Silver Dollar 1932

On a Kansas farm, Yates Martin, Edward G. Robinson a restless farmer, uproots his pragmatic wife Sarah Martin and their baby to the gold-hungry reaches of 1876 Colorado in search of wealth. 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 their astonishment, prospectors Christian Rub as Rische and Wade Boteler as Hook arrive with news that they have struck it rich—not with gold, but with silver—and Yates holds a third share of the fortune.

Yates spends his new-found riches with gusto, including buying a claim from a downtrodden miner for $50,000, despite Sarah’s objections. He is urged to run for Lieutenant Governor of Colorado. When his foreman informs him that the claim is worthless, Yates tells him to keep digging, at least until the election, so he won’t look foolish. The gamble pays off: he wins the election, and the mine yields a lode even richer than his first.

With wealth comes ambition, and Yates decides to build Denver an opulent opera house. At the project’s opening, he meets Lily Owens Martin, Bebe Daniels Owens Martin, who becomes his mistress. At the grand opening, General Ulysses S. Grant is the guest of honor, Walter Rogers.

Flush with prestige, Yates sets his sights higher and runs for the vacant U.S. Senate seat. He divorces Sarah and marries Lily in Washington, DC, with the President Emmett Corrigan as a wedding guest.

Yet the nation’s move to the gold standard sends the price of silver into a free fall. The Matchless mine is left unworked at the current price, and Yates loses almost everything. He declines Sarah’s offer of money, a friend secures him the post of Denver postmaster, and, penniless, Yates collapses.