It's almost criminal that this long, almost epic, Flynn western was left out of the Flynn Westerns DVD package, which includes only 4 of his 8 westerns. Most of the others are played occasionally on Encore Westerns or on TCM. I had been waiting years to see this, finally during a TCM month-long tribute to Flynn movies. I was surprised to learn that a DVD has been out for a few years.
We start with clashes between Union and Confederate cavalry near Gettysburg. Officer Mike McComb(Flynn) is charged with defending a small group of supply wagons, including the payroll wagon, and told not to move the wagons. However, when it becomes evident that a Confederate detachment is about to capture the wagons, he tries to outrun them, but when he senses that he can't, he decides to burn the very large payroll. Later, his superiors see this as an unacceptable response , and he is court marshalled and dismissed. However, incredibly, McComb is soon back in the army, commanding a company??!! He commands his men to rough up and throw out the owner and employees of a local gambling establishment that the soldiers have been losing their payrolls to. Then, orders them to take out the gambling equipment. From now on, McComb is driven to succeed as an important business man, using the stolen gambling equipment to get started. In the next scene, he is no longer in an army uniform. Rather, he is on a river steamer, with his gambling equipment, bound for Silver City, NV(Yes, there was a Silver City, NV, near Virginia City, long since virtually a ghost town) . I don't know where McComb started his journey from nor what river his steamboat supposedly was plying. But, based upon subsequent events, it couldn't have been too far from Silver City. I've been unable to find any mention of steamboats on any Nevada rivers near Silver City, although there were steamboats on the lower Colorado River, that stopped at some towns in Nevada. Steamboats from San Francisco to Sacramento is another possibility.
When he departs the steamboat, he needs a couple of wagons to carry his equipment on to Silver City. He tries to buy a couple from a Mrs. Georgia Moore( the beautiful Ann Sheridan), who was also on the boat, but she needs them to transport some mining equipment to her Silver River mine, near Silver City. However, the wily McComb plays poker with her wagon master and, incredibly, wins the wagons!. To say Mrs. Moore was irate would put it mildly. McComb offers her a ride, but she prefers the stage. Unfortunately, her stage breaks down on the way. Serendipitously, McComb's wagons happen by, and he again offers her a ride, which she reluctantly accepts. Now, we are positive that McComb and Mrs. Moore will end up together eventually, as unlikely as may now seem.
McComb soon establishes a gambling-oriented saloon. Somehow(?), his saloon soon becomes the dominant such establishment in town. Meanwhile, the Moores need wagons to bring more mining equipment, and inquire if McComb would sell his. Problem is they have no money. So, McComb offers to accept payment in shares in their company, which they agree to. Later, they again need money, which he agrees to give them on condition that he own 1/3 of the company, which they agree to. Some other silver-mining companies also need money, which enables McComb to also buy into their companies. He's becoming the 'silver king' of the region and starts a bank to extend his reach. Eventually, McComb and the Moores decide they need to expand their operations by buying some promising land nearby. Mr. Moore is a mining engineer, so has a good eye for promising areas. Unfortunately, he concludes that the most promising area is near hostile Shoshone territory.
Now, drunkard lawyer Plato Beck(easily recognized character actor Thomas Mitchell), who has been handling the legal aspects of McComb's wheeling and dealing, suddenly turns hostile toward McComb. He brings up the well-known bible story about King David lusting after the wife of one of his military leaders. So, he sends this leader on a dangerous military mission. Sure enough, the leader is killed, and David woes and marries his widow(Bathsheba).. Plato then suggests that McComb may be planning to mimic this story. Actually, Mr. Moore decides to go himself and have another look at this area near the Shoshones. When McComb learns this, he decides to take a group and look for him. Unfortunately, they are too late. Thus, this portion of Plato's King David analogy prophesy doesn't happen as he predicted, to McComb's credit. However, McComb does soon woe his widow. Surprisingly, she quickly changes her attitude toward McComb, and they marry. So, this part agrees with the King David story. And they lived happily ever after, right? Wrong!!. Soon, things start to go terribly wrong! I won't go into the details. Hope you get a chance to see the film some time and learn the messy details of the last part. Overall, it's quite a sprawling yarn, that even features a visit by President Grant, to encourage the mining owners to produce silver faster. The film generally lacks Flynn's frequent charm and sense of humor, but emphasizes his frequent rebellious upstart and can do characterization.
In closing, I would like to give a rundown on the changing gold/silver value ratio. In the 1800s. Until around 1870, the gold/silver value was generally pegged at about 15/1, which was close to the value since Roman times. However, beginning about 1870, the ratio began to increase, due to oversupply of silver from US mines, and to the general change from dual gold/silver monetary standard, to a gold standard. During the 1900s, the ratio fluctuated wildly, but typically was between 40 and 80/1. During the early 21st century, it has been mostly between 70 and 100/1. Thus, during the time period represented by this screenplay, the relative market value of silver compared to gold was much greater than we are used to thinking of today. In terms of its actual price, recently, it has been about 17X more valuable than its price during the 1860s, again, with very great fluctuations during the 20th and 21st centuries, in contrast to the 1800s..
