Virginia City

Virginia City, 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.