One of several early 1940s action features displaying Marlene Dietrich as the glamour puss surrounded by rough 'n' tough he-men. This one is a bit better than the others due to a well-realized gritty setting (Nome, Alaska during the Klondike Gold Rush with art direction by the prodigious Jack Otterson), colorful saloon crowd scenes, a celebrated knock-down-drag-out climactic fist fight between John Wayne and Randolph Scott and a supporting cast that includes seasoned old-timers Harry Carey and Richard Barthelmess and Marietta Canty playing Dietrich's maid whose dialogue includes much more than the usual "Yes, Ma'am-No, Ma'am" and "yuk, yuk, yuk."
The plot, from a popular 1906 novel by Rex Beach, is secondary to the personalities and the presentation of that living work of art, Marlene Dietrich. She wafts through the filthy, rugged town in one stunning Vera West ensemble after another, including a mind-blowing concoction topped by a sheer polka-dotted veil as she gracefully makes her way upon a narrow wooden plank through a street of rutted mud.
The plot, from a popular 1906 novel by Rex Beach, is secondary to the personalities and the presentation of that living work of art, Marlene Dietrich. She wafts through the filthy, rugged town in one stunning Vera West ensemble after another, including a mind-blowing concoction topped by a sheer polka-dotted veil as she gracefully makes her way upon a narrow wooden plank through a street of rutted mud.