Synopsis

Col. Jefferson Randolph Smith, known as "Soapy" to friends and foes, is a notorious con man whose reputation has, alas, preceded him to the Alaska Gold Rush town of Skagway in 1897. Still, this charming gentleman starts a protection racket that brings law and order, a church, and an infirmary to the town. Soapy, the criminal, becomes a force for moral good until the town's hypocrisy and vicious self-interest bring him down.  He falls, a victim of the cardinal sin of believing in his own con.