Virginia City (1940)

Union officer Kerry Bradford 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 is planning to send $5 million in gold to save the Confederacy.

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writer:

Robert Buckner (original screen play)

Stars:

Errol Flynn, Miriam Hopkins, Randolph Scott

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Errol Flynn	...	Kerry Bradford
Miriam Hopkins	...	Julia Hayne
Randolph Scott	...	Vance Irby
Humphrey Bogart	...	John Murrell
Frank McHugh	...	Mr. Upjohn
Alan Hale	...	Olaf 'Moosehead' Swenson
Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams	...	'Marblehead'
John Litel	...	U.S. Marshal
Douglass Dumbrille	...	Maj. Drewery (as Douglas Dumbrille)
Moroni Olsen	...	Cameron
Russell Hicks	...	Armistead
Dickie Jones	...	Cobby
Frank Wilcox	...	Union Soldier
Russell Simpson	...	Gaylord
Victor Kilian	...	Abraham Lincoln

Storyline

During the American Civil War, Captain Kerry Bradford escapes from a notorious confederate prison. He and two of his men are sent to Virginia City where Confederate sympathizers are prepared to donate $5 million dollars to the cause of Southern independence. The war is going badly for the Confederacy and money may tip the war in their favor. On the stagecoach to Virginia City, Bradford meets and falls in love with Julia Hayne not realizing that she is one of the conspirators. When he gets to Virginia City, he also runs into Confederate Captain Vance Irby who has been sent to collect and safely deliver the gold. Irby manages to get out of the city but the Union cavalry is in hot pursue. When Bradfoed catches up with them, he not only has to fight Irby but also John Murrell, a bandit who has his own plans for the gold. He also

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Plot Keywords:

american civil war | arizona | arizona territory | confederate states of america | u.s. mail stagecoach | 

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Taglines:

Go West!...to Virginia City...for excitement, for adventure, for primitive romance!!!

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Genres:

Action | Drama | History | Romance | Western

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 March 1940 (USA)

Also Known As:

Virginia City

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White (Sepiatone)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The name of the villain John Murrell was taken from the leader of a bandit gang that operated along the Mississippi River in the 1820s-40s. Murrell was a small time outlaw who attained legendary status due to a sensationalized account of his life and crimes published by Virgil Stewart. The largely fictional pamphlet even influenced Mark Twain, who considered Murrell to be as large a figure as Jesse James, and wrote of Injun Joe discovering Murrell's lost treasure in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. The real life Murrell never traveled west of Arkansas, where various geographical features are named for him. He died of tuberculosis in 1844 - 19 years before Virginia City takes place. Oddly, in the film Humphrey Bogart played John Murrell with an on-again, off-again Mexican accent (it is not at all in evidence when Murrell first appears in the stagecoach scene, but seems to grow more pronounced as the film goes on).

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Goofs

In the opening scene Captain Irby inspects a pistol. He opens a loading gate on the right side of the pistol. This indicates a metallic cartridge pistol. Almost all Civil War pistols in use at that time were cap and ball or paper cartridges. Both were loaded in the open end of the cylinder and used percussion caps.

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Quotes

Vance Irby: Remember, when we meet, we've never seen each other before. Then the Federals can't suspect.
Julia Hayne: Oh, I'm an expert at that now. Treating friends like strangers and enemies like friends.

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Connections

Referenced in Hollywood Hist-o-Rama: Errol Flynn (1961)

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Soundtracks

The Captain with His Whiskers
(1820) (uncredited)
Music by Sidney Nelson
Original lyrics by Thomas Haynes Bayley
Performed by Miriam Hopkins in the saloon

User Reviews

Great movie that has stood the test of time.

This is one of my favorite movies of all time. The only regret that I have is that I had never saw it up until 2 years ago. The movie does not take sides and gives you a neutral, fly on the wall view of a story unfolding. Randolph Scott plays a Southern officer who is sent to Virginia City, NV to obtain gold so that the South can finance the Civil War. They need to do this simply because this late in the war and with the South losing, the Confederacy no longer has financial credit with foreign powers. Errol Flynn is a Northern officer sent to stop Scott from completing his mission. There is a back story concerning these two men which adds to the tension. I left out much of the details because I do not want to ruin it for anyone who checks it out. This movie proves that who is the "bad guy" depends on which side you are on as both the main characters and those associated with them are simply doing what they feel is right. Great action, great building of the characters and you wind up not sure who to root for. Two great main actors, great supporting cast and even Bogart is here, showing that westerns should have been added to his studio lineup more often, minus the whole half-Mexican bandito thing. This movie should be given a chance and is just as good today as it was in 1940.