Made in the middle of World War II, while RKO's chief B-western star Tim Holt was in uniform, Nevada provided an opportunity for Robert Mitchum to showcase his intense, offbeat charm in a breezy, fast-paced action-adventure yarn. The movie's plot is interesting enough, set against the development of the Comstock Lode, and Mitchum's presence is enough to justify a look or two -- it's plain from the opening scene that he can carry a picture like this. But there's more to Nevada -- a remake of a 1927 silent that starred Gary Cooper and Thelma Todd -- than just those obvious virtues. In place of the usual scowling villain, we get Craig Reynolds as a well-spoken, low-keyed, smarmy businessman-heavy, who actually has some human weaknesses and motivations that make him much more interesting to watch than the usual villains in these pieces. And there's a young Anne Jeffreys and Nancy Gates representing the fairer sex, with Jeffreys more interesting as the "bad" girl with a heart of gold and a vision of the future that shapes the final section of the script. And Richard Martin's and Guinn Williams ' performances as the hero's sidekicks demonstrate enough humor to make their performances worth looking at -- indeed, Martin's explanation of his character's name and family origins, intended as a wartime statement about the richness and diversity of the American people, carry a special resonance when seen in the wake of the 2008 presidential election. All of those elements, plus a script (derived from the work of Zane Grey) rooted in history help to make this an engrossing if lightweight western entry -- nothing genre-defining or revelatory, but a lot of fun with some fascinating edges.
