Largely fictionalized account of an ambitious immigrant's land purchase in America and the events leading to the California gold rush of 1849. Prior to that he has adventures with natives and slave trading in the Sandwich Islands before landing in Mexico.
A big budget production from Universal in which every penny shows on the screen, the film, after initially appearing promising, is defeated by a screenplay which tries to compress too much time with choppy narrative results. Edward Arnold, playing Sutter, gradually ages throughout the film with the usual greying of hair and facial wrinkles. He tries his best and with his booming voice could be a powerful actor. He has a few moments here but, ultimately, his character fails to draw sympathy, with the audience caring little about his fate.
The supporting cast includes Lee Tracy as Sutter's gabby sidekick who accompanies him everywhere, Binnie Barnes as a Russian countess who has eyes on Sutter when she thinks he's wealthy, Harry Carey as Kit Carson, and Montagu Love as a ruthless slave trader.
This expensive ponderous production, directed by James Cruze (The Covered Wagon), was a noteworthy flop at the time of its release, with studio founder Carl Laemmle and his son soon forced out of the studio. It would take the Deanna Durbin musicals to rescue Universal from its financial debts.
