Virginia City (1940)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writer:

Robert Buckner (original screenplay)

Release Date:

23 March 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | History | Romance | Western

Tagline:

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

Plot:

Union officer Kerry Bradford escapes from Confederate Prison and is set to Virginia City in Nevada....

Plot Keywords:

Prison | Nevada | Gold | Escape | Hold Up

Cast

Errol Flynn	...	Captain Kerry Bradford
Miriam Hopkins	...	Julia Hayne
Randolph Scott	...	Captain Vance Irby
Humphrey Bogart	...	John Murrell
Frank McHugh	...	Mr. Upjohn
Alan Hale	...	Olaf 'Moose' Swenson
Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams	...	'Marblehead'
John Litel	...	Thomas Marshall
Douglass Dumbrille	...	Major Drewery (as Douglas Dumbrille)
Moroni Olsen	...	Dr. Robert Cameron
Russell Hicks	...	John Armistead
Dickie Jones	...	Cobby Gill
Frank Wilcox	...	Union Outpost Soldier
Russell Simpson	...	Frank Gaylord
Victor Kilian	...	Abraham Lincoln

Runtime:

USA:121 min | West Germany:105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White (Sepiatone)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:Btl | USA:Approved (PCA #5857) | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Flagstaff, Arizona, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

First film written by Howard Koch, although he didn't get screen credit.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: During John Murrell's escape from the runaway stagecoach, he shoots it out with Bradford and Swenson. All three men are firing Colt revolvers that won't become available until the 1870s.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Adventures of Errol Flynn (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Can-Can Instrumental

An average Flynn western, that could of been better if the cast was used right.

Virginia City is another Flynn western that features lots of slam bang action and some amazing stunts for it's time 1940. Especially the scene where Flynn's character does a death deafying jump from one horse to another, or his dopey friend goes underneath the stagecoach and climbs back aboard the driver's seat. Now I know where Indiana Jones got his courage from in Lost Ark's classic truck scene. Another cool stunt envolves Flynn's character doing a free fall jump down a hill with a horse that is completely suicide. With all these dangerous stunts, the audience must think this is really a great film. Answer: no, an average film. Nothing more than that. Virginia City is better than Santa Fe Trial, but Dodge City is a hell of a lot better than the two combined. The problem with Virginia City is the scenes that don't envolve action are quite boring or just completely lag. The plot is thin and so is the leading lady that teams up with Errol Flynn. His weakest women since Another Dawn in 1937. Olivia DeHavilland would of been perfect for this role. Another problem of the film is the two goof boys that tag a long with Errol. Those two guys don't necessairly have to be in every single western Errol Flynn starred in. Another bad casting job is Bogart's character who portrays a Mexican bandit. That was a bad mistake of the filmmakers. It would of been great if Errol and Humphrey teamed up for this one. What a partnership they would of made. In the end great action sequences, but lousy plot and too many annoying characters. ** out of ****.