Flame of Barbary Coast | |
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![]() Film poster | |
Directed by | Joseph Kane |
Written by | Prescott Chaplin |
Screenplay by | Borden Chase |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Robert De Grasse |
Edited by | Richard L. Van Enger |
Music by |
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Production company | Republic Pictures |
Distributed by | Republic Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 91 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Flame of Barbary Coast is a 1945 American musical-drama film starring John Wayne, Ann Dvorak, Joseph Schildkraut, William Frawley, and Virginia Grey. The movie was scripted by Borden Chase and directed by Joseph Kane. [1] [2]
Naive Montana cowboy Duke Fergus arrives in San Francisco and visits the notorious Barbary Coast. Fergus becomes smitten with the lovely star attraction of the fanciest gambling hall, "Flaxen" Tarry, the "Flame of the Barbary Coast". Fergus gets talked into gambling against the owner (and Flaxen's lover), card shark Tito Morell. Predictably, Fergus gets cheated and loses all his money.
Fergus sets himself to win Flaxen's affections and decides the best way to do it is to take over. Fergus gets his friend Wolf Wylie to teach him everything about gambling, including how to spot cheating. When Duke's ready, he sells all he owns and returns to the city to challenge Morell's rule of the Barbary Coast. He goes from casino to casino, challenging each one's resident poker champion to a heads-up game, starting with Morell. Duke wins every time.
Fergus then builds an opulent new gambling establishment, catering to the upper class. To make it a success, he needs to persuade Flaxen to come work for him, but she is initially not interested. Only when Morell offends her does she decide to accept Fergus' offer. On opening night of the new establishment, Morell comes to challenge Fergus and win back Flaxen only in the midst of it all, a great earthquake hits, leaving Fergus' and Morell's businesses destroyed and Flaxen grievously injured. The town rebuilds and Fergus helps Flaxen in her recovery.
In the aftermath, both Fergus and Morell run for mayor. Fergus catches Morell's men in the act of trying to rig the election. Fergus turns the results over the people to have them decide in favor of returning to Montana to marry Flaxen, while Morell keeps his business and influence.
The film was announced in May 1944. [3] It was one of eight "super de luxe" productions from Republic Pictures for 1944–45, the others being Lake Placid Serenade , Storm Over the Philippines, Hit Parade, A Fabulous Texan, Earl Carroll's Vanities, and Let the Hurricane Roar. [4]
Ann Dvorak, who had made her last three films in England, signed a long-term contract with Republic and was assigned the female lead. Eve Lynne, a magazine cover model who had never acted before, was cast in a supporting role. [5]
The film was nominated for two Academy Awards; Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture and Sound Recording (Daniel J. Bloomberg). [6]
William Clement Frawley was an American vaudevillian and actor best known for playing landlord Fred Mertz in the sitcom I Love Lucy. Frawley also played "Bub" O'Casey during the first five seasons of the sitcom My Three Sons and the political advisor to the Hon. Henry X. Harper in the film Miracle on 34th Street.
Joseph Schildkraut was an Austrian-American actor. He won an Oscar for his performance as Captain Alfred Dreyfus in the film The Life of Emile Zola (1937). He was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance as Otto Frank in the film The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) and a Primetime Emmy for his performance as Rabbi Gottlieb in a 1962 episode of the television series Sam Benedict.
Barbary Coast is the term used by Europeans from the 16th until the 19th century to refer to the coastal regions of what is now Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya.
The Cheaters (1945), also known as MR. M. and the Pigeons, The Amazing MR. M., The Magnificent Mr. M. and The Magnificent Rogue, is a Christmas "screwball comedy" tale about a has-been actor invited to Christmas dinner by a rich family. The film was atypical of the Republic Pictures studio, directed by Joseph Kane and starring Joseph Schildkraut. The film was re-released in 1949 under a new title, The Castaway, and when the Republic film catalogue was sold in the 1950s as late night television fodder, it appeared consistently for years as a Christmas staple throughout the 1960s and 1970s.
