Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

VividSimon Simply Perfect

Nonureva Really Surprised!

Fatma Suarez The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

utgard14 After escaping from a Confederate prison, Union officer Errol Flynn is sent to Virginia City, Nevada, on a mission to prevent a gold shipment from making its way to the Rebels. But in charge of the gold shipment is Confederate officer Randolph Scott, the same man who was in charge of the prison Flynn escaped from. Complicating matters further is Scott's sister and Rebel spy Miriam Hopkins. She meets Flynn and, well, you know. Also muddying the waters is Mexican bandit Humphrey Bogart (!!!), who Scott enlists to help get the gold past Flynn without ever thinking what would happen when you wave a shipment of gold in front of an outlaw.Decent western with a Civil War backdrop directed by Michael Curtiz. It has a little bit of everything but not enough of anything of merit. It's a long movie for its time; an early example of Hollywood's wrong-headed "longer is better" approach to filmmaking that we still deal with today (it's even worse today). Flynn goes through the motions with his usual roguish charm. Miriam Hopkins has poor chemistry with him and honestly drags the movie down. But I'm not a fan of hers in general. Scott does fine in a sympathetic quasi-villain role. One of the more interesting things about the movie is its reluctance to paint either the North or South in a completely bad light, just some 75 years removed from the Civil War. The funniest part of the movie, and probably what gets it any attention today, is the miscasting of Humphrey Bogart as a Mexican, complete with a laughable accent that comes & goes and a Cesar Romero mustache. Hilarious stuff. Curiously Bogart's character shares a name with real-life bandit John Murrell, who died two decades before this movie takes place and, to my knowledge, was as white as Cool Whip.It's not a bad movie by any means. No picture can be bad with this director and these stars, as well as a supporting cast that includes Alan Ladd, Frank McHugh, John Litel, Douglas Dumbrille, Charles Middleton, and Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams. There are some nice actions scenes and some good dramatic ones. The ending is also a pip. It's just a bit overlong and feels like it was made just to mimic the success of previous Curtiz/Flynn classic Dodge City. But it's definitely worth a look for fans of the stars or director.

J C 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.

jpdoherty VIRGINIA CITY (1940) is not only a classic Warner western but is a classic Errol Flynn western as well! Flynn had great success with his playing in westerns which baffled and intrigued the actor no end and prompted him, on occasion, to refer to himself as "the rich man's Roy Rogers".From a fine screenplay by Robert Buckner VIRGINIA CITY was solidly directed by Michael Curtiz and beautiful photographed by Sol Polito. The picture boasted a top notch cast! Besides Flynn it had stone-faced Randolph Scott (on loan from Fox) as Flynn's confederate adversary and, sporting a dubious Mexican accent, a pre-stardom Humphrey Bogart turns up as an unlikely Mexican bandit leader. The female lead is, unfortunately, taken by the awful Miriam Hopkins (where, oh where was Olivia?), who plays a saloon singer come southern spy.The story has Flynn - fresh from the quarter deck of The Albatross in "The Sea Hawk" - playing a Union Intelligence officer in the closing days of the Civil War trying to prevent a shipment of gold bullion reaching the south so that the struggle of the confederacy could be prolonged. Not only do the opposing sides battle it out with each other over the gold but they must also contend with Murrell (Bogart) and his bandits who are trying to get their hands on the rich booty for themselves. And it all adds up to a very exciting movie especially when finally union and confederate join forces to thwart the onslaught of the Mexican outlaws.The excitement is heightened by the terrific score written for the picture by the legendary Max Steiner. Alongside "They Died With Their Boots On" (1942) and "The Searchers" (1956) "Virginia City" is arguably Steiner's best score for a western! The rich and evocative main theme first heard over the titles is a powerful statement for full orchestra. This theme used later in the film, as the gold laden wagons inch their way across the plains heading south, is Steiner at his most emphatic. Then there's a rollicking theme for the Stagecoach and a menacing motif - scored for horns - for the bandits. One of the composer's most arresting love themes is used in the film's more tender moments and the score and the movie comes to a close with a spine tingling version of 'Battle Hymn Of The Republic'.So VIRGINIA CITY is quite an enjoyable movie all round and is available in a Flynn western box set which also contains "San Antonio", "Montana" and the wonderful "Rocky Mountain". But it is curious that on its original release in 1940 "Virginia City" was shown in Sepiatone. How come Warner Home Video didn't follow suit with the DVD? Would've been nice to see what it was like in that colour!

MartinHafer This is a very good and watchable Warner Brothers Western that COULD have been a lot better if it had been a true sequel to the Flynn film, DODGE CITY. You see, just a year earlier Flynn and his two side-kicks, Alan Hale and Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams, had starred in the marvelous film DODGE CITY. At the very end, the trio (plus Olivia DeHavilland who is strangely absent from this next film) agree at the film's conclusion to leave Dodge City and move to Virginia City to bring the town law and order. Well, here there are again but the plot and characters have been changed so much it really isn't a sequel--even though it was announced as one in the previous film. It really looks like the writers never even saw the other film or read the script, as this time Errol and his buddies are not ex-Confederate soldiers, but Union spies! However, the mood and tempo of the two films are awfully similar. In fact, they are so similar that it is very, very easy to mix them up in your mind. As just one example, both feature a cute little boy in a "dead meat" role. In other words, they are nice kids who ultimately MUST be killed because that is part of the Hollywood formula. Apart from a small age difference, the two boys look almost exactly the same. The films also feature lawless towns and the same fearless trio who arrive to clean it up and do good. And, most of the rest of the actors are identical and play very, very similar parts!So, here is an easy way to distinguish them--DODGE CITY is filmed in gorgeous Technicolor and VIRGINIA CITY features Humphrey Bogart as a swarthy Mexican bandit!!! Oh, and by the way, Bogart as a Mexican actually is a lot worse than it sounds!! When it comes to stupid casting decisions, this SHOULD rank up there with John Wayne as Genghis Khan or Katherine Hepburn as a Chinese woman or Liberace as a handsome leading man torn between his music and his woman, though oddly, the dumbness of this casting has mostly been forgotten over the years. Despite the movie being excellent overall, the few scenes where Bogart speaks are unintentionally hilarious.Now, in addition to Bogart, there is another weakness in the film and that was the casting of Miriam Hopkins as Flynn's love interest. After having seen the immensely beautiful Olivia DeHavilland in the previous film, it really was odd that they would have chosen a woman who just looked old and not particularly attractive. I know this sounds cruel, but I just couldn't see Flynn falling for her. Plus, in DODGE CITY, they fortunately never got DeHavilland to sing but passed that chore on to Ann Sheridan--a woman with a very competent voice. But Miss Hopkins sang her own songs as a bar room chanteuse and sounded pretty awful. So I assumed that the guys in the bar have been pretty drunk to enjoy having her as their host.Now despite all these many complaints, I still gave the movie a score of 7. This is possible due to the always wonderful acting of Flynn in his prime as well as the rest of the cast. Bogart and Hopkins aside, the cast was terrific (McHugh, Hale, Williams and others) and adding Randolph Scott to the mix was a very good thing. Good old fashioned Warner Brothers fun--not to be missed by fans of the genre.