Vera Ralston is the wife of a riverboat gambler accused of cheating a passenger who wound up dead. Now her husband has disappeared and she’s been sentenced to prison for five years as an accessory to murder.
When she’s released, she learns that both her parents have died and her sister, Nan Henshaw, has been placed in an orphanage. She vows to get her out, then returns to the only profession she knows — gambling.
With a lucky ring she keeps moving to her ring finger in times of tension, she does remarkably well. Flash forward a few years, and she’s Belle Le Grand, owner of the biggest gambling house in San Francisco. And she’s about to get even luckier.
That’s because she overhears a conversation involving John Kilton (John Carroll) and decides to buy stock in his Comstock mine. Within minutes, word reaches the stock exchange of a new strike at the Comstock. And the stock price soars.
The second stroke of luck is that Nan Henshaw is scheduled to perform in San Francisco. Belle has secretly funded her education and her vocal training. Now she’ll get to watch her perform, though Belle doesn’t want Nan to know her true identity; she doesn’t want to tarnish her younger sister with her reputation or her criminal background.
The only problem: Nan’s concert is being sponsored by Montgomery Crane. Guess who he turns out to be? That’s right — Belle’s long-lost husband; the man who committed the killing all those years earlier.
The next stop for everyone is Virginia City where more complications arise. Crane and Kilton are also business rivals, and the former has a dastardly scheme for bringing down the latter’s mining operation.
As for Nan, Kilton takes a liking to her and vice versa. Belle isn’t certain it’s a good match for her “delicate flower” of a sister and sponsors a vocal tour — again secretly — to keep them apart. Besides, she’s sorta taken a liking to the mine owner herself.
Review:
Not bad, though Muriel Lawrence’s singing is quite annoying. It certainly benefits from the fact that it’s a different sort of Western, even if all the loose ends do wrap up a bit too nicely for belief.
The oft-criticized Ralston turns in a rather endearing performance. And Hope Emerson adds a touch of humor as the Queen of the Comstock who has built herself a palace, then comes to recognize the silliness of it all, including an imported throne for her that is usually occupied by her cat.
Harry Morgan and James Arness have bit parts. Before being signed by Republic Pictures, Lawrence sang with the Chicago Light Opera Company; the appeared in just four films.
Directed by:
Allan Dwan
Cast:
Vera Ralston … Belle Le Grande
Daisy Henshaw
John Carroll … John Kilton
Muriel Lawrence … Nan Henshaw
William Ching … Bill Shanks
Hope Emerson … Emma McGee
Grant Withers … Shannon
Alden Chase … Mongtomery Crane
John Qualen … Corky McGee
Harry Morgan … Abel Stone
Charles Crane … Cal
Thurston Hall … Parkington
Marietta Canty … Daisy
Glen Vernon … Bellboy
Runtime: 90 min.
Memorable lines:
Bill Shank, as his partner manipulates stock prices: “They’ll hang up when they find out you held up news of that strike for three days.”
John Kilton: “You can only die once.”
Daisy: “You better stop thinking of Miss Nan as a child. She’s a grown woman and in the theater. She’s bound to get mixed up with men.”
Belle Le Grand: “My opinion of men is pretty low, Daisy. And I mean to protect my sister from the wrong one, even if I have to shoot him.”
Nan Henshaw, after John Kilton has been injured rescuing miners from a fire: “Are you all right?”
Kilton: “Sure. What can a little fire do to Satan?”
Belle Le Grand, after John Kilton has given her his hotel room: “Is Miss Henshaw staying at this hotel?”
Kilton: “No, she’s staying at a private home. She’s too delicate a flower for this weed patch.”
Belle Le Grand: “As one weed to another …”
Kilton: “I’m quite sorry.”
Belle Le Grand: “But you’re right. She is a delicate flower. And we are weeds, you and I.”
Kilton: “I think I’d better get out of here while we’re still friends.”
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