The Parson of Panamint

... about a gold boomtown that goes bust. The story has grizzled old Charles Ruggles at a campfire and telling the story of the ghost town in the distance, the one where he was once mayor.

The good townsfolk run the local gold mine but lie about the safety issues. The bad townsfolk hang out in a saloon. When Ruggles brings a young parson (Phillip Terry) to town, he causes the rift to widen by taking in a local drunk and by befriending the saloon singer (Ellen Drew). The good folk can't stand this sort of Christian charity and hate seeing the downtrodden succeed at anything.

After the parson is basically framed for murder in an accidental killing and is almost lynched, Ruggles delivers a sermon that exposes the hypocrites and sends them packing. I'm sure there are all kinds of biblical parallels but that's not a subject I know much about. It's a neat little film with solid performances by all. Porter Hall leads the good folks. Joseph Schildkraut pays the saloon owner. This is one of Ruggles' best (unmannered) performances, and Terry is quite good as the parson. Panamint is a real ghost town near Death Valley.