Barbary Coast (1935) - film review

In 1849, the California Gold Rush is well underway. San Francisco has become a boomtown, a place where fortunes are made and lost in a day.  One person who is in search of her fortune is Mary Rutledge, who has just arrived in the town to marry a wealthy saloon owner.  When she learns that her intended husband has been shot dead, Mary immediately switches her interest to Louis Chamalis, the town’s big shot who runs a thriving restaurant and gambling house, the Bella Donna.  Chamalis takes an instant liking to Mary and is quick to make use of her decorative value in luring clients to his gambling tables.   Mary soon grows disillusioned with Chamalis and is disgusted by his criminal exploits, which include silencing his enemies with a well-aimed bullet or two.  One evening, she takes a horse ride through the rain and arrives at an isolated cabin where she meets a handsome young prospector, Jim Carmichael.  The latter is eager to return home to New York but hasn’t been able to earn enough money to pay for the boat fare.  Mary persuades Louis to find him work at the Bella Donna.   When the owner of the town’s printing works threatens to publish a paper exposing Chamalis as a gangster, he is gunned down by Chamalis’ henchman.  Appalled by this callous act, Mary allows Jim to win back the money he lost at the roulette wheel and then flees with him after a violent confrontation with Chamalis.  Before they can reach the boat bound for New York, Mary and Jim are cornered by Chamalis and his men.  However, time is running out for the gangster, as the townsfolk have formed a vigilante group that is intent on bringing him to justice...

Barbary Coast is a curious hotchpotch of a film that somehow manages to blend gangster thriller, western and period melodrama into an uneven ensemble that would be pretty indigestible were it not for its moody noirish atmosphere and some stand out character performances.  The film is generally not well thought of, even by its director Howard Hawks, and it is hard to take seriously with Edward G. Robinson hamming up his part for all it is worth, giving us a pantomime variation on the kind of gangster roles that had recently made him a major Hollywood star.

Aside from the lacklustre performances from its two principal players, the film has two notable failings – a weak screenplay, which is saddled with a ludicrous happy ending, and Joel McCrea miscast as the love interest (although, in the actor’s defence, it is worth stating that his part is woefully underwritten).  The staginess of the production is also a little too apparent at times, although this is countered in some scenes by some highly effective lighting and camerawork which lend an aura of doom-laden oppression, reminiscent of subsequent film noir.

If the film’s leading players disappoint, the same cannot be said of its supporting cast, who turn in some magnificent contributions that prevent the film from being a total disaster.  The best of the lot is Walter Brennan, who steals every scene he is in as a toothless old relic who looks as if he has just staggered off the set of a Pasolini neo-realist drama.   Frank Craven, another great character performer, also gives great value as the ill-fated publishing man Marcus Aurelius Cobb.  If these arresting performances were matched by Robinson and Hopkins, Barbary Coast might easily have been one of Hawks’ early triumphs rather than a slightly embarrassing footnote in a great career.

© filmsdefrance.com 2009

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