Customer Reviews

Barbary Coast

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Miriam Hopkins plays beautiful Mary Rutledge who arrives in San Francisco in the 185O's to marry Dan Morgan - only to discover that he died mysteriously after losing his fortune to Louis Chamalis (Eddie Robinson), the powerful owner of the Bella Donna saloon. Mary works for Chamalis as a roulette operator: he falls for her, but she does not reciprocate his feelings. Then a handsome, well-bred Easterner named Jim Carmichael appears in the Bella Donna: Mary finds her man...Robinson's performance is not one of his best, but Hopkins is first rate and McCrea does an admirable job. William Wellman was originally assigned to direct this film which was originally supposed to team Gary Cooper with Gloria Swanson (!). This marked the first film in which Howard Hawks directed for Sam Goldwyn. In his second American film, David Niven is seen as as a Cockney sailor. The script was written by the esteemed team of Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur. In his first appearance in a Goldwyn film, Walter Brennan is seen as Old Atrocity (!).

This film is a real find not for the main actors but for the bit players. Its really entertaining and captures the 1849 city by the bay in all its glitter and mud. It's nicely paced and except for some shots that seem a tad redundent the fog hides the mystery of the love affair. Walter Brennan is super and plays the old sawdust with a moral conflict. I enjoyed the whole story and for 1935 it seemed was ahead of its time. Worth a rental or for the price above to be a keeper :)

All I have to say is this is one of THE most perfect films ever made! I mean, come on, how can you beat a movie that has all of the best main ingredients, ie.
~ Joel McCrea is all of his perfect glory!
~ Joel McCrea fawning over Percy Bysshe Shelley's writing in all of his perfect glory
~ A lovely period film with wonderful acting and actors!
~ Did I mention Joel McCrea? Oh, specially the line where he tells Miriam to read the book of Shelley and pretend he wrote it! Ooooooh, doesn't get any better than that!

United Artists presents "BARBARY COAST" (1935) (91 min/B&W) -- Starring Miriam Hopkins, Edward G. Robinson, Joel McCrea, Walter Brennan, Frank Craven, Brian Donlevy, Clyde Cook & Harry Carey

Directed by Howard Hawks

Miriam Hopkins arrives in San Francisco to marry a newly minted millionaire whom she barely knows, but finds he's dead and fortune gone on her arrival. Since there was no real love involved, she doesn't have a problem teaming up with the man who probably had her fiancé robbed and killed, that being Edward G. Robinson.

Robinson is at his snarling best as a nineteenth century version of Little Caesar on San Francisco's Barbary Coast during the gold rush days.

There is a scene where after Brian Donlevy, who's Robinson's chief henchman, kills a man a trial is held right in Robinson's gambling palace. It's an impromptu affair with a crooked judge who naturally finds Donlevy not guilty.

Now comes the romance part of the film, as Miriam Hopkins though a woman of conscience has a practical side to her. The weakness of the film is in Joel McCrea's performance. He's a prospector who having made his fortune wants to return home. He has a chance encounter with Hopkins and she takes a shine to him and McCrea doesn't know she's Robinson's main gal in the picture.

Being an all time fan of Joel McCrea, the most virtuous of heroes Hollywood ever produced. But in this one, he's not really virtuous as much as not having too many smarts. Let's just say that I cannot understand why Hopkins wants anything to do with him. A much stronger character might have believably taken her from Robinson, but not McCrea in this film.

Special footnote -- Barbary Coast was responsible for the first real notices of two prominent character actors. Walter Brennan had been knocking around for years, but he received his first real attention as a player as waterfront character Old Atrocity. And with minimal dialog, Brian Donlevy made his first real impression on film audiences as Robinson's strong arm killer.

Oscar Nominated for Best Cinematography (Ray June).

