A rags-to-riches-to-adultery tale, based on the true story of the colorful Colorado prospector and statesman H.A.W. Tabor. When Yates Martin (Edward G. Robinson) hatches a scheme to prosper from silver mining, it's the beginning of a dizzying ascent into the upper echelons of wealth and power. But when his loyal wife Sarah (Aline MacMahon) proves unhappy with his social climbing, he discards her in favor of salacious beauty Lily Owens (Bebe Daniels). Not only does this matter-of-fact adulterous plot twist betray Silver Dollar's pre-Code pedigree, but Martin's rise and fall also has a certain Depression-era suspicion about the permanence of riches. (Indeed, Robinson took a 15 percent pay cut on this picture, as part of Warner Brothers' austerity program.) The tough, squat, ethnic Edward G. Robinson isn't an intuitive choice to play Martin, but there's parallels between Martin's semi-legal ascent to power and Rico's in Little Caesar (1931). In any case, after this movie Robinson began carrying a silver dollar in his own pocket, for luck.

By Violet LeVoit