Pretty entertaining false look at history as seen through a foursome of friends whose association creates the modern Pittsburgh industry of steel and coal. The narrative starts in 1942 where three of the four explain how their industry will aide the war effort. They get together and recall darker days for themselves personally and remember the struggle which brought them to where they are in the present time.
The three men are John Wayne as a character nicknamed Pittsburgh, Randolph Scott and Frank Craven. Wayne and Scott were coal factory workers and pals of scientist Craven. By chance they meet Marlene Dietrich, the glamorously dressed sophisticate they instantly refer to as "countess". Ironically, she's from the other side of the tracks, and together, this foursome quickly (at least in screen time) rises, creating an industry that under different names, still remains prominent in the real Pennsylvania city. It isn't until Scott and Wayne separate over personal issues that the real conflict starts, leading to a tragic series of circumstances.
As entertainment goes, it's o.k., often funny but obviously fictional. I guess that was the point, just to explore how in general industry becomes involved in war. Louise Albritton plays a socialite who distracts Wayne from Dietrich with a little ceremony called matrimony, while Shemp Howard provides comic relief as a tailor. Craven provides a dramatic narration in trying to explain how the industry worked and the science behind it, but the inadequacies in a historically correct time-line is wrong in many details. As for the cast, they are all excellent, a reunion of the three younger leads from the same year's "The Spoilers".
The three men are John Wayne as a character nicknamed Pittsburgh, Randolph Scott and Frank Craven. Wayne and Scott were coal factory workers and pals of scientist Craven. By chance they meet Marlene Dietrich, the glamorously dressed sophisticate they instantly refer to as "countess". Ironically, she's from the other side of the tracks, and together, this foursome quickly (at least in screen time) rises, creating an industry that under different names, still remains prominent in the real Pennsylvania city. It isn't until Scott and Wayne separate over personal issues that the real conflict starts, leading to a tragic series of circumstances.
As entertainment goes, it's o.k., often funny but obviously fictional. I guess that was the point, just to explore how in general industry becomes involved in war. Louise Albritton plays a socialite who distracts Wayne from Dietrich with a little ceremony called matrimony, while Shemp Howard provides comic relief as a tailor. Craven provides a dramatic narration in trying to explain how the industry worked and the science behind it, but the inadequacies in a historically correct time-line is wrong in many details. As for the cast, they are all excellent, a reunion of the three younger leads from the same year's "The Spoilers".