Seven Sinners

source: Seven Sinners

An American drama; A story about a saloon entertainer banished from various American protectorates in the Pacific, who uses her femme-fatale charms to achieve her aims including wooing a Navy officer in a South Seas gin joint. This is an entertaining exotic adventure with raffish comedy, romance and glamour. The film's enduring strength is confined to how Marlene Dietrich thrives as the flamboyant torch singer and scarlet woman. Dietrich satirises the Shanghai Lil stereotype sirens of Far East showbusiness past with aplomb and humour. The young and handsome Naval Lieutenant playing amorous to her is John Wayne, who smooches up to create some nice chemistry. Broderick Crawford, Mischa Auer, Samuel S Hinds, Reginald Denny, and Oscar Homolka all give fine supporting performances. The production standards are good. The sets are reminiscent of film director Josef von Sternberg's films. The atmosphere of a cheap, evil island cafe is captured well. The bar-room finale is preposterous but the rumbustiousness and playful excess the audience experiences from the beginning was energy that had to go somewhere, so the film going out like a thermobaric implosion seemed like a fitting fortissimo coda.

Somewhat outdated after 70 years, SEVEN SINNERS is not so much a John Wayne movie as it is a Marlene Dietrich movie. She is the top-billed star, and John Wayne has little to do except looking handsome in his Navy uniform and getting involved in a spectacular saloon fight. ANY John Wayne movie is a bona fide classic simply because Wayne is in the film. This one was re-issued to theaters and still has box office life in it via the recent DVD release. Universal has paired it with a much superior Wayne movie in stunning 3-strip Technicolor -- Shepherd of the Hills (about the moonshine business). Buy or rent it; you can't go wrong.

The opening scene has a bunch of guys in a South Seas cabaret go berserk, hitting each other and tearing up the furnishings. We don't see nor hear Marlene, but it's clear she just finished singing. Unfortunately, this is a standard response of men to Marlene(as Bijou). So why she has been banned from city after city in Indonesia and the South Seas. She brings in business to cabarets, but not enough to replace the destroyed furnishings or reputation of the establishment. Move over Sinatra. Even his bobby soxers weren't this ecstatic. At nearly 40y.o., Marlene looks and acts amazing. And those big soulful eyes. If you are typically bewitched by Marlene's typical screen persona, you should not be disappointed by her performance here. Marlene has tall, broad-shouldered, handsome, John Wayne to romance her on occasion, but it's decided that marriage to her would probably destroy his naval career. Thus, in the finale, they are shown going their separate ways: a bittersweet conclusion to a love affair. Wayne is a lieutenant in the US navy. Just what a US naval vessel is doing exploring Indonesia's many islands isn't pursued. In any case, in Wayne's first encounter with Marlene, he hugs her as he lifts her from the ship to the wharf. By the look on her face, she's quite agreeable to this treatment. This sets the stage for more romantic encounters between the two. Later, Wayne initiates a mega-barroom brawl between two groups, in which the room is totally destroyed, with men leaping around the room. It's mean to be largely a comical performance. This is the action climax of the film. If you like Billy Gilbert's extreme brand of wild befuddled humor, you will find plenty of it here, especially in the first half. He plays the proprietor of the 7 sinners cabaret, which was torn up the last time Marlene performed there. Hence, he's not anxious for a repeat performance. Nonetheless, he is bullied into allowing her to perform there. She sings several songs penned by the combination of Friedrich Hollaender and frank Loesser: "I've Been in Love Before", and "The Man's in the Navy". But, her most memorable performance is the classic from the '20s: "I Can't Give You Anything but Love", composed by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields. Besides Billy Gilbert, and the climactic brawl, humor is sprinkled here and there. For example, a man grabs Marlene's arm roughly. She presses her lite cigarette into his hand, and he immediately releases her. A young Broderick Crawford, as Finnegan, serves as Marlene's voluntary protector, providing a bit of comedy here and there, as does Mischa Auer, as his companion magician and kleptomaniac. In a comical scene, Marlene holds up various items stolen by Auer, one by one, to a group of men, asking who they belong to. The men are embarrassed that these were stolen without their knowledge. This film is presently available at YouTube.

