i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Copyright 13 December 1947 by RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. New York opening at the Palace: 25 December 1947. U.S. release: 27 December 1947. U.K. release: 25 April 1949. Australian release: 22 July 1948. 11,844 feet. 131½ minutes.SYNOPSIS: American engineer in the Andes falls for the boss' daughter.NOTES: Shooting from early February to early May 1947. Negative cost: $3,209,000. Net loss after worldwide distribution: $1,035,000.COMMENT: Hard to believe in that budget - the largest ever expended by RKO to that time! There's precious little to show for it up there on the screen. The only worthwhile bit of action occurs right at the climax - and that is obviously contrived with miniatures! A couple of earlier explosions were cheated the same way. Location expenses were not heavy, as most of the picture was very obviously lensed in the studio. We can only surmise that the actors, the writers and the director were grossly overpaid.Wayne has the sort of tough, superficial, turnabout role he usually plays with a breezily unassuming credibility. Here his performance is so strained, so artificial his characterization is simply unbelievable. However, Duke is not alone - the same goes for the rest of the cast. Hardwicke can do nothing with the empty posturings the script hands him. Though it's always a pleasure to listen to his sonorous voice and it's a joy to find him in so large a role, what a pity the writers couldn't find him anything exciting to say or dramatic to do. All they have done is to obscure and haze his motivations so that his actions seem utterly incredible. If her part were larger, Judith Anderson would be in the same fix. Laraine Day comes out of the film best. She is certainly the player the photographers have lavished all their attentions upon. Radiantly lit, exquisitely gowned and made up, she projects an alluring luminosity that stays in the mind's eye long after the rest of this silly film is forgotten.It says much for the quality of the support cast to mention that Paul Fix and Harry Woods stand favorably in the forefront. Gleason is bombastically irritating (fortunately he is removed to hospital for a large part of his innings) and Quinn's role is so piffling as to seem almost non-existent.Of course - aside from the writers - the man to blame for the whole debacle is Richard Wallace. Never has direction been so painstakingly dull, so studiously lethargic, so blatantly disinterested.Tycoon provides a lavish feast of colorful hues for the eyes, nothing for the brain, and tintinnabulation for the ears!OTHER VIEWS: Aside from its lustrous Technicolor photography - Laraine Day never looked lovelier - Tycoon is an astonishingly dull, undistinguished effort which wastes a large amount of talent and money on the part of all concerned in its making. As for the time and patience of those forced to view this pleasantly picturesque but ploddingly banal photoplay . . .

This film was actually RKO's biggest failure of the year. This movie has Wayne playing an engineer who is building a railroad bridge across a gorge. He and his financier partner in this effort dislike each other intensely with spats that range from the inadequate financing of the project to the shotgun wedding of Wayne's character to the tycoon's daughter. This is where The Duke completely breaks from the hero he normally plays and acts like a spoiled child who believes that he who dies with the most toys wins. He and the tycoon's spat escalate to the point that sabotage is occurring and lives are being lost. There's some beautiful cinematography in this one, and although the plot just didn't work for me, Wayne's acting did. Most people don't like this film at least in part because Wayne convincingly plays someone completely unlikeable - and that's the point. He's given a role completely out of step with what he usually plays and does a good job.

This 1947 film by RKO is one of several in which John Wayne has an interesting role other than Western or war. The movie has a very good plot, but an unfortunately weak script. The cast includes some of the best second tier performers in Hollywood during that time, and all delivered very well. Wayne is good in his role, but Anthony Quinn's role doesn't quite develop. Laraine Day and Cedric Hardwicke turn in good performances in roles that could have been developed better with a good script. One aspect that I don't see anyone else has commented on is the character played by Wayne. We all see quickly the hardness of Hardwicke's character, and the dislike between him and Duke's character. But the film has a good undertone about the Wayne character. Pop touches on it toward the end when he says that Johnny has changed – and not for the better. He does go through another transformation – a return to his former self at the end. But the underlying characteristic that is the cause for much of the trouble he encounters is his pride. This is a film about a decent guy who lets his pride get the best of him when he gets locked into a feud with the Hardwicke character. And it almost leads to his downfall. In the end, the loyalty and lasting friendship of his main crew members help draw Wayne's character out of his self-centeredness and he returns to the Johnny everyone knew and liked.My rating is high for this film mainly for its subtle message and lesson, and for its overall entertainment value. "Tycoon" holds one's interest from start to finish, and has some excellent action segments, some very good scenic shots, and very good camera work.

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.