Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

Flame of Barbary Coast

Play trailer Poster for Flame of Barbary Coast Released May 28, 1945 1h 31m Western Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
Tomatometer 2 Reviews 34% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
A Montana cattleman (John Wayne) opens a casino and rivals a gambler (Joseph Schildkraut) for a singer (Ann Dvorak) in 1906 San Francisco.
Watch on Fandango at Home Buy Now

Where to Watch

Flame of Barbary Coast

Critics Reviews

View All (2) Critics Reviews
Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Before becoming a major box-office star, John Wayne made many B-pictures, such as this Republic flick, a romantic triangle set in San Francisco circa 1906, which was nominated for several technical Oscars. Rated: B- Aug 5, 2009 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews The script is so lame and murky that even the Duke doesn't seem interested in his character. Rated: C Sep 24, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (16) audience reviews
ashley h Flame of Barbary Coast is an excellent film. It is about Duke who falls for Flaxen at the Barbary Coast in turn-of-the-century San Francisco. John Wayne and Ann Dvorak give fantastic performances. The screenplay is well written. Joseph Kane did a great job directing this movie. I enjoyed watching this motion picture because of the romance and drama. Flame of Barbary Coast is a must see. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Are you in the mood to be sensational? Duke resides in San Francisco and wants to marry and settle down but losses a fortune to a crooked casino owner. He returns home with his girl unable to get married. He studies card sharking and game playing and returns to the casino to wins his money back and then some. "You don't mind if I look?" "You can look." Joseph Kane, director of Country Boy, Track of Thunder, Smoke in the Wind, The Crooked Circle, Sea of Lost Ships, and Hoodlumn Empire, delivers Flame of the Barbara Coast. The storyline for this picture is very average with awkward lines and performances. The acting was fairly average and the cast includes John Wayne, Ann Dvorak, Joseph Schildkraut, and William Frawley. "For my money you're a bunch of sniveling cripples." This picture was recommended to me by Fios so I gave it a shot. This was just okay and barely worth following. This is far from a classic and even Wayne seemed a bit rigid and awkward. I only recommend this to diehard Wayne fans. "We're not going to like each other, are we?" Grade: C Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/19/23 Full Review Audience Member The material is pretty minor, especially in the last third when the film dramatizes the earthquake. Yet, it has some charm, the least of which is the often baroque cinematography and set design. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/26/23 Full Review Audience Member really just appalingly boring, nothing happens in this film, or if it does it is rushed beyond belief Rated 1 out of 5 stars 02/23/23 Full Review Audience Member This turn-of-the-century John Wayne adventure epic, THE FLAME OF THE BARBARY COAST, is nothing more than a thoroughly average but nevertheless entertaining saga about gambling in San Franciso and the rivalry between the hero and the villain for the affections of the eponymous heroine who towers about all else as the star singing attraction. No, this isn't a standard western, but Wayne wears a Stetson and plays a cattle rancher from Montana. The heroine, Ann Dvorak of G-MEN, is the girl that everybody yearns for and wants to see. She inserts herself between John Wayne and Joseph Schildraut and the Borden Chase screenplay depicts Wayne as a fish-out-of-water, or perhaps a steer-off-the-range, who butts heads with an urbane, satorially elegant casino owner. THE FLAME OF THE BARBARY COAST could qualify as a romance because both the hero and the villain vye for her affection. Director Joe Kane never lets things get out of hand with a 92-minute running time, and the limited use of special effects to depict the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was pretty cool. This is as much a tale of initiation as it is an empire building yarn. Long-time John Wayne stock company character actor Paul Fix plays a villian, while William Frawley is cast as a close friend of our hero who learns the basics of poker. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Audience Member Outstanding movie John Wayne is my family favorite actor Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/03/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Flame of Barbary Coast

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis A Montana cattleman (John Wayne) opens a casino and rivals a gambler (Joseph Schildkraut) for a singer (Ann Dvorak) in 1906 San Francisco.
Director
Joseph Kane
Producer
Joseph Kane
Screenwriter
Borden Chase
Distributor
Republic Pictures
Production Co
Republic
Genre
Western
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
May 28, 1945, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 8, 2018
Runtime
1h 31m
Most Popular at Home Now