Pittsburg is a follow-up to The Spoilers, reprising the dynamic lead trio of Marlene Dietrich, Randolph Scott, and John Wayne. The three attractive leads are backed up by the likes of Frank Craven, Thomas Gomez, Samuel S. Hinds, and Louise Allbitton. Shemp Howard is also on hand for some comic relief, displaying a somewhat more subtle brand of humor than when hanging around with brother Moe and Larry Fine. Released just one year after Pearl Harbor, this Universal "A" production wraps some timely, flag-waving boosterism for the war effort around a twenty-year saga of the steel and coal industry. Should have been a top-notch picture, but falls far short of the mark.
The chemistry between Dietrich, Scott and Wayne, which worked so well in the Spoilers is not here, partly because Marlene and the Duke are both over the edge of their respective ranges. Scott was fine as a baddie in The Spoilers, and he is quite good here as the good-natured, ethical foil for the heel John Wayne plays in Pittsburg. The likable Wayne was not far removed from his days as a low-budget cowboy star, and he was perhaps not quite ready to play such an overbearing, cruel, tyrannical character, though he would have that role well refined by the end of the 1940's in time for two riveting performances in Red River and Wake Of The Red Witch (see my review). Still, he comes off better in the role handed him by the lack-luster script, which was much of the movie's problem, than poor Marlene. Nothing could better illustrate the sobering and sanitizing effect World War II had on the movies than to compare the sexy Marlene with her see-through tops and her hot song and dance numbers in The Seven Sinners (1940) and The Spoilers (early 1942) to the drab creature she is reduced to in Pittsburg. No see-through, no legs, no seductive looks, no cigarette holder, not an inch of flesh showing below the collar! The martyr-like character she becomes after being dumped by Wayne while he's stepping on all the people who helped him to the top is almost like somebody's dowdy old maid sister. Even in The Garden Of Allah (see my review) she managed to look sexy while convincingly playing a nice, good Catholic girl. Wasted here.
Pacing was the worst problem in Pittsburg. It was too fast when it should have taken some time but too slow when it should have moved on. The pivotal transformation of Wayne's character from a somewhat arrogant, but likable big lug of a poor coal miner to a rich, ruthless, power hungry, robber baron mine owner seems to take only about three seconds of screen time, and we are given too few details of how it happened. Yet when Scott courts the spurned Marlene on the rebound, it takes forever before anything happens. No wonder the principle characters became middle aged without having any children! Lay this poor pacing at the door of director Lewis Seiler. A perusal of his filmography turns up few winners and an unsurprising dearth of "A" productions.
In spite of all this Pittsburg was still a fairly entertaining movie. The acting was good from top to bottom of the cast, especially considering the script they were handed. There were some good action scenes including the obligatory mine cave-in, a wild prize fight scene, and a rock-'em-sock-'em fist fight between Scott and Wayne, really better done than the one in the Spoilers. The patriotic scenes of American industry going into high gear to produce war material for fighting the Nazis and the Rising Sun, effectively and sincerely narrated by World War I veteran Scott, will be stirring to one who is a red-blooded American, rather than a "citizen of the world".
While below expectations, Pittsburg is still a pretty good watch.
The chemistry between Dietrich, Scott and Wayne, which worked so well in the Spoilers is not here, partly because Marlene and the Duke are both over the edge of their respective ranges. Scott was fine as a baddie in The Spoilers, and he is quite good here as the good-natured, ethical foil for the heel John Wayne plays in Pittsburg. The likable Wayne was not far removed from his days as a low-budget cowboy star, and he was perhaps not quite ready to play such an overbearing, cruel, tyrannical character, though he would have that role well refined by the end of the 1940's in time for two riveting performances in Red River and Wake Of The Red Witch (see my review). Still, he comes off better in the role handed him by the lack-luster script, which was much of the movie's problem, than poor Marlene. Nothing could better illustrate the sobering and sanitizing effect World War II had on the movies than to compare the sexy Marlene with her see-through tops and her hot song and dance numbers in The Seven Sinners (1940) and The Spoilers (early 1942) to the drab creature she is reduced to in Pittsburg. No see-through, no legs, no seductive looks, no cigarette holder, not an inch of flesh showing below the collar! The martyr-like character she becomes after being dumped by Wayne while he's stepping on all the people who helped him to the top is almost like somebody's dowdy old maid sister. Even in The Garden Of Allah (see my review) she managed to look sexy while convincingly playing a nice, good Catholic girl. Wasted here.
Pacing was the worst problem in Pittsburg. It was too fast when it should have taken some time but too slow when it should have moved on. The pivotal transformation of Wayne's character from a somewhat arrogant, but likable big lug of a poor coal miner to a rich, ruthless, power hungry, robber baron mine owner seems to take only about three seconds of screen time, and we are given too few details of how it happened. Yet when Scott courts the spurned Marlene on the rebound, it takes forever before anything happens. No wonder the principle characters became middle aged without having any children! Lay this poor pacing at the door of director Lewis Seiler. A perusal of his filmography turns up few winners and an unsurprising dearth of "A" productions.
In spite of all this Pittsburg was still a fairly entertaining movie. The acting was good from top to bottom of the cast, especially considering the script they were handed. There were some good action scenes including the obligatory mine cave-in, a wild prize fight scene, and a rock-'em-sock-'em fist fight between Scott and Wayne, really better done than the one in the Spoilers. The patriotic scenes of American industry going into high gear to produce war material for fighting the Nazis and the Rising Sun, effectively and sincerely narrated by World War I veteran Scott, will be stirring to one who is a red-blooded American, rather than a "citizen of the world".
While below expectations, Pittsburg is still a pretty good watch.