Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Takes itself way too seriously

Nice effects though.

Load of rubbish!!

A massive gold rush takes diverse types of California, where they meet their destinies. Some find gold, most melt into the background, some run saloons, others gamble and win saloons from the others, some are pervicaciously greedy and deprive others of water, some wear sandals and lift weights on Muscle Beach, some organize a personal militia to fight against the statehood that would deprive them of their unethical power and their mountain of riches, some found loony religious cults.Everyone except Anthony Quinn is miscast. Ray Milland is a suave Englishman, not a wandering cowboy who needs a shave. George Coulouris isn't bad as the powerful heavy and gang leader, but Barry Fitzgerald does not belong in the small part of the grizzled side kick. That's Gabby Hayes' or Walter Brennan's role. Barbara Stanwyck is miscast too. She belongs in the city, not singing in Coulouris's gambling den and bar. She gets to sing (dubbed) two or three fully orchestrated 1947-era songs.There are a few unexpected objets trouvee in the script. Stanwyck's songs are dumb, but there is a pretty Mexican folk song, "Carmel, Carmela," sung by a tenor with a simple guitar accompaniment. And Coulouris gets a bit of sympathy from his personal background -- poverty and sadness -- during his apparently genuine proposal to Stanwyck that the ordinary bad guy is usually denied in these perfunctory scripts. I mean, after all, Coulouris was the captain of a slave ships. The horror, the horror.And, unexpectedly, the hero, Ray Milland, gets clobbered in two fist fights. True, he's outnumbered or outweighed, but that usually doesn't stop the hero from winning, even if, in the process, he winds up with a tiny and colorful trickle of blood from the corner of his lips. The viewer also acquires a bit of incidental learning regarding the history of the state of California in the lead-up to the Civil War.

Uggh! This film starts off very, very poorly with a sappy introduction that only can be believed if you see it. I really think it best if you skip the narration and singing and cut straight to the scene at the beginning of the film where the person is taking luggage off the stage coach! Unfortunately, the horrible singing returns at the 22 and 100 minute mark--and I found myself contemplating plunging a screwdriver into my ears to make it stop and I also felt rather envious of my deaf daughter! And, speaking of singing, at about the 29 minute mark, Barbara Stanwyck sings a song in a bar. It's obvious to anyone who's seen her movies and is familiar with her voice that this is NOT Stanwyck who is singing--the voice just isn't right.The film is purportedly about the founding of the state of California. It begins on a wagon train where Barbara Stanwyck hitches a ride after she's driven out of town for her wicked ways. Once there, she meets up with an instantly hates Ray Milland--and you know that means that eventually fall in love (old movie cliché #16). But this trip is disrupted by news of the discovery of gold and the trek west degenerates into an "each man for himself" affair! Once in California, bad-girl Barbara lands on her feet very well. She makes a fortune running a saloon/gambling den. She's also very friendly with the ever-slimy George Coulouris--a man who ALWAYS plays the most weasel-like and unsavory characters. While Stanwyck is bad, at least her gambling joint is on the level--everything about Coulouris is crooked and he is the evil boss-man who is behind claim-jumpings and killings (cliche #12). Later, the evil boss-man decides he doesn't want California to become a state, as he loves lawlessness. So much of the rest of the film consists of his paid baddies making life tough for the good folks.So what's going to happen next? Will Coulouris' reign of terror be ended? Will Ray break Barbara's evil spirit and make this philly his own (huh?!)? Will there be any major surprises in the film? By the way, there's one surprise in this film. Not only does Ray Milland play a cowboy(!), but he gets into a fistfight! This just seemed odd in light of the sort of person the Welsh-born Milland usually played. Fortunately for the sake of realism, Milland IS beaten to a pulp in this fight! I enjoyed his acting, but just could never picture him in westerns--let alone being a two-fisted brawler! Along for the ride are some nice character actors to give the film color. Barry Fitzgerald, Anthony Quinn and Albert Dekker are welcome supporting additions to the film.

Definitely NOT a great movie, but very enjoyable, especially if one is a Stanwyck fan. Cinematography bounced back and forth from lush, to "quick, get it done" shots.Ray Milland did not quite cut it as the hardened trail boss and buffalo hunter. But maybe that's because his character really is not-he deserted from the army for getting involved with a married woman. Stanwyck shines as the self-reliant lady gambler and flirt who has been tossed around her whole life, with a few exceptions.Yes the movie is rather corny, but let's face it the movie industry was right in the middle of the Macarthy era and needed safe material to work with. It DID give a rather honest perspective of how many lost sight of what they really had set out for, and how others took advantage, at any cost.

"California" was an ambitious film from Director John Farrow and Paramount Pictures. In spite of its lavish Technicolr photography and a music score from Victor Young, it falls flat as a big budget movie.The film is basically divided into three parts, the wagon train sequence, the arrival in California sequence and the fight for statehood sequence.Wagon master Jonathon Trumbo (Ray Milland) is leading a wagon train of settlers to the promised land of California in the late 1840s. In one of the towns he meets "saloon gird;" Lily Bishop (Barbara Stanwyck) who is being run out of town by the ladies of the town. She asks to accompany the wagon train and wine maker Michael Fabian (Barry Fitzgerald agrees to take her along. When news of a gold strike in California reaches the wagons, the farmers catch gold fever and desert Trumbo and the train.Later in California Trumbo arrives to find Lily in 'the employ" of ex slaver Captain Pharoh Coffin (George Coulouris) who has ambitions to take over the whole of California by blocking its bid for statehood. Trumbo recognizes Coffin and confronts him only to be beaten up by his brutish henchman Pike (albert Dekker). Although Lily loves Trumbo she still plans to marry Coffin (for his money of course).The fight for statehood follows with Fabian representing the pro statehood side and Coffin leading the anti-statehood faction. Naturally, the pro statehood faction carries the day. Coffin attempts to force his will with arms, a blazing gun battle ensues and...................................This movie, although it has its moments, plays more like a "B" movie, especially in the middle, than any thing else. One expects Zorro or The Cisco Kid to ride in at any moment. I mean a villain named Pharoh Coffin, come on. The shots of the wagon train are impressive (probably due to stock footage) and the shots of the landscape are equally appealing in glorious color. But the movie falls flat.Ray Milland is not really that convincing as a hard nosed wagon master. Stanwyck, always better than her material, gives a good performance as the gold digging Lily. Coulouris' villain is melodramatic and fits more into a "B" movie than an "A" big budget feature. Dekker's brutish henchman is good, but he would have made a better Coffin than colorless Coulouris. Others in the cast include Anthony Quinn, Frank Faylen, Eduardo Ciannelli and Agentina Brunetti. To add to the "B" look of the film several "B" movie veterans appear in small supporting roles.A better script, some casting changes and we could have had a much more memorable movie.