Flame of Barbary Coast

source: Flame of Barbary Coast

This turn-of-the-century John Wayne adventure epic, "The Flame of the Barbary Coast," amounts to little 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. Most of the action transpires inside buildings. 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 villain, while William Frawley is cast as a close friend of our hero who learns the basics of poker.

FLAME OF THE BARBARY COAST is a light romantic comedy featuring John Wayne in a starring role butting heads against chorus girl Ann Dvorak and eventually falling in love with her. As with the other Republic westerns I've seen that Wayne made in the 1940s, this one has a likable lightness of touch that makes it a lot of fun to watch, and entertaining throughout. The theme of the movie is gambling and the various gambling interludes are handled in a well-paced way. Joseph Schildkraut makes for a thoroughly imposing villain and his acting is of a much better class than is usual in a picture like this. The film even manages to cram in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake as a sub-plot and the special effects in this scene are great fun. Fans of the Duke will be in their element.

With all the songs and can-can dance scenes this film would almost qualify as a musical. The story takes place in San Francisco at the turn of the century, and I should have picked up on the date when it was mentioned but I never gave it a second thought. It was the year of the great earthquake, 1906, and it figures somewhat prominently during the latter part of the picture, though it couldn't shake Duke Fergus's resolve to win the trophy he came back for. His nickname was the Duke, and even though he didn't use that name in very many of his pictures, John Wayne was Duke Fergus in this one, a Montana cowboy who wins and loses a small fortune of sixteen thousand dollars on his first trip to San Francisco to collect on a horse trade. A newspaper reporter from the San Francisco Star called him the 'King of Luck' when he cleaned up at the Eldorado, and then partied his way up and down Pacific Street with winning hands at the competition. Smitten with saloon gal Flaxen Tarry (Ann Dvorak), Duke winds up leaving town with a vow to return and make his mark after Tarry's main man Tito Morrell (Joseph Schildkraut) busts him at the poker table. It was cool to see William Frawley here as Duke's sidekick and gambling mentor Wolf Wiley. Frawley seems to be one of those actors that no matter what year he appeared in a picture, he always looks the same as Ricky and Lucy's next door neighbor. It's like he was never young and never ages. At least that's the way it strikes me, but I'm still looking to a capture an early flick in which he might have appeared youthful. In the story, Wolf seems to know all the transplanted gamblers like Calico Jim (Paul Fix) and Horseshoe Brown (Al Murphy). Speaking of which, actor Marc Lawrence probably has one of the shortest ever credited film appearances here, actually counting down his thirty seconds of screen time before the Duke shoots him for dirty dealing. Well the love triangle, if you want to call it that, between Flaxen, Tito and the Duke will keep you guessing how it will turn out right till the very end. Wayne's character came in with a winner take all attitude right from the start, but I have to say, I thought the singer would have stuck it out at the Eldorado after all the fireworks settled down. You know, we never did get to see the Duke's cabin back in Montana, so who knows. Maybe after one look, Miss Tarry might have high tailed it back to the city by the bay.

You gotta hand it to the Duke...his loyalty to the small Republic studios was admirable. They were the one that gave him his start in the movies and he never forgotten that as his movie star status grew and grew. It finally paid off when they both made "The Quiet Man" with a few Oscars no less in 1949-50. This movie was a prelude to that, and no Maureen O'Hara at that. Seriously, I loved Maureen, but towards the latter years of his career, she seemed to be in everyone of his pictures, including the aforementioned "Quiet Man". Joseph Schildkraut was a notable enemy, which he has performed in past movies. A, Dvorak pretty, and never acquired big star status, but most likely, one that the Republic studio could afford and Virginia Grey, Clark Gable's girl friend for many years." I Love Lucy"'s landlord has a comic turn here. One thing I noticed, where was Ward Bond? Another familiar face in the Duke's movies..

. . . harboring a certain Breed of Men, and they recognized John Wayne as their closeted cautionary tale. It's certainly fitting that Wayne is top-billed in FLAME OF BARBARY COAST. Ann Dvorak co-stars here as Flaxen (a.k.a., Ann), the serial "beard" for nearly every rich "eligiable bachelor" in Old San Francisco, posing as the fuel for Wayne's title character "Flame" (at least for public consumption). To drive home the point that FLAME is a thinly-veiled take on the Real Lives of the West Coast "Elite" of the Mid-1900s, screenwriter Borden Chase insists upon naming Wayne's character after his Real Life LITERAL "pet" name, Duke Morrison. (Many "Wayne" fans know that after Ma Wayne--Mrs. Morrison, that is--dumped his sickly dad, a depressed middle schooler Marion Mitchell Morrison--the future "John Wayne"--renamed himself after the Morrison Family Mutt, "Duke.") Ironically, as "Duke Fergus," Wayne pulls off a feat he never accomplished in Real Life, by talking a native English Speaker--Flaxen (the equivalent of "Anybody's" in WEST SIDE STORY: the gal those boys more DC than AC "passed around" when necessary to present a "beard" to their folks or others)--into a position of Permanent Beardship by agreeing to marry him. That the American Rich People Party's Patron Saint--Wayne--had three Foreign Brides is a point not entirely lost on this year's heir apparent ARPP standard bearer, Donald Trump.

Flame of Barbary Coast finds John Wayne as a visiting cowboy from Montana who makes and loses a fortune in a night and goes home busted. He also finds the love of his life in Ann Dvorak, an entertainer at Joseph Schildkraut's place on the Barbary Coast. Schildkraut figures that Dvorak is his personal property. But the Dvorak romantic angle is a side issue because Wayne is figuring on not getting mad, but getting even. He's learned a bit about gambling from an oldtimer at the trade in William Frawley. Of course Wayne and Schildkraut's rivalry is interrupted by the famous earthquake of 1906. As this is Republic Films and not Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer, the special effects are nice, but not near as good as those from MGM. As this was Republic's prestige film of the year, I'm sure it was the best that miserly old Herbert J. Yates could afford. The most interesting member of the cast is Schildkraut, a scion of the old Spanish aristocracy who's chosen to make his living on the Barbary Coast in the dens of iniquity there. He's as in love with Dvorak as Wayne is, but likes his power and notoriety more. Yates took some liberties with San Francisco history in this one. The MGM San Francisco did not bother mentioning any of the local political figures of the day, but Flame on Barbary Coast did and got it wrong. Wayne and Schildkraut square off in an election in 1906 that never took place between Mayor Eugene Schmitz and James D. Phelan. Phelan was in fact Schmitz's predecessor in office and Schmitz didn't lose an election. He got himself impeached for setting a standard of corruption that has had some urban historian calling him the worst big city mayor in American history. Now THAT would be an interesting film. Still the Duke's legion of fans will love him in this one and others will like Joseph Schildkraut.

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.

In Republic's musical remake of "San Francisco", the songs are mostly handled by Ann Dvorak, although Virginia Grey also has two or three. As might be expected, production values are extremely lavish by Republic's usual standards. The earthquake is spectacularly staged, even though it occupies less screen footage than the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer version. The film also benefits greatly from Robert De Grasse's expert photography. He even manages to make Ann Dvorak look enticingly attractive. Her Adele Palmer costumes also help. Joseph Kane's direction rises well above his usual humble standard, making full use of the spectacular sets with effective crane and tracking shots. Dick Van Enger's snappy film editing also helps. The support cast headed by Joseph Schildkraut and Paul Fix is A-1. Snappy musical numbers with their nice chorus lines and zippy score also come as a nice surprise. And even the dialogue is remarkably bright and with-it by Republic standards. Altogether a most enjoyable effort which actually seems to improve on subsequent viewings.

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.