Producer: Samuel Goldwyn. Copyright 15 October 1935 by Samuel Goldwyn. Released through United Artists. New York opening at the Rivoli: 13 October 1935. U.K. release: November 1935. Australian release: December 1935. 10 reels. 91 minutes.
1960 re-issue title: Port of Wickedness.
SYNOPSIS: Robinson plays the owner of a crooked gambling saloon on San Francisco's notorious Barbary Coast in the gold-fevered days of the 1850s. Miriam Hopkins in his protégée, Joel McCrea her rescuer.
NOTES: Some movie historians claim this film marked David Niven's debut. In actual fact, this was his second speaking part. Without Regret came first.
COMMENT: Few actors contributed more to the mood of a Hollywood suspense entry than Edward G. Robinson. He rarely played romantic roles, and even on the right side of the law, he was tough. As a heavy, he invariably came across as extra mean. His role in Barbary Coast is typical.
The picture also figures as a typical Goldwyn production in its unstinting production values, its vigorously staged action and high level of cinema artistry. Ray June's excellent camerawork was justly nominated for an Academy Award, but lost out to a movie that wasn't even on the ballot paper: Hal Mohr's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
In short, Barbary Coast presents an appealing, lavishly-staged melodrama, full of period flavor and dramatic incident, compellingly directed and fascinatingly enacted by a top-flight cast that could only have been assembled during Hollywood's most exciting era.
1960 re-issue title: Port of Wickedness.
SYNOPSIS: Robinson plays the owner of a crooked gambling saloon on San Francisco's notorious Barbary Coast in the gold-fevered days of the 1850s. Miriam Hopkins in his protégée, Joel McCrea her rescuer.
NOTES: Some movie historians claim this film marked David Niven's debut. In actual fact, this was his second speaking part. Without Regret came first.
COMMENT: Few actors contributed more to the mood of a Hollywood suspense entry than Edward G. Robinson. He rarely played romantic roles, and even on the right side of the law, he was tough. As a heavy, he invariably came across as extra mean. His role in Barbary Coast is typical.
The picture also figures as a typical Goldwyn production in its unstinting production values, its vigorously staged action and high level of cinema artistry. Ray June's excellent camerawork was justly nominated for an Academy Award, but lost out to a movie that wasn't even on the ballot paper: Hal Mohr's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
In short, Barbary Coast presents an appealing, lavishly-staged melodrama, full of period flavor and dramatic incident, compellingly directed and fascinatingly enacted by a top-flight cast that could only have been assembled during Hollywood's most exciting era.