Virginia City (1940)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writer:

Robert Buckner (original screenplay)
(more)

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 | Soldier

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
Charles Middleton	...	Jefferson Davis
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Trevor Bardette	...	Union fanatic with knife (uncredited)
Hank Bell	...	Barfly (uncredited)
Ward Bond	...	Confederate sergeant checking passengers (uncredited)
Roy Bucko	...	Barfly (uncredited)
Lane Chandler	...	Irby's orderly at Libby (uncredited)
Spencer Charters	...	Sazerac Saloon bartender (uncredited)
George Chesebro	...	Southerner (uncredited)
Tex Cooper	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Ben Corbett	...	Barfly (uncredited)
Harry Cording	...	Scarecrow (Union prisoner at Libby) (uncredited)
Claire Du Brey	...	Southern woman with rifle (uncredited)
Tom Dugan	...	Saloon spieler (uncredited)
Jim Farley	...	Southerner (uncredited)
Paul Fix	...	Murrell's henchman (uncredited)
Roy Gordon	...	Major Gen. Taylor (uncredited)
George Guhl	...	Sazerac Saloon bartender #2 (uncredited)
Henry Hall	...	Union officer (uncredited)
Thurston Hall	...	Gen. George Meade (uncredited)
Charles Halton	...	Ralston (Virginia City banker) (uncredited)
Al Haskell	...	Guerrilla (uncredited)
Howard C. Hickman	...	Confederate General Page (uncredited)
Max Hoffman Jr.	...	Union sergeant (uncredited)
Robert Homans	...	Southerner (uncredited)
William Hopper	...	Lieutenant reporting Murrell's attack (uncredited)
Reed Howes	...	Union sergeant on horse (uncredited)
Edward Keane	...	Officer (uncredited)
Jack Kenny	...	Barfly (uncredited)
Bernard L. Kowalski	...	Extra (uncredited)
Ethan Laidlaw	...	Union Soldier (uncredited)
Wilfred Lucas	...	Southerner (uncredited)
Sam McDaniel	...	Sam Moore (black driver) (uncredited)
Walter Miller	...	Sergeant in saloon reporting Irby's whereabouts (uncredited)
Frank Mills	...	Prisoner at Libby Prison (uncredited)
Shirley Mills	...	Crying young Southern girl (uncredited)
Art Mix	...	Southerner (uncredited)
Kansas Moehring	...	Southerner (uncredited)
Monte Montague	...	Wells Fargo stage driver (uncredited)
Philip Morris	...	Confederate sentry (uncredited)
Jack Mower	...	Outpost officer (uncredited)
Wedgwood Nowell	...	Prosecuting officer (uncredited)
Artie Ortego	...	Guerrilla (uncredited)
Bud Osborne	...	Ted - Stage Driver (uncredited)
Eddie Parker	...	Lieutenant (uncredited)
George Reeves	...	Maj. Drewery's Union Telegrapher (uncredited)
George Regas	...	Murrell's halfbreed henchman (uncredited)
Albert Russell	...	Southerner (uncredited)
Georgia Simmons	...	Southern spinster (uncredited)
Al Taylor	...	Barfly (uncredited)
Charles Trowbridge	...	Seddon - Aide to Jefferson Davis (uncredited)
Brandon Tynan	...	Trenholm (uncredited)
Blackie Whiteford	...	Townsman standing by stagecoach (uncredited)
Norman Willis	...	Union Sergeant (uncredited)

Directed by
Michael Curtiz

Writing credits
Robert Buckner		(original screenplay)
Howard Koch		uncredited
Norman Reilly Raine		uncredited

Produced by
Robert Fellows	....	associate producer
Hal B. Wallis	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Max Steiner

Cinematography by
Sol Polito		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
George Amy

Art Direction by
Ted Smith
Robert M. Haas		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Orry-Kelly		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Perc Westmore	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Jack L. Warner	....	executive in charge of production
Frank Mattison	....	unit manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Sherry Shourds	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Oliver S. Garretson	....	sound
Francis J. Scheid	....	sound

Special Effects by
Hans F. Koenekamp	....	special effects (as H.F. Koenekamp)
Byron Haskin	....	special effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Yakima Canutt	....	stunt double: Errol Flynn/Guinn Williams (uncredited)
Gil Perkins	....	stunts (uncredited)
Chad Trower	....	stunt rider (uncredited)
Buster Wiles	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jack Williams	....	stunts (uncredited)

Music Department
Leo F. Forbstein	....	musical director
Hugo Friedhofer	....	music arranger: orchestral music
Max Steiner	....	conductor (uncredited)

Other crew
Jo Graham	....	dialogue director

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures (as Warner Bros.-First National Pictures Inc.)

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1940) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1940) (UK) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. Pictures (1951) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Dominant Pictures Corporation (1957) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Warner Home Video (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Key Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (????) (USA) (VHS)

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:

Miriam Hopkins replaced Olivia de Havilland.

Goofs:

Continuity: During John Murrell's escape from the runaway stagecoach, Marblehead falls between the horses and clings to the underside of the coach. In one camera shot, the coach passes and no person is visible where Marblehead is supposed to be.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Soundtrack:

The Battle Hymn of the Republic

Another good one

While not up to Errol Flynn's other great western, "Dodge City," this movie is another in the long list of first-rate films that Flynn and director Michael Curtiz made together. The film has two main drawbacks: the severe miscasting of Humphrey Bogart as a Mexican bandit named Morrell (?!) and Miriam Hopkins as the Flynn/Scott love interest. Maybe she was being punished by Jack Warner for some transgression, or maybe she wanted to try to try something different, but Hopkins just isn't up to it. She plays her part of a saloon girl/spy like a grand dame, when the part calls for the sexy, comedic touch of an Ann Sheridan. Bogart's miscasting should be self-evident (you keep expecting to hear him turn to his gang of bandidos and say, "Alright, you mugs . . ."), and Randolph Scott is somewhat stiff (but still a better choice than Ronald Reagan, who was reportedly offered the part first). Other than that, though, the film has the usual Warner Bros. panache. The action scenes are first-rate, the cast--consisting of what came to be known as The Warner Bros. Stock Company--is top-notch, and the film has a zest and elan that characterizes the films that Flynn and Curtiz made together. A slam-bang western, and highly recommended.