This turn-of-the-century John Wayne adventure epic, "The Flame of the Barbary Coast," amounts to little more than a thoroughly average but nevertheless entertaining saga about gambling in San Franciso and the rivalry between the hero and the villain for the affections of the eponymous heroine who towers about all else as the star singing attraction. No, this isn't a standard western. Most of the action transpires inside buildings. Wayne wears a Stetson and plays a cattle rancher from Montana. The heroine, Ann Dvorak of "G-Men," is the girl that everybody yearns for and wants to see. She inserts herself between John Wayne and Joseph Schildraut and the Borden Chase screenplay depicts Wayne as a fish-out-of-water, or perhaps a steer-off-the-range, who butts heads with an urbane, satorially elegant casino owner. "The Flame of the Barbary Coast" could qualify as a romance because both the hero and the villain vye for her affection. Director Joe Kane never lets things get out of hand with a 92-minute running time, and the limited use of special effects to depict the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was pretty cool. This is as much a tale of initiation as it is an empire building yarn. Long-time John Wayne stock company character actor Paul Fix plays a villain, while William Frawley is cast as a close friend of our hero who learns the basics of poker.
Review of Flame of Barbary Coast
