Flame of Barbary Coast (1945)

Sadly Over-hyped

Lack of good storyline.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

Lesser John Wayne vehicle with Duke playing a character named...Duke. Set in early Twentieth Century San Francisco (a popular setting for many movies made during the classic Hollywood era), Duke plays a gambler who falls for a saloon singer (a miscast Ann Dvorak) and crosses swords with accented villain Joseph Schildkraut, who believes the lady belongs to him. Dvorak, about ten years past her prime (career-wise not looks; she was still lovely) was a poor fit for a sultry singer that turns men's heads. By contrast, Virginia Grey appears in a supporting role and seems a much better fit for the lead role. Dvorak also has remarkably little chemistry with John Wayne. Not to bag on her. She was a great actress, particularly in her pre-Code films where she had grittier roles than this. Schildkraut was a decent actor who certainly could make you hate him. But every film I've seen where Duke's opponent is a wimpy tycoon or bureaucrat or something always seems to suffer for it. The villain in a John Wayne movie needs to be intimidating. This guy just isn't. Creepy at best. For his part, Duke does fine. Not really his type of role as written on the page but he sort of makes it his. Worth a look for Wayne fans but it's not one of his best.

There are obvious parallels between the plot of this Republic film and the previous MGM "San Francisco. Both involve a self-made Barbary coast kingpin, a prime female entertainer, and an ending precipitated by the 1906 earthquake and fire. There are additional films with a very similar plot, but without the catastrophic ending. These include: "Frisco Kid(1935), "Barbary Coast"(1935), "Hello, Frisco, Hello"(1943) , and "Frisco Sal", released the same year as the present film. Tito Morell, in the present film, is equivalent to Clark Gable's 'Blackie' in "S.F", both being self made men, with greater ambitions than their present casino on the Barbary Coast. Ann Dvorak, as Flaxen, is equivalent to the role of Jeanette MacDonald in "S.F." There is no exact equivalent for John Wayne's character in "S.F." although the nob hill crowd, who want to take Jeanette away from Blackie for their opera house is reminiscent of Wayne's role here in trying to lure Flaxen away from Tito's casino, to his brand new casino. There is no equivalent in the present film, for Spencer Tracy's character in "S.F.".As in the case of S.F., we can look at the screenplay as being a morality play. Wayne achieved his dream of building a lavish casino by a combination of skill and luck in gambling. But on opening night, God destroyed his dream with a violent earthquake, leaving him penniless. In contrast, rival Tito's casino survived mostly intact. I think there is symbolic significance in this difference in fortune. It's saying that Tito and his casino belong here, whereas Wayne belongs back on his Montana cattle ranch, he misses so much. Fortunately for Wayne, Flaxen was agreeable to give up her entertainment lifestyle to become a cattlewoman. She had seemingly vacillated between supporting Tito or Wayne, it being difficult to tell which side she was on until near the end. Tito was rather like Gable in "S.F.": not really a bad villain.See it in B&W at YouTube

Considering it's a John Wayne film, it already earns a respectable score from me. Aside from his early B-movies and a few horrible mistakes ("The Green Beret" and "The Conqueror" come to mind), any John Wayne film is worth seeing. However, "Flame of the Barbary Coast" is certainly among his lesser starring efforts. I think part of this is because Wayne's bigger than life persona really isn't fully evident in this film--in fact, he seems like a bit of a chump in this one! The film begins with Wayne coming to the Barbary Coast (a rough section of San Francisco) from Montana to collect a debt. However, he takes one look at 'Flaxen' (Ann Dvorak) and is instantly smitten--and spends much of the rest of the film following her about like a love-sick puppy. As I said, it's not the totally self-confident and macho John Wayne that later would be solidified in his films--the later Wayne would have just grabbed the woman and planted a kiss on her or dumped her when she played hard to get! This one, however, spends most of the movie trying to one-up her unscrupulous boss (Joseph Schildkraut) and build an even bigger gambling casino where he wants the chanteuse, Flaxen, to perform. All this striving for one woman--a woman that often didn't seem worth it as she's whiny and demanding. Yet, she is a walking cliché--the woman EVERY man wants to possess--yet not sexy enough to really pull it off well.Overall, the film is worth seeing but easy to skip. The script is only fair and Wayne's support is sometimes weak (Dvorak and Schildkraut--who came off as too wimpy to be a good foil)--though William Frawley is very good in his role as Wayne's friend and mentor. If you are a HUGE Wayne fan, then you must see it. If you aren't, then it probably won;t do much to impress you.By the way, this is one of several films that portray the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. Considering the film was made by a low-budget studio (Republic), its special effects were pretty good but not nearly as nice as films such as "San Francisco" by MGM or "Frisco Jenny" by Warner Brothers.

The Duke vs. Joseph Schildkraut for the heart of Ann Dvorak and dominance of the San Francisco gambling scene. Wayne is smart and strong, Dvorak is beautiful and unobtainable and Schildkraut is charming and both conniving and dignified. William Frawley provides guidance and laughs as Duke's mentor, Wolf Wiley. This is a classic love triangle/rivalry, the kind that has sustained literature down through the ages. It's good old fashioned fun. I wouldn't call it original but it is well made and fun to watch. I doff my hat especially to Schildkraut for successfully playing a character who is somehow both amoral and principled.