BIOS:
1. Howard Hawks [aka: Howard Winchester Hawks]
Date of Birth: 30 May 1896, Goshen, Indiana
Date of Death: 26 December 1977, Palm Springs, California

2. Miriam Hopkins [aka: Ellen Miriam Hopkins
Date of Birth: 18 October 1902 - Savannah, Georgia
Date of Death: 9 October 1972 - New York City, New York

3.. Edward G. Robinson [aka: Emmanuel Goldenberg]
Date of Birth: 12 December 1893 - Bucharest, Romania
Date of Death: 26 January 1973 - Hollywood, California

4. Joel McCrea
Date of Birth: 5 November 1905 - South Pasadena, California
Date of Death: 20 October 1990 - Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California

5. Walter Brennan
Date of Birth: 25 July 1894 - Swampscott, Massachusetts
Date of Death: 21 September 1974 - Oxnard, California

6. Brian Donlevy [aka: Waldo Brian Donlevy]
Date of Birth: 9 February 1901 - Cleveland, Ohio
Date of Death: April 5, 1972 - Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California

Mr. Jim's Ratings:
Quality of Picture & Sound: 4 Stars
Performance: 4 Stars
Story & Screenplay: 4 Stars
Overall: 4 Stars [Original Music, Cinematography & Film Editing]

Total Time: 91 min on VHS ~ United Artists ~ (04/04/2000)

This is a review for the DVD of BARBARY COAST (1935) dby Howard Hawks. Fanciful, old fashioned telling of the story of the beginning of San Francisco with colorful characters played by Edward G. Robinson, Joel McCrea and Miraim Hopkins all in line for their share of the profits. But it doesn't turn out to be that easy and if it weren't for Old Atrocity, played by Walter Brennnan in his first Acadamy Award nominated role, the whole she bang might've been hijacked by Brian Donlevy,playing the rotten to the core henchmen out for only himself.

BARBARY COAST is a wonderful Howard Hawks fog- enshrouded entertainment, the kind that they couldn't make anymore even if they wanted to.

I give BARBARY COAST Five Stars.

I sometimes think San Francisco of the 1800's must have been the liveliest town in human history. Gold! Dames! Gambling! And periodically, huge fires! Howard Hawks directs an intense, lesser known tale of the wild Gold Rush era in "Barbary Coast", a riveting movie well worth seeking out for film buffs.

Sporting a good performance from Joel McCrea, a great one from Edward G Robinson and a magnificent one from Miriam Hopkins, this film follows the initially depressing adventures of the cynical Mary, who arrives in San Francisco just in time to miss her fiancée's killing. She sets up shop with Robinson (in full gangster mode) only to fall for the sweet, gentle-yet-manly McCrea. Lies, redemption, and just desserts follow.

Worth seeing for Hopkins' final scenes with Robinson (wrenchingly begging for McCrea's life) and the lovely, foggy cinematography, the only drawback is that "Barbary Coast" is not what you would call a fun movie. Buy it if you're a big fan of the leads or enjoy heartbreak. Just don't skip it altogether.

GRADE: B/B+
Bonus Points: Walter Brennan, and the horse he rode in on.

"You must be mad too." -- Hopkins

"No, it's much worse than that--I'm stupid. Love's the only thing I've thought of or read about since I was knee high. I've always dreamed of meeting somebody and falling in love." -- Joel McCrea


Howard Hawks and the wild Barbary Coast of San Francisco during the gold rush proved a perfect match in a film which rarely gets talked about when the director's name comes up. The script by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur allowed him to expound on the disillusionment of men about women, as fabulous 1930's star, Miriam Hopkins, arrives in San Francisco a lady, and becomes unrecognizable to even herself when she sells her soul for riches. Alfred Newman's score and Ray June's photography turned back time to create the bawdy atmosphere of those early days of San Francisco when fortunes were won and lost overnight, and law and order did not exist.

Perhaps because films like The Stranger's Return and The Story of Temple Drake are not available to moviegoers today, Miriam Hopkins sort of runs neck and neck with Nancy Carroll as the biggest star hardly remembered today. There are glimpses here of how fabulous she could be, however. Mary Rutledge (Hopkins) arrives by ship on New Year's Eve with a load of prospectors hoping to strike it rich, only to discover the man she came to marry, for wealth, Dan Morgan, has been killed. Refined, but with a steel inside, she decides to stay and find her gold elsewhere. It will lead her straight to the Bella Donna gambling house, and a pact with the slimiest man in San Francisco.

Edward G. Robinson is Louie, the "Little Ceasar" of the Barbary Coast. He is also the man responsible for the death of her would-be husband, via his henchman, Knuckles (Brian Donlevy). Louie knows she'll bring all that gold back into the casino where it will never leave San Francisco and they strike a bargain of sorts which has nothing to do with love. Naturally the crass Louie falls in love with the Swan running his crooked roulette wheel, however, and jealousy reigns supreme. Her newspaper friend tries to write about the need for real law, and only her intervention with Louie keeps him up and running; until he's had enough, but too late. His murder will fans flames all over town, and it isn't long before a group of vigilantes decide in favor of real law and order. This is no Ox-Bow Incident, however; in Hawks' world, the vigilantes were the good guys.

