TYCOON is a very typical John Wayne picture with little to distinguish it from the multitude. The western star plays the man in charge of building a railroad across a dangerous gorge in South America; the plot is complicated - and slowed down quite considerably - when he ends up falling for his boss's daughter in the meantime. Yes, it's one of those dawdling tales that gets bogged down in romance and character interplay, with Wayne playing something of an amoral figure required to redeem himself through manly action. Unfortunately the running time goes on way too long, and there are too many scenes involving Cedric Hardwicke's glum character and not enough with the more interesting characters, like a youthful Anthony Quinn.

One has to be careful not to judge a 1940s film by 21st century standards of faithfulness to social realities whether involving industrial (read uncaring capitalistic) disregard for safety - even moral - issues, but that doesn't mean that there weren't standards, and somehow the film ran roughshod over them.John Wayne strolled about rather like the (1947 real world only 2 years earlier at the end of WWII) GI's in Europe captivating the local girls and repatriating them 'back home' to enjoy the unheard of luxuries of being American. But hang on, if Cedric Hardwicke and his daughter are high born Hispanic respecters of honour, tradition etc. (the 'shotgun wedding' is proof?) what's she doing ignoring generations of decorum/upbringing and wandering off with this dusty, hired worker - he's 'engineer' but that does not confer as much status on Wayne as he does himself, albeit an American in S. America (at one point he corrects a questioner about his height "..you're 6ft 3" I believe".. "...No, 6ft 4ins!" (Who put that in the script? A self-important Wayne?)Other items in the film stretch our patience in terms of authenticity, but, on the above, I rest my case, M'lud!

Laraine Day and John Wayne are well cast, each with their share of strong moments, however these moments are too few, and in between the film is rather dull and lacking in excitement. The storyline and character relationships are predictable: it is all very typical and riding on clichés. The extreme length does not help either, but there is one aspect of this film that is certainly very good: the art direction, captured well in Technicolor, is simply beautiful. In a way it is a shame that this film flopped because it otherwise may have had the chance of an Oscar nomination in the art direction field. However, it is not very good overall and only arguably adequate viewing, so it is not quite worth watching the film just to admire the sets. Perhaps worth a look for Day or Wayne die-hard followers though.

Despite the fact that the technicolor location photography is great, John Wayne and Laraine Day have to deal with a script that is way too long (2 hrs. 8 min.) for the kind of romantic adventure seen here. One of the chief compensations for the overlong film, is seeing Laraine Day look lovelier than ever in technicolor. But other than that, the script is too long-winded and lacks enough action or drama to sustain itself over the long running time. Let me quote from my "LARAINE DAY: All-American Girl" article that appears in the Spring 2001 issue of FILMS OF THE GOLDEN AGE:"'Tycoon' is a spectacular action-romance co-starring her with John Wayne in which he carried most of the film. Once again, she was easy on the eyes in technicolor as a woman in love with a railroad constructor (Wayne) in conflict with his employer over construction of tracks through the Andes mountains. She handled the role capably enough but it was one that any young actress could have played and offered no new challenges."The nice supporting cast included Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Judith Anderson, James Gleason and Anthony Quinn. It passes the time, but don't expect anything much.