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.

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.

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.

Republic Pictures attempt at a prestige picture, for their tenth anniversary, is a dismal failure. In 1936 MGM made a marvellous film called "San Francisco" about a saloon owner and his romance with a singer set around the 1906 earthquake. In 1945 "Flame of Barbary Coast" takes the same characters and even the same setting. But this time instead of Clark Gable and Jeanette MacDonald, we have John Wayne and Ann Dvorak. And instead of spectacular special effects for the earthquake we have one chandelier fall down and lots of stock footage of fires!Why did they do this? Wayne is awful playing a character called "Duke", but he is "Olivier" in comparison to the woeful Dvorak. Someone seems to have told Miss Dvorak to smile - and she does throughout the movie, whether she's facing an earthquake, a duel between her lovers, or permanent paralysis. And she couldn't sing, but she is given several dreary and hideously choreographed numbers. Poor Joseph Schildkraut is there as the baddie and provides a couple of moments of wry humour.Mind you how could anyone act with this appalling dialogue. For example:After the earthquake Wayne meets Schildkraut in the tent city that has been set up. Both love Dvorak but she has been hurt and has been asking for Schildkraut. Wayne fills him in on her condition.Wayne: She's paralyzed.Pause. Music swells.Schildkraut: It's gonna be tough.Some cliched camera angles (the stage seen through the holes in the wheel of fortune) are used ad nauseum and the plot makes no sense at all. Wayne, for example, runs for mayor and gets into a massive fight with Schildkraut's boys who are destroying ballot papers. Having finally regained the correct tally sheets that elect him mayor he announces he is going back to Montana! Dvorak takes Wayne on a tour of all the gambling houses and, despite the protests of all the owners, only has to wink at the dealers for them to allow Wayne to win $16,000. And the dealers aren't even reprimanded.What was everyone thinking? Or weren't they?