The Barbary Coast was a red-light district during the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries in San Francisco that featured dance halls, concert saloons, bars, jazz clubs, variety shows, and brothels. Its nine block area was centered on a three block stretch of Pacific Street, now Pacific Avenue, between Montgomery and Stockton Streets. Pacific Street was the first street to cut through the hills of San Francisco, starting near Portsmouth Square and continuing east to the first shipping docks at Buena Vista Cove.
Barbary Coast is an American television series that aired on ABC. The pilot film first aired on May 4, 1975, and the series itself premiered September 8, 1975; the last episode aired January 9, 1976.
Richard van Enger was an American film editor who made his debut as an assistant on Gone with the Wind in 1939. Up until his retirement in 1976, he worked on a myriad of projects - mainly B movies - before moving to television in the 1950s where he worked on such shows as Bonanza, The High Chaparral and Alias Smith and Jones. He received an Academy Award nomination for his work on the John Wayne flagwaver Sands of Iwo Jima in 1949.
Barbary Coast is a 1935 American historical Western film directed by Howard Hawks. Shot in black-and-white and set in San Francisco's so-called Barbary Coast during the California Gold Rush, the film combines elements of the Western genre with those of crime, melodrama and adventure. It features a wide range of actors, from hero Joel McCrea to villain Edward G. Robinson, and stars Miriam Hopkins in the leading role as Mary 'Swan' Rutledge. In an early, uncredited appearance, David Niven plays a drunken sailor being thrown out of a bar.
Jasper Joseph Inman Kane was an American film director, film producer, film editor and screenwriter. He is best known for his extensive directorship and focus on Western films.
Yours for the Asking is a 1936 American comedy film starring George Raft as a casino owner and Dolores Costello as the socialite he hires as hostess. The movie also features Ida Lupino and was directed by Alexander Hall.
Barbary Coast Gent is a 1944 American Western comedy film set in 1880s San Francisco's Barbary Coast and Nevada starring Wallace Beery. The movie was directed by Roy Del Ruth and features Binnie Barnes, Beery's brother Noah Beery, Sr., John Carradine, and Chill Wills. It is also known as Gold Town, Honest Plush Brannon and The Honest Thief.
Nob Hill is a 1945 Technicolor film about a Barbary Coast, San Francisco, United States saloon keeper, starring George Raft and Joan Bennett. Part musical and part drama, the movie was directed by Henry Hathaway. It remains one of Raft's lesser known movies even though it was a big success, in part because it was a musical.
The Cromwell Las Vegas is a luxury boutique casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment. It was originally opened by Michael Gaughan as the Barbary Coast on March 2, 1979. Several nearby resorts were opposed to its construction, partially due to concerns about increased traffic congestion. The property featured Victorian décor and later became part of Gaughan's company, Coast Casinos. The Barbary Coast would go on to add two popular restaurants, and a nightclub by Victor Drai.
Jack Norton was an American stage and film character actor who appeared in more than 180 films between 1934 and 1948, often playing drunks, although in real life he was a teetotaler.
Leslie Fenton was an English actor and film director. He appeared in more than 60 films between 1923 and 1945.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film adaptation of Mark Twain's 1884 novel of the same name, starring Mickey Rooney in the title role. The supporting cast features Walter Connolly, William Frawley and Rex Ingram.
Silver Queen is a 1942 American Western film directed by Lloyd Bacon and starring George Brent and Priscilla Lane. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards; one for Best Score and one for Best Art Direction.
Robin Hood of Texas is a 1947 American Western film directed by Lesley Selander and written by John K. Butler and Earle Snell. The film stars Gene Autry, Lynne Roberts, Sterling Holloway, Adele Mara, James Cardwell, and John Kellogg. The film was released on July 15, 1947, by Republic Pictures.
The Lady Pays Off is a 1951 American romantic comedy film starring Linda Darnell, Stephen McNally and Gigi Perreau, and directed by Douglas Sirk. A teacher finds herself with a large gambling debt that she has to pay off in an unusual way.
Frisco Sal is a 1945 American Western film directed by George Waggner and starring Susanna Foster and Turhan Bey. It was co written by Curt Siodmak.