IMDb RATING
6.1/10
1.1K
YOUR RATING
Epic account of how California became a state, featuring a wagon train, the Gold Rush, a wicked saloon queen, and an evil profiteer.Epic account of how California became a state, featuring a wagon train, the Gold Rush, a wicked saloon queen, and an evil profiteer.Epic account of how California became a state, featuring a wagon train, the Gold Rush, a wicked saloon queen, and an evil profiteer.
John Alban
- Delegate
- (uncredited)
George Anderson
- Miner
- (uncredited)
Carl Andre
- Wagon Train Member
- (uncredited)
Billy Andrews
- Boy
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaOne of over 700 Paramount productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since. Television broadcasts were delayed until 1960 in order to protect Paramount's 1958 theatrical re-release which was still in wide distribution through 1959; its earliest documented telecast took place in Phoenix Friday 11 March 1960 on KVAR (Channel 12). At this time, color broadcasting was in its infancy, limited to only a small number of high rated programs, primarily on NBC and NBC affiliated stations, so these film showings were all still in B&W. Viewers were not offered the opportunity to see these films in their original Technicolor until several years later. It was released on DVD 8 May 2007 as one of 4 titles in Universal's Classic Western Roundup Volume 2, and, since that time, cable TV viewers have been afforded the opportunity of seeing it looking just like new, in glorious Technicolor, on the Western Channel.
- GoofsA number of the pistols used by characters appear to be cartridge revolvers, rather than cap-and-ball.
- Quotes
Booth Pennock: You know, Trumbo, if ever you grow up, you'll learn that a woman is like a poker game. What you take in one hand you drop in the next.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Something to Talk About (1995)
Featured review
California
I always thought Barbara Stanwyck had the measure of any of the men she co-starred with in westerns, and here she certainly holds her own as the manipulative "Lily". She joins a wagon train heading west, but the gold rush rumours split that up and so she proceeds to the coast where she quickly ends up owning quite a lucrative saloon. She's pretty much sharing control of the town with the odious storekeeper/daylight robbery merchant "Pharaoh Coffin" (George Colouris) when her erstwhile pals "Trumbo" (Ray Milland) and "Fabian" (Barry Fitzgerald) arrive, all amidst increasing calls for Californian statehood. Needless to say, those in power locally want the status quo - the new arrivals want something more "democratic". What now ensues are a series of cat-fights that keep this moving along well enough until, what I must admit to feeling was a bit of a disappointing denouement. Stanwyck stands out, and Fitzgerald and the rather oddly cast Coulouris are also effective. Milland, however, well he doesn't quite cut the mustard and there is way, way too much dialogue as this story takes far too long to get up any head of steam. Still, it's got a pioneering sort of spirit to it that I quite enjoyed.
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- CinemaSerf
- Nov 5, 2023
- How long is California?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime1 hour 37 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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