The drama of all this is good, but what elevates the film is the romance of Joel McCrea and Miriam Hopkins in the second half. Hawks may have been jaded, but like most men disillusioned, he was a romantic at heart. His wary and jaded men always seemed to end up with the girl somehow, who either reformed or turned out to be on the up and up in the end. Hopkins does a subtle and wonderful job of becoming more feminine than her life at the Bella Donna allows her character to be upon meeting the innocent McCrea. McCrea, for his part, gives Cooper a run for his money as the easygoing prospector who reads poetry and falls instantly in love with the beautiful girl Mary no longer believes herself to be. Walter Brennan is terrific once again as a crusty old-timer who keeps finding ways to give McCrea back part of the money he loses to Hopkins at the roulette wheel.

An exciting and romantic getaway as the vigilantes close in on Louie, and Louie closes in on Mary, culminates in a wonderful ending which will delight moviegoers. While it is missing the bite so prevalent in many films from this director, an atmospheric setting and fine stars make this a real treat for fans of Howard Hawks. It is also a chance to see the fabulous Hopkins in a lead role; even though she's got the burner on low here, to fit with the story. A must for film connoisseurs.

Howard Hawks' 1935 production of BARBARY COAST is an enjoyable romantic adventure in the tradition of "San Francisco" and "In Old Chicago". Miriam Hopkins, Edward G. Robinson and Joel McCrea play out a stormy love triangle set against the lawless days of the San Francisco gold rush.

Into the bustling port of San Francisco arrives Mary Rutledge (Miriam Hopkins), out to stake her claim with the city's richest resident, to whom she's engaged. When it's revealed that he has been killed, she sets her sights on Luis Chamalis (Edward G. Robinson), owner of the Bella Donna saloon and unofficial "mayor" of the lawless port city.

Pretty soon, Mary has transformed herself into "Swan", the most glamorous hostess of the Bella Donna; and operator of the roulette wheel (rigged, of course). But when Mary learns more about the way in which Luis doles out "justice", she decides to run away with handsome prospector Jim Carmichael (Joel McCrea). As the romance of Mary and Jim plays out, the residents of San Francisco form a covert vigilante group, with the aim to stop Chamalis once and for all...

BARBARY COAST is a colourful romantic drama featuring two of the most fascinating stars of the 1930s'. Fans of Miriam Hopkins will adore her here, dressed in some beautiful Omar Kiam costumes (including a gown constructed almost entirely of white ostrich feathers). Edward G. Robinson is able to bring shades of his iconic "Little Caesar" character to the role of Chamalis, San Francisco's tyrannic, self-appointed ruler. BARBARY COAST also features sharp work from Walter Brennan and Brian Donlevy; look closely for David Niven as a drunk Cockney sailor.

The DVD includes a beautifully-restored B&W print, plus the requisite trailer. (Single-sided, single-layer disc).

Other reviewers have described this movie/product well -- leaving no need for me to add my 2 cents other than to agree heartily that this is a 4 to 5 star find.

"Barbary Coast" is a 1935 film from Howard Hawks starring Miriam Hopkins, Edward G Robinson, and Joel McRea with Walter Brennan, Brian Donlevy, Harry Carey and Donald Meek.

Even before "Little Caesar" (1931), Edward G. Robinson made quite a name for himself in early gangster films like "The Hole in the Wall" (1929), "Night Ride" (1930) and "Outside the Law" (1930), and on Broadway in "The Racket". With "Little Caesar" he became Warners' biggest star and Robinson would go on to play in 30 gangster films in a career that included 89 feature films. In "Barbary Coast" he adopts his 1920s gangster persona to play a saloon keeper in 1850 San Francisco. Listen carefully and you'll even hear him say "yeaah."

Miriam Hopkins (1902-72) was a major star in the 30s at Paramount where she did equally well in dramas (e.g., "Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde") and comedies ("Trouble in Paradise"), was a major contender for the role of Scarlett O'Hara and a top rival to Bette Davis throughout the 40s. Hopkins was nominated for an Oscar for "Becky Sharp" (1935) and for a Golden Globe for "The Heiress" (1949). She plays an Eastern lady reduced to working in Robinson's saloon.

