A group of ex-Confederates are hoping to start life anew in the rich copper fields out West. But they soon discover Civil War hostilities are slow to fade.
The owner of the local smelter, Moss Balfour, won’t buy their ore because his son fought for the Union and was killed at Gettysburg.
And Deputy Lane Travis (Macdonald Carey) and saloon owner Lisa Roselle (Hedy Lamarr) have struck a deal with an Eastern investor named Henderson to keep them from finding another buyer. That investor hopes to scoop up their mining claims at bargain prices when they reach the desperation point.
The southerners are hoping for help from Col. Desmond, a former Rebel officer of some acclaim. They think Johnny Carter (Ray Milland), might just be that man, though for now he’s working as a trick-shot artist in a vaudeville show.
Even when Carter arrives in Coppertown, scene of all the trouble, he insists he isn’t Desmond. After all, he escaped from a Union prisoner of war camp with $20,000, and there’s a price on his head.
As he works behind the scene to help the Southerners, he’s sets out to charm the lovely Miss Roselle, who dreams of opening a dance hall in San Francisco. She starts to fall for Carter; she also loathes the violent means Travis is willing to stoop to in order to satisfy Henderson’s goals.
Meanwhile, Travis pegs Carter as a trouble maker from the start.
Review:
Ray Milland was never as convincing in Western duds as many of his contemporaries; he just comes across as too sophisticated. In that regard, he has a suitable match here in Hedy Lamarr, appearing in her only true Western.
Carey, meanwhile, turns in a fine performance as the villain of the piece. And, yep, that’s towering Hope Emerson in a big red wig and saloon girl attire as a bartender at Lisa Roselle’s saloon.
Milland and Lamarr aren’t the only romantic pairing in the film. As a subplot, Harry Carey Jr. plays the very young looking Lt. Ord, sent to Coppertown to be on the lookout for Desmond.
He frequently knocks on the door of pretty Caroline Desmond, who was married to the Col. Desmond’s brother before she became a Civil War widow.
In one of the film’s stranger moments, Ord gives himself a 24-hour leave of absence so he can help Desmond lead “troops” in a final showdown with Travis and the northerners determined to deny the southerners access to an ore smelter.
Directed by:
John Farrow
Cast:
Ray Milland … Johnny Carter
Hedy Lamarr … Lisa Roselle
Macdonald Carey … Deputy Travis
Mona Freeman … Caroline Desmond
Harry Carey Jr. …. Lt. Ord
Frank Raylen … Mullins
Hope Emerson … Ma Tarbet
Taylor Holmes … Theodosius Roberts
Francis Pierlot … Moss Balfour
Peggy Knudson … Cora
James Burke … Jed Bassett
Percy Helton … “Scamper” Joad
Philip Van Zandt … Sheriff Wattling
Erno Verebes … Professor
Paul Less … Bat Laverne
Runtime: 82 min.
Memorable lines:
Lisa Roselle, upon meeting Johnny Carter: “You do sing Italian, of course?”
Carter: “Only in the bath, ma’am.”
Lisa: “What is this?”
Show promoter: “Mr. Carter is a quick shot artist.”
Lisa: “Trick shot artist? Well the town is full of them.”
Travis: “Yes, it is. And so’s the cemetery.”
Carter: “I here you have quite an extensive one in Coppertown.”
Carter to Travis, after shooting a gun from his hand, picks it back up and hands it to him: “Here, take it. I never liked them. Because when you kill a man, he dies just as bad or just as stupid as the moment you put the bullet in him. But if you let him live, he’s still got a chance to learn things.”
Johnny Carter, about Lisa: “There’s a girl as smooth as a wet eel, but a lot nicer to look at.”
){kind=link}