It's the 1890s, and Northern lawyer John Reynolds (John Wayne) is traveling south to New Orleans via riverboat to meet with his elderly aunt Blanche (Helen Westley). On the boat, John meets Julie Mirbeau (Ona Munson), and the two fall in love. When they reach New Orleans, John learns that his aunt wants him to help head up legal efforts to stop the corrupt State Lottery, which just so happens to be run by Julie's father General Anatole (Henry Stephenson). However, the real force behind the corruption is the General's right-hand man Black-ie (Ray Middleton).
Republic attempts to make a MGM-caliber costumer with less than thrilling results. The sets and costumes are well done, but the story is dull, barely coherent, and predicated on just a few too many coincidences and failures of communication. There's some disaster-movie action near the end with the failure of levees and flooding. I don't know if Wayne enjoyed making a movie where he wasn't on a horse for a change, but he seems ill-suited for this one. Some sources label this movie a Western, but it in no way is, unless one thinks any movie set in the 19th century is a Western.
Republic attempts to make a MGM-caliber costumer with less than thrilling results. The sets and costumes are well done, but the story is dull, barely coherent, and predicated on just a few too many coincidences and failures of communication. There's some disaster-movie action near the end with the failure of levees and flooding. I don't know if Wayne enjoyed making a movie where he wasn't on a horse for a change, but he seems ill-suited for this one. Some sources label this movie a Western, but it in no way is, unless one thinks any movie set in the 19th century is a Western.