By 1944, Wallace Beery films at MGM followed a strict formula and some of them work and some of them didn't. In this one, he's a San Francisco con man who must leave town out of the blue for shooting former partner John Carradine. He ends up in a small town in Nevada where he tries to perpetuate a gold scheme and everything goes well until Carradine shows up and threatens to spoil it all. Beery finds that he can't rip off the town filled with people that he likes, and tries to make amends, through robbing the Wells Fargo Wagon on its way into town that has Bonnie Barnes (Beery's long suffering fiancee) aboard.
I wish there was more of Barnes, seen early on giving Beery money to get out of town, and hoping he'll be able to return one day, eventually seeking him out. No sooner has he left the city the the next thing you know, he is in the private car on a train which belongs to the railroad's owner, Donald Meek, hoodwinking him as well and using his sudden friendship with Meek to influence the people in the Nevada hamlet. There's a young love story between Frances Rafferty and Bruce Kellogg (as Meek's grandson) which provides further distraction.
In typical MGM tradition, there's a great supporting cast of character actors, particularly Louise Beavers as Barnes' maid, Chill Wills, Henry Travers and Henry O'Neill. It's in A budget Western (considered a B film for MGM) that has too much going on to truly be a good film although a lot of it is very entertaining and humorous. Director Roy Del Ruth does keep the film moving at a quick pace, with Beery amusing if no different than normal. Beery's ability to charm pretty much everyone and get out of every mess he's ever been in does go over the top at times. So you have to get over the impossibilities to truly enjoy this, but you can't deny the MGM gloss aiding the film in providing decent entertainment.
I wish there was more of Barnes, seen early on giving Beery money to get out of town, and hoping he'll be able to return one day, eventually seeking him out. No sooner has he left the city the the next thing you know, he is in the private car on a train which belongs to the railroad's owner, Donald Meek, hoodwinking him as well and using his sudden friendship with Meek to influence the people in the Nevada hamlet. There's a young love story between Frances Rafferty and Bruce Kellogg (as Meek's grandson) which provides further distraction.
In typical MGM tradition, there's a great supporting cast of character actors, particularly Louise Beavers as Barnes' maid, Chill Wills, Henry Travers and Henry O'Neill. It's in A budget Western (considered a B film for MGM) that has too much going on to truly be a good film although a lot of it is very entertaining and humorous. Director Roy Del Ruth does keep the film moving at a quick pace, with Beery amusing if no different than normal. Beery's ability to charm pretty much everyone and get out of every mess he's ever been in does go over the top at times. So you have to get over the impossibilities to truly enjoy this, but you can't deny the MGM gloss aiding the film in providing decent entertainment.