Bijou Blanche, a sort of chanteuse, provoked a riot, literally, everywhere in which she appears. When we first see her, she is arriving by ship to a place she is not exactly welcomed, she goes to the Seven Sinners club, where its owner doesn't have too many fond memories of Bijou, but she is a woman who will bring a lot of business his way. Ms. Blanche has the right amounts of sophistication, beauty and elegance that proves to be disarming for the men lucky enough to get her attention. Bijou, who has a two-man entourage, Little Ned, and Sasha, soon discovers the American Navy, which has a presence in the island. It takes little before most of the sailors discover the mysterious beauty who can belt a song as well as play pool like a pro. Lt. Dan Brent, also falls under her spell, in spite of being the unofficial escort for the daughter of the man in command. There are enough tensions in the air as a sinister Anthro, who wants Bijou for himself enters the picture. Anthro is a man who knows how to throw a knife as Tony, the owner of the club, can attest. Bijou has the kind of reaction men seem to have whenever she is around. One of the most fun brawls occurs at the Seven Sinners, but at the end, Bijou has her way, as it's always the case. Directed with his usual style by Tay Garnett, the new DVD copy has an excellent quality since it is part of a newly released package featuring films of John Wayne. The great Marlene Dietrich is Bijou, a woman who knows what makes men tick. She kept reminding us of Destry, in that in both films she played saloon entertainers. A young, handsome John Wayne is perfect opposite Ms. Dietrich. Their chemistry is right. The pleasure of watching this movie is watching an interesting supporting cast full of familiar faces. Broderick Crawford and Misha Auer play Little Ned Finnegan and Sasha, who are devoted to Bijou. Oskar Homolka is perfectly menacing and gives the film another dimension in the mystery surrounding his persona. Billy Gilbert also puts an appearance as Tony, the owner of the joint. Not seen often these days, "Seven Sinners" is worth a look because of the amazing cast and the fun everyone seemed to be having, and of course, Marlene Dietrich and John Wayne at their best.

John Wayne cast as a love interest to Marlene Dietrich? Absolutely laffable !!!! This movie would have been more enjoyable if someone other than John Wayne had been cast. Mischa Auer and Billy Gilbert as "Bijou's" friends steal the movie from Wayne and Dietrich. This flick is strictly to watch for fun.

Marlene Dietrich stars as Bijou, a nightclub singer whose mere presence causes men to riot. Her unholy aura causes her to be exiled from one South Pacific island as the film begins, so she heads out for another island with her lunkhead bodyguard Little Ned (Broderick Crawford) and two-bit magician Sasha (Mischa Auer) in tow. It doesn't take long for Bijou to land a new nightclub singer job, and even less time for her to set the menfolk aflame, including sleazeball Antro (Oskar Homolka) and US Navy Lt. Dan (John Wayne). This meandering flick changes moods almost as often as Dietrich changes outfits, from silly farce to heartfelt romance to menacing drama. The supporting cast is excellent, although Dekker is wasted as a drunken ship's doctor, and Crawford's loud brute grows a bit tiresome. Dietrich, who was 38 at the time of filming, looks ten years older, thanks to too much weight loss, an unflattering hairstyle, and some regrettable outfits. She's beginning to resemble the slightly inhuman mannequin she would become in the last half of her life, too artificial and almost a parody of her 30's heyday. Even her throaty singing seems like a takeoff on her own inimitable style, like someone doing an exaggerated impersonation of Marlene Dietrich. Wayne's admiration onscreen seems very genuine, and it's been stated by multiple sources that it continued offscreen, as well. The climactic barroom brawl loses some steam by using cartoonishly sped-up action and an obvious stunt double for Wayne, although it does provide the unexpected sight of seeing John Wayne in a fist fight with Oskar Homolka.

