Silver River (1948)

• Directed by Raoul Walsh.

• Screenplay by Stephen Longstreet & Harriet Frank Jr., from a novel by Longstreet.

This was Frank Jr.’s first screenwriting credit on a feature film – she’d of course go on to co-write the screenplays of such movies as THE LONG, HOT SUMMER (1958), HUD (1963), NORMA RAE (1979), & MURPHY’S ROMANCE (1985) with husband/writing partner Irving Ravetch.

• Errol Flynn is Captain Michael J. McComb, a Union soldier in the Civil War who, to begin the film, has his Captainship revoked, after choosing his Hero Man Judgement over direct orders from his commanding officer, resulting in the firey destruction of about $1 million in cash.

(Was he right to burn it, believing the battle to be nearly lost, with a horde of Conderate horsemen closing in on him & soldier-pal Pistol (Tom D’Andrea)? Probably. However, the Army does not see it that way, & officially tosses the Bonfire Buddies out of its employ.)

• Through an unimportant, un-riveting series of events, Mike & Pistol enter into the gambling business – setting up shop in Silver City, New Mexico.

Along the way, they cross paths with, weasel a fuck-ton of significant wagons from, & all-in-all, disgruntle the shit out of Silver City Mine co-owner Mrs. Georgia Moore (Ann Sheridan).

• This film is awfully slow, and nothing of real merit or intrigue occurs for the first 45 minutes of it. It’s all extremely generic, routine, run-of-the-mill Western stuff. Nothing – and no one – delivers any sparkle.

‘…In a movie with Errol Flynn, Ann Sheridan, Barton MacLane, and Thomas Mitchell?!?!?’ you cry, vexedly.

Yes, my pals – I am as disappointedly surprised as you are.

(Thomas Mitchell plays a washed up Silver City lawyer called John Plato Beck; Barton MacLane plays rival, business-interested GambleMan “Banjo” Sweeney. Just, you know, for the record.)

• Was President Grant really so goddamn short?! If so, I never knew this! I always pictured him being…I dunno, at least 6 feet tall! (The president comes on a Westerly visit to Silver City – and, as McComb has recently opened a bank with all of his Gamble Hall Income Cash, as well as secured partial stakes in all local mining companies (look at you go, Ex-Captain Fire Boy!!!) – he winds up being President Grant’s primary party conversation partner).

Mid-Movie Fact Check: Errol Flynn, who appears here to be a solid foot taller than “President Grant,” was 6’1″. It turns out that the real Ulysses S. Grant was 5’8″ – so…though shorter than Flynn, not by as much as is suggested by this film’s casting. (As a secondary point of reference, Ann Sheridan was 5’5″ – and she has 2-3 inches on “President Grant,” easy.)

Now…this opens an interesting line of questions. Why in the world would you cast, in the role of a well-known historical figure, someone who is such a blatant mismatch for that figure’s documented physique? Ultimately, it’s an uncredited role! And Joseph Crehan was a relatively unknown actor! Why not get someone who makes just a bit more physical sense?!

Folks…hold onto your hats, because those questions are not rhetorical.

Joseph Crehan…played (General/President) Ulysses S. Grant no fewer than nine times between 1939 (UNION PACIFIC) & 1958 (the “Jane Wyman Presents the Fireside Theatre” TV Series). So…? At some point, I guess he just became the Go-To Guy, if your project had Ulysses S. Grant in it.

This is by far one of the most bizarre actor facts I’ve come across recently – and I’m genuinely not sure what to do with it. Perhaps spend another 2 minutes being bewildered in Shrugsville…and then just move on.

• Eeeek. Mr. Moore (first name: Stanley)(played by Bruce Bennett) wants to go exploring for more silver mining lands in Shoshone Country, & Mike’s like, ‘Sure bro, I think you should definitely go for it!’ DESPITE the fact that Mike just found out that another group of mining scouts just got slaughtered out there.

Beck is vehemently against this Lie o’ Violent Doom & even Bible-lectures Mike about it – but Mike’s like, ‘Yo, man – my unrequited love for this dude’s wife is far more important. Hush.’

• For the benefit of Errol Nation, the film has Mike – after overnight consideration – experience a change of heart & dash over to the Silver River Mine first thing the next morning, to stop Stanley from leaving for Black Rock Range…but ALAS – poor Stanley has already departed, and (as was kinda-sorta the plan) he promptly gets murdered.

• Ann Sheridan’s character is written very poorly (I mean…there’s no development or true character history there at all) – which is a huge letdown, based on the badass character she played in her first MovieWorld coupling with Flynn, EDGE OF DARKNESS (1943) – as well as the fact that this was written by the female screenwriter responsible for the crafting of the powerhouse women characters in NORMA RAE, MURPHY’S ROMANCE, etc.

• Mike McComb doesn’t give a shit about Georgia’s on-the-page flatness, though…and marries her after a semi-respectable period of Stanley-grieving.

• Flynn & Sheridan make an insanely charismatic onscreen pair, no matter the context…and I will admit to being all too content to simply watch them walk around together, doing…whatever it is that’s happening in the story now (more land? more businesses? a fancy-ass mansion? Plato wants to be a senator?) just for the hell of it.

(Making this activity even more pleasing are the stellar costumes – every single look of Flynn’s & Sheridan’s is the definition of classy, sincere elegance. Costume designers (although technically, neither is listed in the credits): Marjorie Best & Travilla.)

• So…let’s see – selfish Mr. McComb gets mad that a bunch of the mining companies have decided to bank with someone who isn’t him, & shuts down all the mines in protest, in an attempt to force everyone back into business exclusively with him – which results in a total breakdown of the city’s (region’s?) financial & economic structure, & McComb going bankrupt. (The dynamics & politics involved are probably way more complex than this – but whatever, that’s what happens.)

• The film ends with Candidate Plato being gunned down by (still-there!) Rabble Rouser Sweeney, who’s leading a group of disgruntled townsmen who are irate because they think Plato is in league with McComb…though he’s not, & in actuality, they have no real basis for believing that’s true.

Whatever, though. Point is, Mike re-heroes himself by re-opening the mines & avenging Plato’s demise by tossing Sweeney in jail, with the mobby assistance of his newly reclaimed Silver Pals.

• In conclusion – the narrative & dialogue wasn’t outstanding (it’s rare that I make it through a film without jotting down a single noteworthy quotation, yet…here we are are!), but thanks to the solidly pristine black & white photography, superb costumes, & effortlessly compelling screen presences of Errol Flynn & Ann Sheridan, it was a pleasant film to watch.

• I also really enjoyed Flynn’s performance – there’s a subtle, controlled stillness present in this character that is not in many (any?) of his others; I think he plays it perfectly. It’s a tricky thing to describe – but it’s as though Flynn infuses Mike McComb with slightly less jubilation than usual, and – given the decidedly less-than-pure nature of this particular character – I hardly think that occurred by chance.