the film. Thus, Scott's death clearly symbolizes the impending death of the Confederacy. The implied union of Union intelligence agent Flynn and Mariam's southern spy character after Scott's death, as well as the prior combined Confederate-Union defense of the gold against Bogart's bandidos, clearly symbolizes the impending reunion of the US against common enemies(the Nazis being the relevant contemporary foe for audiences when this film was released). Flynn's eloquent speech at his treason court martial clearly symbolizes Lincoln's rhetoric of binding the nation's wounds. Also, Flynn's Scott-infused changed attitude toward the disposition of the gold, and Mariam's supposed quick journey to Washington(by magic carpet?) to plead with Lincoln to prevent Flynn's imminent execution are highly implausible heroic acts.
Flynn's knuckle-headed sidekicks, played by Alan Hale and "Big Boy" Williams, were supposed to provide occasional comic relief, as in the Flynn-starring "Santa Fe Trail" and "Dodge City". However, Bogart's forced acting, with a phony-sounding Mexican accent, perhaps elicits as much humor in today's audiences. His character was clearly modeled on the pre-Civil War Californian Mexican bandit leader Juan Murietta. However, strangely, Bogie has the unMexican name of John Murrell, with an obvious resemblance to the name of the former Mexican outlaw! Yes, there was an infamous outlaw leader named John Murrell, long dead before the Civil War, who operated in the Mississippi river area, robbing people traveling on the river and the Nachez Trace, among various other criminal activities. His likeness was featured in the later Disney film "Davy Crocket and the River Pirates".
Now, getting to the point of my title: By coincidence, there were actually 2 Virginia Cities in the western US that were important centers of gold or silver mining during the Civil War. The newly discovered Comstock lode, next to emerging Virginia City, NV, produced mostly silver, but also significant gold, as did a few other NV sites. During the war, abundant placer gold was discovered near the emerging boom town of Virginia City, Montana Territory. It would play a central role (renamed Mineral City) in the classic Clark Gable western "The Tall Men". Now, it happens that the majority of people in this area were southern secessionists(but draft dodgers). Hence, the Lincoln administration was very concerned that much of this gold might end up in the Confederacy. Thus, a vigilante group was organized to help prevent this. Also, a program of subsidized immigration of northerners into this area was initiated. Hence, this Virginia City would have been perhaps a more logical place to site a screen play such as in this film, emphasizing gold rather than silver.
As others have noted, Miriam seems miscast in this role. She took the place of Flynn's most popular leading lady, Olivia de Havilland. True, like Scott, she was southern-bred, However, she comes across as much more detached and vulnerable than the smiling tomboyish Olivia. She was also approaching 40, to Olivia's 24 and Flynn's 31. Yes, she was a bit old for Flynn's new squeeze...Flynn, although usually portrayed as a fit swashbuckler, had numerous chronic health problems and risks that kept him out of active service in WWII. Unfortunately, he had a deep personality conflict with the well-regarded director, Michael Curtiz, who directed the majority of Flynn's best remembered films.
While the screen play provides for an interesting film, this is not to say that is the most plausible screen play. Thus, Flynn and Scott are initial antagonists in the Libby Prison. Later, they are very coincidentally assigned as opponents in relation to a planned secret gold shipment from Virginia City to Texas. Given the dramatized difficulties of the overland transport of a large amount of gold over primitive roads, through mud, sand and occasional rivers, the Confederacy would likely have been long dead, even in the unlikely case that this gold eventually reached Richmond. Near the end of the film, symbolism clearly overtakes plausibility as the driving force of the plot. Some reviewers find this incongruous turn of events a flaw, but I see it as a device to get across the take home message behind the film. Thus, Scott's death clearly symbolizes the impending death of the Confederacy. The implied union of Union intelligence agent Flynn and Mariam's southern spy character after Scott's death, as well as the prior combined Confederate-Union defense of the gold against Bogart's bandidos, clearly symbolizes the impending reunion of the US against common enemies(the Nazis being the relevant contemporary foe for audiences when this film was released). Flynn's eloquent speech at his treason court martial clearly symbolizes Lincoln's rhetoric of binding the nation's wounds. Also, Flynn's Scott-infused changed attitude toward the disposition of the gold, and Mariam's supposed quick journey to Washington(by magic carpet?) to plead with Lincoln to prevent Flynn's imminent execution are highly implausible heroic acts.
Flynn's knuckle-headed sidekicks, played by Alan Hale and "Big Boy" Williams, were supposed to provide occasional comic relief, as in the Flynn-starring "Santa Fe Trail" and "Dodge City". However, Bogart's forced acting, with a phony-sounding Mexican accent, perhaps elicits as much humor in today's audiences. His character was clearly modeled on the pre-Civil War Californian Mexican bandit leader Juan Murietta. However, strangely, Bogie has the unMexican name of John Murrell, with an obvious resemblance to the name of the former Mexican outlaw! Yes, there was an infamous outlaw leader named John Murrell, long dead before the Civil War, who operated in the Mississippi river area, robbing people traveling on the river and the Nachez Trace, among various other criminal activities. His likeness was featured in the later Disney film "Davy Crocket and the River Pirates".
Now, getting to the point of my title: By coincidence, there were actually 2 Virginia Cities in the western US that were important centers of gold or silver mining during the Civil War. The newly discovered Comstock lode, next to emerging Virginia City, NV, produced mostly silver, but also significant gold, as did a few other NV sites. During the war, abundant placer gold was discovered near the emerging boom town of Virginia City, Montana Territory. It would play a central role (renamed Mineral City) in the classic Clark Gable western "The Tall Men". Now, it happens that the majority of people in this area were southern secessionists(but draft dodgers). Hence, the Lincoln administration was very concerned that much of this gold might end up in the Confederacy. Thus, a vigilante group was organized to help prevent this. Also, a program of subsidized immigration of northerners into this area was initiated. Hence, this Virginia City would have been perhaps a more logical place to site a screen play such as in this film, emphasizing gold rather than silver.
As others have noted, Miriam seems miscast in this role. She took the place of Flynn's most popular leading lady, Olivia de Havilland. True, like Scott, she was southern-bred, However, she comes across as much more detached and vulnerable than the smiling tomboyish Olivia. She was also approaching 40, to Olivia's 24 and Flynn's 31. Yes, she was a bit old for Flynn's new squeeze...Flynn, although usually portrayed as a fit swashbuckler, had numerous chronic health problems and risks that kept him out of active service in WWII. Unfortunately, he had a deep personality conflict with the well-regarded director, Michael Curtiz, who directed the majority of Flynn's best remembered films.