Pecadores en San Francisco

In his younger days Joel McCrea made a trip to frontier San Francisco in Samuel Goldwyn's Barbary Coast. A more mature McCrea makes a comeback in the Pacific city in The San Francisco Story, another film with some of the same plot elements.

In The San Francisco Story, McCrea and sidekick/partner Richard Erdman find themselves now prosperous mine owners and are in town for a little celebrating. Some years earlier McCrea was involved with the Vigilantes when law and order broke down there, but now he just wants to party hearty.

But newspaper owner/publisher Onslow Stevens wants McCrea involved with the Vigilantes again. A truly corrupt party boss played by Sidney Blackmer owns everything in the town including the cops and the courts, so the Vigilantes have been reactivated.

McCrea isn't crazy about opposing Blackmer, but when he sees Blackmer toting Yvonne DeCarlo on his arm, then it becomes a matter of hormones more than citizenship.

The San Francisco Story is a good fit for Joel McCrea in his B picture western period of his career. He gets solid support from the rest of the cast and one really to watch out for is Florence Bates who is playing a part Marie Dressler would have done years earlier as a waterfront character who Shanghais people for fun and profit, except if she likes you. She likes McCrea and what's not to like?

And there's not much to dislike in The San Francisco Story.

Joel McCrea is just reassuring. He delivers a strong performance and you feel secure in his hands as you watch the movie. He's just reliable as the actor and the character - very consistent.

It does a good job showing the vigilante system during a rough period. There was much justice to be achieved, and much corruption. Killing was frequent.

It would be good to see a little more character development between McCrea and De Carlo, the romantic leads. I would have liked to have known more backstory about him and his past, as well as her's. How did she get so mixed up with someone like Cain, trying to take over the whole state.?

While I did believe her's and McCrea's connection, is she to be trusted for the longterm? Will she just change? How will she adjust to life at the mines, returning with McCrea to his work? She's had a very exciting life with the villain Cain, in beautiful homes, political campaigns, and surrounded by tons of ambition she admitted she liked. Will McCrea's character have enough ambition and drive for her? While it's great to see them together at the end, would Rick go back to just "having fun" and she go back to a more ambitious life? That would seem the case, but we should hope and believe that they found true love. And then therefore they changed.

There are some superb scenes..... an escape from being Shanghaied through water, boats and taverns; understanding how Vigilantes worked; and amazement at the sense of lawlessness and Killings that can occur in the wild west of the 1880s.

A compelling well thought story, clear, committed characters, twists and turns, strong resolution at the end. It also has a lot of great comedic events!

A very good movie, easy to watch, and very enjoyable.

This is sort of a desultory effort on the part of the star, Joel McCrea, a man who usually takes command of a scene merely by his presence, but here looks tired and like he would rather be on his own ranch instead of this talky, studio-bound production. The thing probably looked good on paper--and if you've got the knowing sultriness of Yvonne DeCarlo, things are set up for some hot romance, at the very least. But the script is a little unfocused, and there's a lot of chatter about the legal Vigilante group, and Sidney Blackmer attempts to show some menace by mouthing menacing lines--but for an action-packed Western or a thoughtful revisionist history lesson, this effort falls flat, and would be a loss leader except for two brilliant, lively scenes with character actor Florence Bates, sporting an eye patch and plenty of life as her own Shanghai Lil (helped along by a massive, silent Tor Johnson) and this viewer perked up and wondered how the rest never recovered; even the final confrontation lacks either suspense or tension, and just allows almost everybody to go home quietly.

This is a standard western with nice dialogues and good cast Joel McCrea as Rick. Elson and Yvonne De Carlo as Adelaide McCall. Story is nice although sets are too poorly done. If only it was filmed in colour and with a longer footage it would have easily been an A western instead of a B one. Docks sequence is almost a film of its own and some more footage could have been a nice addition to the movie, widely developing the story and making it more interesting adding more secondary aspects. Without it, it still remains a very decent and entertaining western.

Arriving in the small 1856 western town of San Francisco, former vigilante and present miner Joel McCrea (as Rick Nelson) is invited to help root out corruption. Claiming he's only in town for a few days of rest and relaxation, Mr. McCrea declines. McCrea witnesses a well-staged hanging and checks out the lay of the land. Very soon, rest and relaxation appears in the form of alluring Yvonne De Carlo (as Adelaide "Addie" McCall). McCrea gives her a wink and we're off to the races. Trouble is, Ms. DeCarlo is attached to cigar-smoking power broker Sidney Blackmer (as Andrew Cain). This crook is about to install himself a US Senator. McCrea becomes involved with Ms. De Carlo, of course, although she may come with a price...

An old hand at this, McCrea is reliable albeit mechanical; the blocking shows. While she never became a top-line actress, De Carlo really picks up the slack. She is very attractive, obviously, but also sells her character. When required to flash emotions, De Carlo is able to give the precise fraction necessary. This is a De Carlo movie. Best known for her campy 1960s "Lily Munster" TV character, De Carlo proves to be more than decorative, which was her usual lot as a movie star. Director Robert Parrish doesn't always get the best angles, but generally uses his resources well. In the Marie Dressler tradition, rum-soaked waterfront hag Florence Bates (as Sadie) is most memorable, and Richard Erdman (as Shorty) is a reliable sidekick.

****** The San Francisco Story (5/9/1952) Robert Parrish ~ Joel McCrea, Yvonne De Carlo, Florence Bates, Sidney Blackmer