Hogueras de pasión

"Flame of the Barbary Coast" is a movie that I grew up watching in a movie theatre. It's easy to poke fun at a movie like this, or any movie made in that era, if you've only seen it on television. The power and quality of the performance of the film can only be seen on the big screen and not on the television screen. Actually, the cast is quite good and anyone interested in directing or photographing a movie should learn from the film. This movie makes every second and minutes count on the screen, and that's the reason the action never stops. Moving the camera in a certain way to make use of the drama and action with out two many cuts is genius, but then, these people knew what they were doing. Many repeats for good measure with eyes on an actor or actress moving side to side as if they are actually participating in the scene. The catty remarks between Virginia Gray and Ann Dvorak after Virginia Gray sings for an audition with Tito, oh boy - meow indeed! Who cares if Ann Dvoraks singing was a little off, and who cares if John Wayne tried his hand at singing on a horse? Who cares if Fred Mertz played a gambler before he was Ricky Ricardo's best friend? Who care's if Butterfly McQueen didn't get a chance to repeat "Ah knows how to birth babies Miss Scahlett!"? This movie is just good old fashioned campy entertainment with no foul words, no nudity, and in many ways the bad guy won when he said, "With Compliments of the House!" Anybody who doesn't like this movie is an old grumpy!

If you want to see the electric lines in SF in 1906 check out the links listed below from the SF Museum. These two slides in the power point show the lines that were present then.

I think that the level of electric service shown in the film was a little advance for 1906, most would not pick upon that. Remember this was a 1945 film, compare it to the 50's not present day films to be fair. Acting talent still beats special effects in my book. Just think what kind of movies John Wayne could do in 2005 with just a few of today's effects. Maybe some one could apply CGI to an older movie? Good movie, to bad we get so few good movies in the current productions.

http://www.sfmuseum.org/views/1906.ppt#262,8,Slide 8

http://www.sfmuseum.org/views/1906.ppt#264,13,Slide 12

Check out the rest of the site worth the time, just as this movie is.

Who ever came up with the title is to be commended. It suggests a storyline way, way, more interesting than this film turns out to actually be! "Tito" (Joseph Schildkraut) pretty much runs San Francisco and together with his gal "Flaxen" (Ann Dvorak) has quite a easy life - until, that is, cowboy "Duke" (John Wayne) arrives in town and takes a bit of a shine to the lady. He's just a touch too naive though for city life, and soon has to head home - broke - after being fleeced in the casino. Determined to win it all back - and more - he takes lessons in card-playing and soon returns, this time much better prepared to combat the dodgy goings-on at the card table, and to win the heart of the lady. Sadly, aside from a rare few scenes of fisticuff action, this is all rather dreary. The scenario is well trodden, and although Dvorak makes for quite a decent leading lady, the rivalry between the sophisticate crook and his handsome interloper just doesn't ever catch fire. The pace is just too forced, and there is far too much emphasis on the rather uninteresting love triangle element. This film is only really notable for the last fifteen minutes which offers us quite a well created and impressive look at just how the earthquake and subsequent fire devastated the city leaving carnage - and opportunity - in it's wake. Again there is plenty of charm from the star, but it is nowhere near enough to sustain this and though it might have been more impressive on a big screen, on a small one it proves merely to be quite a procedural and, frankly, dull, vehicle for Wayne that promises much but delivers little.

John Wayne stars as Montana cattle rancher Duke Fergus. He heads to San Francisco to conduct some business and ends up losing his shirt at the Barbary Coast gambling dens, particularly that of Tito Morell (Joseph Schildkraut). Duke vows to master the gambling arts and return to Frisco, not just for revenge, but to win the hand of Morell's showgirl moll Flaxen Tarry (Ann Dvorak). This being turn-of-the-century San Francisco, you just know that the Great Earthquake is going interrupt everyone's plans.

This was another of Republic's "A" pictures, with time spent on costumes, sets, and expensive set-pieces (such as the earthquake sequence, or a large cattle drive). The movie isn't terrible, but the script is bit weak, like in most of these Republic showcases. There's never a good rhythm established to the narrative, and the three main characters never rise above sketches. Dvorak looks good, but if that's her real singing voice heard on the soundtrack, it's pretty awful. Still, if one likes SF earthquake melodrama and adventure, this may be worth checking out. It earned two Oscar nominations, for Best Sound, and Best Score.

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..