Wallace Beery trots out his "lovable lout" act for the zillionth time in Man From Dakota. Beery plays a Union army sergeant who, along with his superior officer (John Howard), is captured and incarcerated in a Confederate prison. Upon escaping, Beery and Howard cross the path of Dolores Del Rio, playing a Russian refugee (with a Mexican accent). Dolores helps the escapees in their efforts to reach Northern lines and deliver secret information to General Grant. Based on a novel by MacKinlay Kantor, The Man From Dakota was distorted and truncated so that Wallace Beery would end up with the largest role.