Mine owner William Sharon keeps having his gold shipments held up by a gang of bandits. Sharon hires banker Charles Crocker, who happens to have connections in the Central Pacific Railroad, to build a spur line from Virginia City to Carson City, so that the gold can be shipped by railroad. Silent Jeff Kincaid is the railroad engineer. However there is opposition to the railroad, chiefly from another mine owner, Big Jack Davis.
Practical Effects
Real steam trains destroyed on camera—no CGI safety net!
Direction
André de Toth's 3D experiments make flat images feel dangerous.
Acting
Randolph Scott's jawline does 90% of the emotional heavy lifting.
Director
André de Toth
Randolph Scott
Silent Jeff Kincaid
Lucille Norman
Susan Mitchell
Raymond Massey
Big Jack Davis
Richard Webb
Alan Kincaid
James Millican
Jim Squires
Larry Keating
William Sharon
George Cleveland
Henry Dodson
William Haade
Hardrock Haggerty
Don Beddoe
Charles Crocker
Thurston Hall
Charles Crocker
Vince Barnett
Henry
Ida Moore
Spinster on Stagecoach (uncredited)
Sarah Edwards
Spinster on Stagecoach (uncredited)
Iris Adrian
Saloon Girl in Fight (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Shot in 3D but mostly seen flat—André de Toth was blind in one eye and couldn't even perceive his own gimmick.
The real William Sharon was a far more ruthless silver baron; this film sanitizes Nevada's actual robber-baron bloodshed for heroic Western consumption.
US
