So-so biopic of Horace Tabor, with the name changed to Yates Martin. Presumably this is to avoid a lawsuit but it makes one wonder why that didn't seem to affect many other biopics made back in the day. Perhaps it's because Tabor isn't portrayed in the most flattering light. Edward G. Robinson does a fine job playing the "little man who badly wants to be a big shot." He rises from merchant to silver miner to politician, leaving wife Aline MacMahon for mistress Bebe Daniels along the way. The film depends entirely on Robinson to carry it. The story is pretty predictable and by-the-numbers, regardless of its basis on real people. The problem is that the movie is lacking in a point or particularly interesting characters to distinguish it from a hundred other similar movies you've seen. Robinson fans will enjoy it more than most, and it's certainly watchable, but I can't recommend it to everybody else as it's ultimately forgettable.
Review of Silver Dollar
