Silver Dollar (film)

1932 film

For the 2023 documentary, see Silver Dollar Road.

Silver Dollar

1932 Theatrical Poster

Directed by| Alfred E. Green
Written by| Carl Erickson
Harvey F. Thew
Based on| Silver Dollar
1932 novel
by David Karsner
Starring| Edward G. Robinson
Bebe Daniels
Aline MacMahon
Cinematography| James Van Trees
Edited by| George Marks
Music by| Milan Roder

Production
company

First National Pictures

Distributed by| First National Pictures

Release date

* December 1, 1932 (1932-12-01)

Running time

| 78–84 minutes
Country| United States
Language| English

Silver Dollar is a 1932 American pre-Code biographical film starring Edward G. Robinson, Bebe Daniels and Aline MacMahon. Based on David Karsner's biography of the same name, it tells the story of the rise and fall of Horace Tabor (renamed Yates Martin), a silver tycoon in 19th century Colorado.[1]

A copy is preserved in the Library of Congress.[2]

## Plot

[edit]

Kansas farmer Yates Martin uproots his uncomplaining wife Sarah and baby son to 1876 Colorado in search of gold. He buys a claim, then immediately abandons it when two prospectors tell him of a strike in Leadville. Taking Sarah's prudent advice, he sets up a store there. To her dismay, however, he stakes miners in return for partnerships in their diggings. Just as the Martins run out of money and decide to return to Kansas, prospectors Rische and Hook show up with the news that they have struck it rich, not with gold but with silver, and Yates has a third share of it.

Yates spends his new-found riches with great abandon, purchasing, among other things, a claim from a seemingly downtrodden miner for $50,000, over his suspicious wife's objections. He is asked to run for Lieutenant Governor of Colorado. When his foreman informs him that the claim he bought is worthless, Yates tells him to keep on digging, at least until the election is over, so that he will not look like a fool. As it turns out, not only does he win the election, the claim yields a lode even richer than his first.

Yates decides to build Denver an opulent opera house. As he is inspecting its construction, he meets the alluring Lily Owens, who becomes his mistress. At the grand opening of the opera house, Yates' guest of honor is none other than General Ulysses S. Grant.

Yates sets his sights higher, using his money to take the vacated seat of a U.S. senator. He divorces a heartbroken Sarah and marries Lily in Washington, DC, with the President as a wedding guest.

However, when the president decides to put the country on the gold standard, the price of silver plummets, and Yates loses everything except the Matchless mine, which is not worth working at the current price. He declines Sarah's offer of money. A friend obtains the post of postmaster of Denver for him, but Yates collapses and dies penniless.

## Cast

[edit]

* Edward G. Robinson as Yates Martin
* Bebe Daniels as Lily Owens Martin
* Aline MacMahon as Sarah Martin
* DeWitt Jennings as George, the Mine Foreman
* Robert Warwick as Colonel Stanton
* Russell Simpson as Hamlin
* Harry Holman as Adams
* Charles Middleton as Jenkins
* Emmett Corrigan as President Chester A. Arthur
* Christian Rub as Rische
* Lee Kohlmar as Hook
* Wade Boteler as Mike, a Miner
* Leon Ames as Secretary (uncredited)
* Charles Coleman as Butler (uncredited)
* Walter Long as Miner (uncredited)
* Walter Rodgers as General Ulysses S. Grant (uncredited)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ The AFI Catalog of Feature Films: Silver Dollar
2. ^ Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress page 166 c.1978 by The American Film Institute

## External links

[edit]

* Silver Dollar at IMDb
* Silver Dollar at the TCM Movie Database
* Silver Dollar at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Alfred E. Green

Silent films|

* The Princess of Patches (1917)
* Silk Husbands and Calico Wives (1920)
* A Double-Dyed Deceiver (1920)
* Through the Back Door (1921)
* Little Lord Fauntleroy (1921)
* The Bachelor Daddy (1922)
* Our Leading Citizen (1922)
* The Ghost Breaker (1922)
* The Man Who Saw Tomorrow (1922)
* Back Home and Broke (1922)
* The Ne'er-Do-Well (1923)
* Woman-Proof (1923)
* Pied Piper Malone (1924)
* In Hollywood With Potash and Perlmutter (1924)
* Inez from Hollywood (1924)
* The Talker (1925)
* Sally (1925)
* The Man Who Found Himself (1925)
* The Girl from Montmartre (1926)
* Ladies at Play (1926)
* Irene (1926)
* It Must Be Love (1926)
* Ella Cinders (1926)
* Two Girls Wanted (1927)
* Is Zat So? (1927)
* The Auctioneer (1927)
* Come to My House (1927)
* Honor Bound (1928)

Sound films|

* Disraeli (1929)
* Making the Grade (1929)
* The Green Goddess (1930)
* The Man From Blankley's (1930)
* Sweet Kitty Bellairs (1930)
* Old English (1930)
* Men of the Sky (1931)
* The Road to Singapore (1931)
* Smart Money (1931)
* Union Depot (1932)
* It's Tough to Be Famous (1932)
* The Rich Are Always With Us (1932)
* The Dark Horse (1932)
* Silver Dollar (1932)
* Parachute Jumper (1933)
* Grand Slam (1933)
* Baby Face (1933)
* Central Airport (1933)
* I Loved a Woman (1933)
* The Narrow Corner (1933)
* Dark Hazard (1934)
* Side Streets (1934)
* Housewife (1934)
* The Merry Frinks (1934)
* As the Earth Turns (1934)
* A Lost Lady (1934)
* Gentlemen Are Born (1934)
* Sweet Music (1935)
* Here's to Romance (1935)
* The Girl From 10th Avenue (1935)
* The Goose and the Gander (1935)
* Dangerous (1935)
* Colleen (1936)
* They Met in a Taxi (1936)
* The Golden Arrow (1936)
* Two in a Crowd (1936)
* More Than a Secretary (1936)
* The League of Frightened Men (1937)
* Mr. Dodd Takes the Air (1937)
* Thoroughbreds Don't Cry (1937)
* Let's Get Married (1937)
* Ride a Crooked Mile (1938)
* The Duke of West Point (1938)
* The Gracie Allen Murder Case (1939)
* King of the Turf (1939)
* 20,000 Men a Year (1939)
* Flowing Gold (1940)
* Shooting High (1940)
* South of Pago Pago (1940)
* East of the River (1940)
* Adventure in Washington (1941)
* Badlands of Dakota (1941)
* The Mayor of 44th Street (1942)
* Meet the Stewarts (1942)
* Appointment in Berlin (1943)
* There's Something About a Soldier (1943)
* Mr. Winkle Goes to War (1944)
* Strange Affair (1944)
* A Thousand and One Nights (1945)
* The Jolson Story (1946)
* Tars and Spars (1946)
* The Fabulous Dorseys (1947)
* Copacabana (1947)
* Four Faces West (1948)
* The Girl from Manhattan (1948)
* Cover Up (1949)
* Sierra (1949)
* The Jackie Robinson Story (1950)
* Two Gals and a Guy (1951)
* Invasion U.S.A. (1952)
* The Eddie Cantor Story (1953)
* Paris Model (1953)
* Top Banana (1954)

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