Thanks to a Sony Channel we have in the UK I was able to see this rather creaky but very watchable film. What more does anyone want but a poetic man of the West as played by the handsome, talented Joel McCrea and showing yet again how some directors were able to take his talent seriously ? I like to imagine Howard Hawks concentrated on him while leaving the scenes where the annoying Miriam Hopkins was left to Wyler who supremely showed off her shallow emoting in ' Old Acquaintance '. Contrary to what one reviewer says here whatever did Joel McCrea see in her rather than what she saw in him ? Edward G, Robinson is good as always and I disliked the irritating Walter Brennan who reputedly made life hell for Montgomery Clift on the set of Howard Hawks ' Red River ', and his ' acting ' in my opinion is unwatchable.
So to sum up this film is a patchwork of both good and bad cinema, and for 21st C tastes may well seem archaic.
Review of Barbary Coast