Joel McCrea (1905-90) had a long career starting in the silent film era, and appeared in more than 50 films, usually as a hero in westerns - "Wells Fargo" (1937), "Union Pacific" (1939), "The Virginian" (1946), and "Four Faces West" (1948). But McCrea wasn't limited to western films, and he gave good performances in films such as "Foreign Correspondent" (1940) and "Sullivan's Travels" (1941). McCrea completes the third leg of the love triangle.

Walter Brennan (1894-1974) won 3 Oscars for Best Supporting Actor - "Come and Get it" (1936), "Kentucky" (1938), and "The Westerner" (1941) - and was nominated for his work in "Sergeant York" (1941). We know him best for his Emmy nominated role in the TV series "The Real McCoys", and his film comedies ("The Over the Hill Gang") or as the grumpy side kick Stumpy in "Rio Bravo", but he was equally capable of playing the villain, as he showed in "The Westerner" (1940), "My Darling Clementine" (1946), and again In "How the West Was Won" (1962). In this film he adopts the persona of the poorly dressed, babbling, well intentioned side kick that he was famous for.

Brian Donlevy (1901-72) was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in 1939's "Beau Geste" as the sadistic Sergeant Markoff (Thomas Mitchell won for "Stagecoach"). He appeared in almost 100 films between 1923 and 1969, but his busiest period was the 40s when he did more than 30 films including "Command Decision" (1948), "The Virginian" (1946), "Two Years Before the Mast" (1946), "Hangmen Also Die" (1943), and "Billy the Kid" (1941). He plays Robinson's assassin, but is surprisingly low key.

Donald Meek (1878-1946) was a short, crumpled, bald man who appeared in more than 100 films between 1923 and 1947. He was usually a villain. He had memorable roles in "Captain Blood" (1935), "Adventures of Tom Sawyer" (1938), and "Young Mr. Lincoln" (1939). I remember him best as the whiskey salesman from "Stagecoach" (1939) and as Mr. Poppins from "You Can't Take it With You" (1938). He plays a newspaperman.

Harry Carey Sr. (1878-1947) was one of the first western stars of the silent film era, and we have him to thank for getting John Ford his first few jobs. Over a 40 year career he appeared in more than 200 films and was nominated once for "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939). Carey plays a vigilante.

The great western director Howard Hawks (1896-1977) made nearly 50 films. Hawks was nominated 3 times for a DGA award for "Red River" (1948), "The Big Sky" (1952) and "Rio Bravo" (1959) and Oscar nominated for "Sergeant York" (1941). Among his more notable films are "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" (1953), "The Thing" (1951), "A Star is Born" (1948), and "The Big Sleep" (1946). Hawk's films were full of energy, and we can see that same energy in this film. He usually worked with male stars, so the prominent place of Hopkins in the script is unusual.

The film is based on a true story. Robinson's role is taken from the life of Charles Cora and Harry Carey's role of the vigilante leader reflects the true atmosphere in San Francisco in 1856.

Despite the considerable talent, the film is lacking. Hopkins never inhabits her role (a problem she had in Virginia City), the production values are poor, Robinson's mobster persona is more amusing than frightening, McCrea's naïve poet seems more idiotic than inspired, and the script is a little sketchy. Bear in mind that 1935 was a great year for films, with classics like Michael Curtiz' "Captain Blood" with Errol Flynn, James Whale's "Bride of Frankenstein" with Elsa Lancaster, George Cukor's "David Copperfield" with Freddie Bartholomew, "Les Miserables" with Frederic March, "Mutiny on the Bounty" with Clark Gable and Charles Laughton, and John Ford's "The Informer" with Victor McLaglen.

Interestingly enough, "Barbary Coast" was the 7th highest grossing film of the year, behind "Mutiny on the Bounty" (#1), another Miriam Hopkins film "Becky Sharp" (#2) and "The Informer" (#5).

There's not much to recommend this film. Better films about the west from this period are readily available - Woody van Dyke's "San Francisco" (1936) with Clark Gable and Spencer Tracey, "Destry Rides Again" (1939) with Marlene Dietrich and Jimmy Stewart, John Ford's "Stagecoach" (1939), and "Dodge City" (1939) with Errol Flynn and Olivia deHavilland.