Silver River Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.0

Silver River Blu-ray Movie Review

What's mine is mine.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III December 22, 2025

Errol Flynn fans who recently scooped up Warner Archive's low-priced six-disc collection and have already pre-ordered Criterion's 4K release of Captain Blood will likely want to grab Silver River while they're at it. This mid-career effort was directed by Raoul Walsh and, despite his reported on-set friction with the star due to personal problems that reportedly ended their working relationship (as well as Flynn and his co-star Ann Sheridan, who previously appeared together in Dodge City and Edge of Darkness), Silver River is a solid genre entry with great action and performances.

Our story follows Mike McComb (Flynn), a Union army captain who's bitter about his dishonorable discharge after he disobeys orders and burns $1M to prevent Confederate soldiers from stealing it. With few options, McComb and his pal "Pistol" Porter (Tom D'Andrea) confiscate gambling equipment and heads west to seek his fortune. It turns out that he might find it in the booming mining town of Silver City, Nevada, where McComb opens a soon-to-be-successful saloon and, through gambling and shrewd business tactics, plants several seeds that will soon benefit him greatly. McComb is also aided by his lovable lawyer John Plato Beck (Thomas Mitchell, always in fine form) as well as the beautiful Georgia Moore (Ann Sheridan); she owns the Silver River Mine with her husband Stanley (Bruce Bennett), but Mr. Moore is soon outsmarted by McComb's business practices. He'll stop at absolutely nothing in his quest to own just about everything in Silver City, which wins the admiration of some and the jealously or seething resentment of others.

Silver River is over and done with inside of two hours, but this rise-and-fall story shows that McComb's meteoric path to power is followed by just as quick of a collapse. His lack of empathy and integrity alienates even his closest friends and lovers... but as the Nevada territory rapidly advances toward statehood, investigations and political backlash fully expose his corruption. But what could be the simple woe-is-me story of a self- destructed life actually plays more like a second chance for the lovably "mischievous" McComb, who just might turn over a new leaf rather than bury himself in his own self-absorbed vices. Does he deserve it? Probably not... but this is his movie, so deal with it.

It's kind of ironic that Silver River was plagued by the behavior of a lead actor who, well, was similarly burying himself in his own self-absorbed vices. Conflicts between the director and star -- some tied to Flynn's well-documented drinking problems, others due to Walsh's dissatisfaction with the script -- eventually led to studio intervention and a memo from head Jack L. Warner that suggested Flynn's contract might be cancelled and legal action taken to cover the additional production costs. Yet despite these issues, Silver River still plays well and flows smoothly enough most of the way to its admittedly rushed ending, though it's clearly front-loaded with terrific action and stunt work that soon cools down and is almost immediately and totally absorbed by a more deliberately-paced drama. The end result is clearly not an all-time career highlight for Flynn, but Silver River still feels somewhat underrated considering that behind-the-scenes drama that, in some ways, partially overshadowed the film's merits upon release almost 80 years ago.

Fitting for the path of its main character, Silver River earns a second chance on digital home video thanks to Warner Archive's welcome new Blu-ray which, like others in their catalog, improve upon earlier DVD editions because of access to better source materials this time around. The results are as pitch-perfect as expected and they're paired with a few great bonus features, enough so that enjoyment of the film as a whole is likely improved as well.

Silver River Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

"Restored from a 4K scan of the original camera negative" should tell you all you need to know about this impressive new 1080p transfer of Silver River, which absolutely bursts with fine detail and film-like clarity that does great justice to Sidney Hickox's excellent black-and-white cinematography. As usual, everything has been cleaned nicely and retains the appearance of a true purist-friendly presentation, one that absolutely catapults past the earlier DVD edition and will look great even on medium to large-sized displays. Disc encoding is also top-notch, as everything comfortable fits onto this dual-layered disc and the film itself runs at a high and supportive bit rate from start to finish. Overall, this a top-tier effort as usual and earns the boutique label one of its countless five-star ratings for video quality.

Silver River Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track likewise offers a perfect amount of support for the film's original one-channel mix, which is presented here in a split two-channel container for wider playback but sounds comfortably true to its source. No age-related damage could be heard along the way, aside for trace levels of hiss that seem to indicate no noise reduction was used, and everything sounds great from the dialogue to Max Steiner's excellent original score.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the main feature only, not the extras listed below.

Silver River Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with attractive poster-themed cover art a few era-specific extras.

• Rabbit Punch (7:44) - This classic fourth-wall breaking Bugs Bunny short sees everyone's favorite rabbit take on an intimidating slab of meat named "Crusher". It's been featured on several DVDs over the years but was last seen on Warner Archive's excellent Looney Tunes Collector's Vault: Volume 1 Blu-ray set.

• Two Gophers from Texas (6:55) - Another WB short from 1938, this one stars the Goofy Gophers they try to outwit a game-hunting dog. It's a repeat from Warner Archive's similarly great Looney Tunes Collector's Choice: Volume 1, which you should also own already, but it's worth watching again.

• Theatrical Trailer (2:08) - This rough-looking but watchable vintage promo piece can also be seen here.

Silver River Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Raoul Walsh's Silver River may not rank among Errol Flynn's best films due to friction behind the scenes... but what made it to theaters is still pretty enjoyable, all things considered. Part of the reason for a potential re-evaluation of this slightly underrated film is again due to the outstanding restorative efforts of Warner Archive, who as usual serve up a definitive Blu-ray with top-tier A/V merits and a few thoughtful extras too. Recommended to the right crowd.