"Seven Sinners" was the first of three films starring Marlene Dietrich and John Wayne. This one is all Dietrich and a must for all of her fans. Dietrich plays Bijou Blanche a "saloon singer" who has been deported from several Indonesian Islands as an undesirable. She is followed around by her "friends", the buffoonish Little Ned Finnigan (Broderick Crawford) and pick pocket Sasha (Mischa Auer). Bijou learns that a new Governor has been installed on the island of Sumatra (I think) and sets sail for there. On board the ship she is befriended by a down and out doctor named Dr. Martin (Albert Dekker). Anyway, Bijou and friends land and head for the Seven Sinners cafe run by Tony (Billy Gilbert) to seek work. The Seven Sinners is frequented by several US naval officers, one of whom is the dashing Lt; Dan Brent (Wayne). However, Dorothy Henderson (Anna Lee), the daughter of the governor (Samuel S. Hinds) also has designs on him. An apparent Nazi spy, Antro (Oskar Homolka) has had a past with Bijou. She falls for Brent and hears from his men that he will ask her to marry him. The Governor steps in and asks Brent's ship's Captain Church (Reginald Denny) to appeal to his sense of duty. We all know that the saloon girl with the heart of gold has little chance of landing the clean cut hero but................................ The legendary Dietrich sings several forgettable songs in her inimitable style, which for many is the highlight of the film. For me it was the knock down drag out saloon brawl which was excellently staged. As I have said before, this film is all Dietrich. Once again playing the femme fatale she is as glamorous as ever. Wayne, just emerging as a major star plays second fiddle to La Dietrich in this one. Broderick Crawford spends most of the picture running around yelling "gangway, gangway". There is far too much comic relief as well. We have Crawford, Auer, Gilbert and Vince Barnett as the bartender. Its also hard to take seriously the "all in white" bad guys led by Homolka, who participate in the the aforementioned brawl. "B" picture plot and characters with an "A" list (for the most part) cast. "The Spoilers" and "Pittsburgh" were much better Dietrich/Wayne vehicles.

NEver heard of this film before & just watched it today. I was expecting something akin to the quality of "The Spoilers" & "Pittsburgh" given they are also a Dietrich-Wayne combo. Sadly "Seven Sinners" is first, only a reference to the dive bar where Dietrich works. The story, if you can call it that, is really just a mish mash of running around, bar fights & lackluster characters. There really is no story, no sympathy for any of the character & the Duke himself has actually very little to do in this film. This seems to have been one of those "quickie" Universal productions where they were trading on Dietrich's name only & didn't bother with anything else. John Wayne had just reached real stardom the year earlier in John Ford's "Stagecoach" but was still sort of a "newbie" even though he had been making movies since 1928 & playing repetitive cowboys at poverty row studios all through the 1930's. This film & his much later "The Conqueror" where Wayne was miscast as Ghengis Khan are his two worst films ever made. Advice? You can avoid this one & not feel that your Wayne filmography watching is incomplete.

I've seen this film a number of times on late-night TV, and quite enjoyed it, especially Marlene Dietrich. Go figure. The story is all fun...kind of a South Seas version of "Destry Rides Again"....mixed moments of comedy and drama. But the scene that gets me, and literally makes me always want to watch this film over and over again, is the one scene where Dietrich and Wayne are flirting with one another somewhere outside her home, and Dietrich is just looking at Wayne with a "oh yeah, we're gonna hook up tonight" look (for want of a better term) that would make any sane man melt. She's also so beautifully lit up and photographed, and the light in her eyes glowing with desire....sigh. It comes across as such a genuinely captured moment of desire on film, that it makes you wish you were in the Duke's shoes at that moment (he does indeed look happy to be there himself). Considering there are reports they in fact had an affair and spent time together around and after the making of this film, you can easily imagine and believe that it is indeed just that.