Pennsylvania coal miners "Pittsburgh" Markham (John Wayne) and "Cash" Evans (Randolph Scott) look to move up in the world, and start their own coal operation. They run into trouble when they both fall for the same woman, "Hunky" Winters (Marlene Dietrich).
This starts out as wartime propaganda promoting the coal and steel industries, but it soon moves into traditional melodrama territory. Dietrich and Scott are both fine in their roles, but the star is undeniably Wayne, and it's a strange role for him. He's charming in his grinning, macho way, but his character spends much of the film as a complete jerk, insulting and betraying most of the other characters. It's a very shaded characterization from someone who usually plays the white-hat hero. There are a few memorable sequences here, particularly the stage-set boxing match and a big rough'n'tumble fight in the coal mines, but these are few and far between.
This starts out as wartime propaganda promoting the coal and steel industries, but it soon moves into traditional melodrama territory. Dietrich and Scott are both fine in their roles, but the star is undeniably Wayne, and it's a strange role for him. He's charming in his grinning, macho way, but his character spends much of the film as a complete jerk, insulting and betraying most of the other characters. It's a very shaded characterization from someone who usually plays the white-hat hero. There are a few memorable sequences here, particularly the stage-set boxing match and a big rough'n'tumble fight in the coal mines, but these are few and far between.