Silver River (Blu-ray Review)
Director
Raoul WalshRelease Date(s)
1948 (December 9, 2025)Studio(s)
Warner Bros. (Warner Archive Collection)- Film/Program Grade: B
- Video Grade: B
- Audio Grade: A-
- Extras Grade: C
Review
Known for his swashbuckling roles of the 1930s and early 1940s, Errol Flynn would take on more complex characters in later years. In Silver River, he plays a disgraced soldier who turns adversity into opportunism.
Mike McComb (Flynn), a Union army captain in the Civil War, is ordered to remain with and guard the payroll wagon during the battle of Gettysburg. With Confederate troops fast approaching, McComb disobeys orders and attempts to outrun them. But it looks as if the wagon will be overtaken and, not wanting the million-dollar payroll falling into the hands of the rebels, he sets fire to the money. McComb is court-martialed for disobeying orders and drummed out of the army. He vows, however, to follow his own rules going forward.
He heads West, accompanied by loyal pal “Pistol” Porter (Tom D’Andrea), and uses his cunning to confiscate the money and equipment of a gambling facility near an army camp. Next, he turns to riverboat gambling as he makes his way to Silver City, Nevada. His goal: to open a saloon and gambling establishment. To get his equipment there, he has to deal with intimidation by his gambling house rival, “Banjo” Sweeney (Barton MacLane), and outwit Georgia Moore (Ann Sheridan), the headstrong wife of the local mining company’s director, to get the wagon master to haul his load. Though McComb’s relationship with Georgia is initially adversarial, he eventually sees her as a kindred spirit.
McComb’s gambling establishment is a success and he hires alcoholic Plato Beck (Thomas Mitchell) to be his lawyer. Through sharp horse trading, McComb manages to get a significant share in the silver mine run by Georgia’s husband, Stanley (Bruce Bennett). Subsequently, McComb establishes a bank, further spreading his influence.
McComb is not a typical movie hero. He’s underhanded, conniving, manipulative, and often cutthroat in his dealings. But Flynn infuses the character with his charm and star power, making him relatable as the central figure who turns disgrace into fortune. Flynn has a neutral expression that might be construed as poor acting, but reflects McComb’s wariness as he listens to what others say and reads their motives. This subtlety gives way to open indignation when McComb feels he’s been crossed.
Sheridan is dressed in feminine finery when we first see her but is soon in more tomboyish attire, better suited to the mining milieu. She’s feisty, intelligent, indignant, and affectionate, as required by the scene, and stronger than the typical leading lady of the period.
Mitchell has a solid supporting role as the drunken lawyer who turns over a new leaf when given responsibility and trust. As Georgia’s husband, Bennett has only one major scene and his character comes off as weak and unfocused compared with McComb who always seems to know exactly what he wants and goes after it. Bennett is soft-spoken and comes off as decent, but he’s a mismatch with Sheridan, who seems to have more fire in her blood. MacLane’s Banjo Sweeney comes from the silent tradition of villain. If he had a mustache and twirled it as he threatened dastardly deeds, I wouldn’t have been surprised.
Silver River is ambitious in both scope and time span and contains several well-staged action sequences. Director Raoul Walsh was always expert at deploying huge numbers of extras and that ability is on display here. With modern audiences used to CGI-augmented crowd scenes, it shouldn’t be overlooked how difficult it once was to gather hundreds of flesh-and-blood people and have them enhance dramatic scenes. Flynn and director Walsh made several films together. Silver River was their last. That pairing resulted in some of Flynn’s better performances in above-average pictures. In Silver River, however, the magic seems to have evaporated.
Though its production values are impressive, Silver River never achieves the status of a great film. Flynn has been better in stronger pictures. Sheridan, though adequate, could easily have been replaced with a number of other studio contract players. The script encompasses perhaps too much, even at one point bringing in President Ulysses S. Grant (Joseph Crehan) to provide exposition about the United States becoming a creditor nation.
Warner Bros. missed the chance to give thefilm a great title. Since the script indicates that after McComb’s incineration of money he was known as “the man who burned a million dollars,” there’s the perfect title. Silver River packs no punch but The Man Who Burned a Million Dollars captures the imagination immediately.
Silver River was shot by director of photography Sidney Hickox on 35mm black & white film with spherical lenses, finished photochemically, and presented in the Academy aspect ratio of 1.37:1. The Blu-ray is sourced from a new 4K restoration of the film. The fact that the film is not in color is disappointing, especially since Westerns already were increasingly being shot in color. This might indicate an attempt to keep costs down, a lack of faith in the box office potential of thefilm, or both. The action sequences look good but there’s not enough of them. Sets include McComb’s gambling casino and his newly constructed mansion. There’s considerable outdoor filming that opens up the story.
The soundtrack is English 2.0 mono DTS-HD Master Audio. English SDH subtitles are available. Dialogue is clear throughout, but there’s far too much of it. Apparently, director Walsh was frustrated by the excessive dialogue, eliminated several pages to speed up the narrative, and added more action. Max Steiner’s score adds emotion to a script that definitely calls out for help. The early chase scene, in particular, benefits from Steiner’s rousing, exciting music. The romantic scenes between McComb and Georgia play over a poignant theme and in later scenes, darker chords emphasize McComb’s descent into corruption.
Bonus materials on the Blu-ray release from the Warner Archive Collection include the following:
- Rabbit Punch (7:44)
- Two Gophers From Texas (6:55)
- Original Theatrical Trailer (2:08)
Rabbit Punch – In this 1948 Technicolor Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Chuck Jones, Bugs Bunny heckles heavyweight champ “Battling McGook” for dirty fighting only to be tossed into the ring as the new challenger. Bugs uses his wits to outsmart the brute, leading to a surreal showdown where McGook ties Bugs to a railroad track. But Bugs breaks the fourth wall, claiming the film broke. He comes onto a solid-white screen, apologizes to the audience, then admits that the film “didn’t exactly break,” taking out a pair of scissors and giving a smirk. Mel Blanc and Billy Bletcher provide voice talent.
Two Gophers From Texas – A theatrical dog decides to hunt for his food. He targets twin gophers as his first conquest and tries to kill them with a falling-rock trap hooked to a radish patch. After this fails, he plots to attract them into range by dressing himself like a baby, then by playing music. The gophers foil all of these schemes and trap the dog in his own piano. As they play the keys, the hammers linked to them whack the dog’s backside. Directed by Arthur Davis, this 1948 Technicolor Merrie Melodies cartoon features the voice talent of Mel Blanc and Stan Freberg.
Silver River is the story of a man’s fall, rise, and redemption. Director Raoul Walsh balances melodrama and action, but gets unavoidably mired in the screenplay’s excessive exposition of Nevada’s history. The resolution feels rushed and the ending seems abrupt. Flynn lends his still-significant star power, but thefilm lacks even one scene that would make it memorable in the Western genre.
- Dennis Seuling