Silver Dollar

"Silver Dollar" seemed so close to a biopic I had to look it up to see if Yates Martin (played by Edward G. Robinson) was a real person. It turns out that "Silver Dollar" was based upon the life of H. A. W. Tabor, known to his Colorado associates as Haw Tabor.

Yates Martin was a foolish man who lucked into money in "Silver Dollar." He spent money wantonly in order to be popular, much to the chagrin of his smarter, more fiscally conservative wife, Sarah Martin (Aline MacMahon). Yates was so greedy for wealth and attention that it made him a sucker. He chased one mine after another based upon the spurious words of random prospectors. It was Sarah who convinced him to open a store to cater to the prospectors as opposed to him chasing mines himself, but he couldn't even do that right. He was extending credit to EVERYONE, which made him well-liked, but broke. There was one pair of prospectors whom he waived their tab entirely in exchange for a third of what they mined. It was a dumb deal that just so happened to pan out.

Yates went on chasing wealth and fame until he chased another dame named Lily Owens (Bebe Daniels). Truthfully, she was pursuing him and she knew just what to say to get him. She stroked his ego so expertly that he left his wife and married Lily. It was just one more moronic move of the many he'd made, but don't let anyone tell you that every rich person is smart. Even idiots make money sometimes.

As much as I like Edward G. Robinson, I hated his character. He was such a clout chaser that I couldn't respect him. Then, when he left his very good and faithful wife for a shinier object who found him on the mountain top after Sarah made the climb with him, I really disliked him. Having said that, because the movie so mirrored what can be found on historycolorado,org, I can't be too mad. They faithfully followed the available information on H. A. W. Tabor, too bad he wasn't more likable.

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Rousing story of rags to riches based on fact. Robinson pulls out all the stops as a lowly Colorado merchant who maneuvers his way into fame and fortune. He may not be physically big, but there's enough personality there to light up a stadium. Between ace production values, rapid-fire pacing, and Robinson pizazz, it's like being carried along by a roaring steam engine. It's entertaining to accompany Yates (Robinson) on his rise to wealth and national prominence, especially since he never loses his down-home ways. Interestingly, the movie's based on real life story of silver king HAW Tabor, who remains a Colorado legend to this day (I'm from there). Oddly, there're no scenes of mountains or Colorado, but credit the production for more than compensating.

Good to see Aline MacMahon get a sympathetic role as Yates' first wife and helpmate. Usually consigned to spinsterish or sinister roles, she's young here and almost pretty. Bebe Daniels, however, gets the glamor part as Yates' mistress then second wife. The movie amounts to something of a morality tale. Of course, the higher Yates climbs on the economic-social ladder the farther he has to fall. Trouble is he thinks millions from silver mining will overcome any obstacle. In short, money takes care of everything. But then, he's forgotten about the vagaries of the market, which can be an undoing. My one complaint is a rather spotty screenplay. Beneath the rapid pacing, important transitions are generally skipped over (e.g. the divorce), while there's little tracking of characters aside of Yates. Nonetheless, the results are generally impressive and definitely deserve a look-see, especially for Robinson's bravura performance.

Silver Dollar (1932)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Based on the life of Horace 'Silver King' Tabor with only the names changed. Edward G. Robinson plays Yates Martin, a poor man from Kansas who moves to Colorado with his wife (Aline MacMahon) and soon finds himself a millionaire when silver is found in his mine. He soon enters politics and starts to rake in all sorts of cash and this is when he meets a showgirl (Bebe Daniels) and soon everything changes. I'm guessing Warner didn't want to pay any fees so they decided to change up all the names but no matter what they changed or kept the same, to call this film a disappointment wouldn't be an understatement. The movie starts off pretty good but around the twenty-minute mark you already know where the story is headed and there's really no connection to any of the characters. This almost seems like a greatest hits package instead of one complete story. We see the poor Martin, then the popular Martin, the rich Martin, the powerful Martin, the broke Martin and the pitiful Martin. There's never any real connection that you get because it just seems like he's a one dimensional character without any meat on his bones. Throughout the film I kept waiting to get to know the character and that simply never happens. We never get to know the wife, the mistress, the kid or anyone else and in fact there's a daughter who makes an important part of the film only to disappear without a word after that. The film takes a pretty big story and one that could have turned into an epic and does very little with it. The one saving grace are the performances with Robinson turning in another great job. I'm always surprised to see how terrific an actor Robinson was and it's a shame he's never really gotten the credit he deserves. Daniels is also very seductive in her part and MacMahon nearly steals the film as the caring, first wife. SILVER DOLLAR is worth watching for fans of the cast but there's no denying that a new script was needed.

Based on the life of 19th century politician Horace Tabor. Here named Yates Martin (Edward G. Robinson), he's a gold prospector who travels to the Colorado frontier with wife Aline MacMahon. He eventually becomes a rich merchant and a prime beneficiary of the Colorado silver boom, which makes him even wealthier. He uses his money to enter politics, growing ever more ambitious. However, his decision to divorce his wife for entertainer Bebe Daniels marks the beginning of his downfall.

Robinson made a number of films with this basic plot: a man starting out with nothing achieves great success through force of will, only to have his love of the wrong woman lead to his undoing. His nouveau riche tastes are also frequently a source of amusement, as they are here with his desire to build a high-class opera house, but insisting on all of the inscriptions being in "American". Robinson is good, as is MacMahon (although she's not given much to do here), but the whole thing is just a bit too routine. This does feature one of the few cinematic depictions of President Chester Arthur, though, so there's that.

Smooth,quite engrossing biopic of Horace Tabor, an important figure in the early economic and polirical development of Colorado. EGR plays the kind of character he does so very, very well -- an ambitious go-getter bursting with self-confidence. Sort of like a legal Little Caesar. He makes the film very watchable.