Best movie ever!

A different way of telling a story

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

There are obvious parallels between the plot of this Republic film and the previous MGM "San Francisco. Both involve a self-made Barbary coast kingpin, a prime female entertainer, and an ending precipitated by the 1906 earthquake and fire. There are additional films with a very similar plot, but without the catastrophic ending. These include: "Frisco Kid(1935), "Barbary Coast"(1935), "Hello, Frisco, Hello"(1943) , and "Frisco Sal", released the same year as the present film. Tito Morell, in the present film, is equivalent to Clark Gable's 'Blackie' in "S.F", both being self made men, with greater ambitions than their present casino on the Barbary Coast. Ann Dvorak, as Flaxen, is equivalent to the role of Jeanette MacDonald in "S.F." There is no exact equivalent for John Wayne's character in "S.F." although the nob hill crowd, who want to take Jeanette away from Blackie for their opera house is reminiscent of Wayne's role here in trying to lure Flaxen away from Tito's casino, to his brand new casino. There is no equivalent in the present film, for Spencer Tracy's character in "S.F.".As in the case of S.F., we can look at the screenplay as being a morality play. Wayne achieved his dream of building a lavish casino by a combination of skill and luck in gambling. But on opening night, God destroyed his dream with a violent earthquake, leaving him penniless. In contrast, rival Tito's casino survived mostly intact. I think there is symbolic significance in this difference in fortune. It's saying that Tito and his casino belong here, whereas Wayne belongs back on his Montana cattle ranch, he misses so much. Fortunately for Wayne, Flaxen was agreeable to give up her entertainment lifestyle to become a cattlewoman. She had seemingly vacillated between supporting Tito or Wayne, it being difficult to tell which side she was on until near the end. Tito was rather like Gable in "S.F.": not really a bad villain.See it in B&W at YouTube

With all the songs and can-can dance scenes this film would almost qualify as a musical. The story takes place in San Francisco at the turn of the century, and I should have picked up on the date when it was mentioned but I never gave it a second thought. It was the year of the great earthquake, 1906, and it figures somewhat prominently during the latter part of the picture, though it couldn't shake Duke Fergus's resolve to win the trophy he came back for.His nickname was the Duke, and even though he didn't use that name in very many of his pictures, John Wayne was Duke Fergus in this one, a Montana cowboy who wins and loses a small fortune of sixteen thousand dollars on his first trip to San Francisco to collect on a horse trade. A newspaper reporter from the San Francisco Star called him the 'King of Luck' when he cleaned up at the Eldorado, and then partied his way up and down Pacific Street with winning hands at the competition. Smitten with saloon gal Flaxen Tarry (Ann Dvorak), Duke winds up leaving town with a vow to return and make his mark after Tarry's main man Tito Morrell (Joseph Schildkraut) busts him at the poker table.It was cool to see William Frawley here as Duke's sidekick and gambling mentor Wolf Wiley. Frawley seems to be one of those actors that no matter what year he appeared in a picture, he always looks the same as Ricky and Lucy's next door neighbor. It's like he was never young and never ages. At least that's the way it strikes me, but I'm still looking to a capture an early flick in which he might have appeared youthful. In the story, Wolf seems to know all the transplanted gamblers like Calico Jim (Paul Fix) and Horseshoe Brown (Al Murphy). Speaking of which, actor Marc Lawrence probably has one of the shortest ever credited film appearances here, actually counting down his thirty seconds of screen time before the Duke shoots him for dirty dealing.Well the love triangle, if you want to call it that, between Flaxen, Tito and the Duke will keep you guessing how it will turn out right till the very end. Wayne's character came in with a winner take all attitude right from the start, but I have to say, I thought the singer would have stuck it out at the Eldorado after all the fireworks settled down. You know, we never did get to see the Duke's cabin back in Montana, so who knows. Maybe after one look, Miss Tarry might have high tailed it back to the city by the bay.

In Republic's musical remake of "San Francisco", the songs are mostly handled by Ann Dvorak, although Virginia Grey also has two or three. As might be expected, production values are extremely lavish by Republic's usual standards. The earthquake is spectacularly staged, even though it occupies less screen footage than the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer version. The film also benefits greatly from Robert De Grasse's expert photography. He even manages to make Ann Dvorak look enticingly attractive. Her Adele Palmer costumes also help. Joseph Kane's direction rises well above his usual humble standard, making full use of the spectacular sets with effective crane and tracking shots. Dick Van Enger's snappy film editing also helps. The support cast headed by Joseph Schildkraut and Paul Fix is A-1. Snappy musical numbers with their nice chorus lines and zippy score also come as a nice surprise. And even the dialogue is remarkably bright and with-it by Republic standards. Altogether a most enjoyable effort which actually seems to improve on subsequent viewings.

Flame of Barbary Coast finds John Wayne as a visiting cowboy from Montana who makes and loses a fortune in a night and goes home busted. He also finds the love of his life in Ann Dvorak, an entertainer at Joseph Schildkraut's place on the Barbary Coast.Schildkraut figures that Dvorak is his personal property. But the Dvorak romantic angle is a side issue because Wayne is figuring on not getting mad, but getting even. He's learned a bit about gambling from an oldtimer at the trade in William Frawley. Of course Wayne and Schildkraut's rivalry is interrupted by the famous earthquake of 1906. As this is Republic Films and not Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer, the special effects are nice, but not near as good as those from MGM. As this was Republic's prestige film of the year, I'm sure it was the best that miserly old Herbert J. Yates could afford.The most interesting member of the cast is Schildkraut, a scion of the old Spanish aristocracy who's chosen to make his living on the Barbary Coast in the dens of iniquity there. He's as in love with Dvorak as Wayne is, but likes his power and notoriety more.Yates took some liberties with San Francisco history in this one. The MGM San Francisco did not bother mentioning any of the local political figures of the day, but Flame on Barbary Coast did and got it wrong. Wayne and Schildkraut square off in an election in 1906 that never took place between Mayor Eugene Schmitz and James D. Phelan. Phelan was in fact Schmitz's predecessor in office and Schmitz didn't lose an election. He got himself impeached for setting a standard of corruption that has had some urban historian calling him the worst big city mayor in American history. Now THAT would be an interesting film. Still the Duke's legion of fans will love him in this one and others will like Joseph Schildkraut.