We start with clashes between Union and Confederate cavalry near Gettysburg. Officer Mike McComb(Flynn) is charged with defending a small group of supply wagons, including the payroll wagon, and told not to move the wagons. However, when it becomes evident that a Confederate detachment is about to capture the wagons, he tries to outrun them, but when he senses that he can't, he decides to burn the very large payroll. Later, his superiors see this as an unacceptable response , and he is court marshalled and dismissed. However, incredibly, McComb is soon back in the army, commanding a company??!! He commands his men to rough up and throw out the owner and employees of a local gambling establishment that the soldiers have been losing their payrolls to. Then, orders them to take out the gambling equipment. From now on, McComb is driven to succeed as an important business man, using the stolen gambling equipment to get started. In the next scene, he is no longer in an army uniform. Rather, he is on a river steamer, with his gambling equipment, bound for Silver City, NV(Yes, there was a Silver City, NV, near Virginia City, long since virtually a ghost town) . I don't know where McComb started his journey from nor what river his steamboat supposedly was plying. But, based upon subsequent events, it couldn't have been too far from Silver City. I've been unable to find any mention of steamboats on any Nevada rivers near Silver City, although there were steamboats on the lower Colorado River, that stopped at some towns in Nevada. Steamboats from San Francisco to Sacramento is another possibility.
When he departs the steamboat, he needs a couple of wagons to carry his equipment on to Silver City. He tries to buy a couple from a Mrs. Georgia Moore( the beautiful Ann Sheridan), who was also on the boat, but she needs them to transport some mining equipment to her Silver River mine, near Silver City. However, the wily McComb plays poker with her wagon master and, incredibly, wins the wagons!. To say Mrs. Moore was irate would put it mildly. McComb offers her a ride, but she prefers the stage. Unfortunately, her stage breaks down on the way. Serendipitously, McComb's wagons happen by, and he again offers her a ride, which she reluctantly accepts. Now, we are positive that McComb and Mrs. Moore will end up together eventually, as unlikely as may now seem.
McComb soon establishes a gambling-oriented saloon. Somehow(?), his saloon soon becomes the dominant such establishment in town. Meanwhile, the Moores need wagons to bring more mining equipment, and inquire if McComb would sell his. Problem is they have no money. So, McComb offers to accept payment in shares in their company, which they agree to. Later, they again need money, which he agrees to give them on condition that he own 1/3 of the company, which they agree to. Some other silver-mining companies also need money, which enables McComb to also buy into their companies. He's becoming the 'silver king' of the region and starts a bank to extend his reach. Eventually, McComb and the Moores decide they need to expand their operations by buying some promising land nearby. Mr. Moore is a mining engineer, so has a good eye for promising areas. Unfortunately, he concludes that the most promising area is near hostile Shoshone territory.
Now, drunkard lawyer Plato Beck(easily recognized character actor Thomas Mitchell), who has been handling the legal aspects of McComb's wheeling and dealing, suddenly turns hostile toward McComb. He brings up the well-known bible story about King David lusting after the wife of one of his military leaders. So, he sends this leader on a dangerous military mission. Sure enough, the leader is killed, and David woes and marries his widow(Bathsheba).. Plato then suggests that McComb may be planning to mimic this story. Actually, Mr. Moore decides to go himself and have another look at this area near the Shoshones. When McComb learns this, he decides to take a group and look for him. Unfortunately, they are too late. Thus, this portion of Plato's King David analogy prophesy doesn't happen as he predicted, to McComb's credit. However, McComb does soon woe his widow. Surprisingly, she quickly changes her attitude toward McComb, and they marry. So, this part agrees with the King David story. And they lived happily ever after, right? Wrong!!. Soon, things start to go terribly wrong! I won't go into the details. Hope you get a chance to see the film some time and learn the messy details of the last part. Overall, it's quite a sprawling yarn, that even features a visit by President Grant, to encourage the mining owners to produce silver faster. The film generally lacks Flynn's frequent charm and sense of humor, but emphasizes his frequent rebellious upstart and can do characterization.
In closing, I would like to give a rundown on the changing gold/silver value ratio. In the 1800s. Until around 1870, the gold/silver value was generally pegged at about 15/1, which was close to the value since Roman times. However, beginning about 1870, the ratio began to increase, due to oversupply of silver from US mines, and to the general change from dual gold/silver monetary standard, to a gold standard. During the 1900s, the ratio fluctuated wildly, but typically was between 40 and 80/1. During the early 21st century, it has been mostly between 70 and 100/1. Thus, during the time period represented by this screenplay, the relative market value of silver compared to gold was much greater than we are used to thinking of today. In terms of its actual price, recently, it has been about 17X more valuable than its price during the 1860s, again, with very great fluctuations during the 20th and 21st centuries, in contrast to the 1800s..