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Barbary Coast (1935)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:10
Fresh:10
Rotten:0
Average Rating:7.4/10
Runtime: 1 hr 31 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: In BARBARY COAST, Mary Rutledge (Miriam Hopkins) travels to San Francisco at the height of the gold rush to meet the man she has arranged to marry, a prospector who has struck it rich. When she... In BARBARY COAST, Mary Rutledge (Miriam Hopkins) travels to San Francisco at the height of the gold rush to meet the man she has arranged to marry, a prospector who has struck it rich. When she arrives she finds him dead, thanks to local casino owner and crime boss Louis Chamalis (Edward G. Robinson). Mary takes up with Chamalis in a business partnership: He nicknames her Swan and hires her as a main attraction in his casino, the Bella Donna. Mary quickly grows tired of Chamalis's strong-arm habits and runs away, falling in love with thoughtful prospector James Carmichael (Joel McCrea); meanwhile, Louis and his thugs are abusing power and harassing or killing those who would expose their crimes. A colorful and entertaining period drama, half gangster picture and half Western, BARBARY COAST features a strong performance by Robinson as the flamboyant Chamalis and a notable appearance by Walter Brennan as Old Atrocity. The film also showcases the song "I Dream of Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair." [More]
Starring: Miriam Hopkins, Edward G. Robinson, Joel McCrea, Walter Brennan
Starring: Miriam Hopkins, Edward G. Robinson, Joel McCrea, Walter Brennan, Frank Craven, Donald Meek
Director: Howard Hawks
Director: Howard Hawks
Composer: Alfred Newman
Producer: Samuel Goldwyn
Reviews for Barbary Coast
Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur hammer out a bouncing melodrama of San Francisco's sin and salad days in Barbary Coast.
Any self-respecting San Franciscan needs to give Barbary Coast a spin.
A wide-open San Francisco, circa 1890, is the background for one of Howard Hawks's intelligent love triangles.
...surely this must be the only film to ever feature a climactic rowboat chase...
It's an entertaining but lesser Hawks film, too conventional in its storytelling to kick up any dust.
The primitive San Francisco is imbued with a lusty spirit, comprised of mud in the streets, tinkly pianos and crooked card games.
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