Barbary Coast

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nick s Great world building with big sets and lively action sequences. The acting from the leads was great. A bit melodramatic but that's to be expected from this production era. Definitely worth a watch. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 07/27/24 Full Review SICKS6SIX S I scored this film 80%, i don't understand how the public only gave it 50%, this is a film made in the 1930s not long after talkies were invented, for its day it was miles ahead of what people were making, you can't judge this film by any of today's standards, it has fine actors, a good script and plot, yes it looks and sounds dated, you would too if you had been made in 1931. . . its a trip back in time and it does that really well, EGR is one of the top 5 all-time Hollywood greats and he delivers well in this film, watch and enjoy, Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/13/24 Full Review Steve D Strong western with great work from its cast. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/04/24 Full Review Audience Member Really good movie here well worth watching. Yes I highly recommend it. James Welch, Henderson, Arkansas October 13, 2023. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 10/14/23 Full Review Audience Member Atmospheric piece (lots of fog) with elements of the western, the gangster movie, and romance. Mary Rutledge (Miriam Hopkins) is a young woman set to marry a gold-rush millionaire; she arrives in foggy San Francisco only to learn her intended is dead, killed after making a fuss when he lost everything gambling. Mary is intent upon doing well, and joins forces with gambling boss Luis Chamalis (Edward G. Robinson), running his crooked roulette wheel. Chamalis compares her to a swan, and so she's known as Swan from then on. He wants her to return his affection; she doesn't. Chamalis owns the whole town, and his gunman Knuckles (Brian Donlevy) shoots bad losers in the back, as well as brave newspapermen. Swan is unhappy about the killings and wanders off alone; taking refuge from the rain in a cabin, she meets Jim Carmichael (Joel McCrea), a prospector who's struck it rich and is heading back to New York. After a short interlude of pleasant talk, they part ways. But instead of leaving he shows up at the saloon, and she cheats him out of all his gold; he is bitter and sarcastic and then unconscious. When he wakes up he's a spittoon-cleaner and waiter. Meanwhile the town is getting anxious about Chamalis's killings and form a band of vigilantes. They capture Knuckles and hang him and break up the saloon. Chamalis is fixated on Swan's love for Carmichael and chases them. Carmichael is wounded and Swan promises to love Chamalis if he will allow Carmichael to leave on the ship. He agrees, and then, as she's crying, he sends her away too, just as the vigilantes come for him, and she runs up the gangplank. A noble act from an unexpected quarter produces a happy ending. There are some interesting sub-themes: freedom of the press—Chamalis suppresses it—and vigilantism spun positively as a law-and-order answer to crime. Hopkins is exceedingly pretty, especially about the eyes, which are curiously shaped and inclined to twinkle. Her acting is acceptable; oddly, she does the hard gambling woman better than the melting woman in love. McCrea is his usual dependable self, tall, pleasant, cast as the knowing innocent. Walter Brennan does a turn as "Old Atrocity," an utterly amoral but amusing hanger-on. The surprise is Robinson, who dresses like an early 19th-century Italian dandy with curly hair and long sideburns and an ear-ring. He's ruthless enough, and even though he slips easily into his gangster accents, he pulls off the small town tyrant beautifully. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/08/23 Full Review Audience Member Proof that SF has always been home to plutocratic racketeers who use pleasure to oppress. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/30/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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