Seven Sinners

Released Oct 25, 1940

1h 27m

Drama

List

80%

5 Reviews

Tomatometer

42%

100+ Ratings

Audience Score

A torch singer (Marlene Dietrich) wows a Navy officer (John Wayne) and his shipmates at a South Seas cafe.

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Otis Ferguson

The New Republic

Seven Sinners is nothing to worry about unless you happen to be in the theatre watching it go from fairly good to worse than worse.

May 7, 2024

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Eduardo Guaitsel

Cine-Mundial

So for Marlene Dietrich, for the argument, for the characterizations and for the realism, 'Seven Sinners' deserves seven different applause. [Full review in Spanish]

Sep 16, 2019

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Michael E. Grost

Classic Film and Television

Mix of raffish comedy, romance and glamour, with good photography.

Nov 30, 2015

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Though designed as star vehicle for Marlene Dietrich, the movie is a lot of fun due to chemistry between Dietrich and the young and handsome John Wayne, not to mention the splendidly staged brawl.

Rated: B

May 3, 2007

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Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

Marlene Dietrich thrives as the loose-living sexy chanteuse.

Rated: B-

Sep 23, 2005

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Audience Member

Dietrich is still just as good as in her von Sternberg triumphs, but unfortunately she's wasted in this lame effort. Wayne looks fine in his navy uniform but he's unconvincing as a romantic lead and seems much more comfortable doing his Duke thing with the other guys than in the scenes with Dietrich. With a brawling Irishman, a kleptomaniac magician, a knife-throwing hardman and a hand-wringing bar owner all taking regular turns to do their one-note routines it's often closer to vaudeville than the romantic drama it was presumably aspiring to be, and Garnett's cluelessness is summed up by the fact that the climax of the film is an extended bar-room brawl rather than any kind of proper closure to the romance. Never mind - at least Dietrich gets to sing a few songs, and her renditions of 'I can't give you anything but love' and 'I've been in love before' will linger in the memory long after the rest has been forgotten.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

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Audience Member

Marlene is full of sass and pep in this far-fetched South Sea tale. The Duke cuts quite a figure in his officer whites.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

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Audience Member

dietrich+wayne=fun good chemistry

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

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Audience Member

Not another Navy movie. :(

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

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Audience Member

Marlene Dietrich as a lounge singer who falls in love with an early in his career John Wayne. Pretty boring until the hilarious fight scene at the end.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/23/23

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Audience Member

It's slight but charming and full of style. It's often very funny.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/26/23

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Tay Garnett

Director

Marlene Dietrich

Bijou Blanche

John Wayne

Lt. Dan Brent

Broderick Crawford

Edward Patrick `'Little Ned'` Finnegan

Mischa Auer

Sasha Mencken

Albert Dekker

Dr. Martin

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Synopsis

A torch singer (Marlene Dietrich) wows a Navy officer (John Wayne) and his shipmates at a South Seas cafe.

Director: Tay Garnett
Screenwriter: Ladislas Fodor, László Vadnay, John Meehan, Harry Tugend
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Production Co: Universal Pictures
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 25, 1940, Wide
Release Date (DVD): May 30, 2006
Runtime: 1h 27m