GManfred "Barbary Coast" is actually a character study, a love story set in 1850's San Francisco. It was a rough, brawling town in the days before law and order ruled the day, and here the town is run by Edward G. Robinson and his enforcer, Brian Donlevy. The lovers are Joel McCrea (tall and handsome), and Miriam Hopkins (short and pretty). Naturally, McCrea and Robinson cross paths before the picture is over.Nutshell: Hopkins gets off a boat looking for her fiancé, who was killed by Robinson. She then goes to work in the local saloon, owned by Robinson, and comes across prospector/poet McCrea while out riding one day. They are smitten. He is finished prospecting, having found much gold. He comes into town, stumbles across Hopkins in the saloon, and then things get tense and the action starts.You can almost fill in the blanks for the ending, but watch for Walter Brennan, who steals every scene he's in as a toothless no-account. The love scenes belong to Hopkins, who puts them over while McCrea is along for the ride. He always lacked acting range and this film is no exception. The action scenes are very effective and of a different sort, but this movie relies on its screenplay, which is very absorbing. I thought "Barbary Coast" was better than I expected and a cut above many actioners of the 30's.

gavin6942 Mary Rutledge (Miriam Hopkins) arrives from the east, finds her fiancé dead, and goes to work for Louis Charnalis (Edward G. Robinson) at the roulette wheel of the Bella Donna, a rowdy gambling house in San Francisco in the 1850s.I liked that a character says that the Chinese are the "oldest civilization in the world", as it sort of foreshadows the statements about the Chinese in Hawks' "Come and Get It". While surely just a coincidence, this pro-Chinese attitude stood out for me.I also liked the use of the word "cuspidor", and hope I have some occasion to use it.What left me mixed was Robinson's gangster accent. He does a great accent, especially for a man who was not a native-born American. But do 1920s Chicago gangsters have the same accent as 1850s San Francisco gangsters? Robinson would have us thinking this is the case. I, for one, am not convinced.

Michael_Elliott Barbary Coast (1935) *** 1/2 (out of 4)Masterful acting highlight this overlooked gem that features just about everything you'd want out of a classic from the Golden Era of movies. Miriam Hopkins plays a poor girl from New York who travels to San Francisco to marry a man she's never met but once she arrives she learns that he has been murdered. Since she didn't love him, she decides to team up with the man responsible for his death, a ruthless casino owner (Edward G. Robinson) who wants to keep the town under his rule. Soon the woman begins to have second thoughts after meeting young man (Joel McCrea) from her old hometown. Hawks has a big following today and many consider him one of the greatest director's of all time but I'm really not sure I'd join such high praise. I did find it rather strange that when people mention his work this title is often left out, which is too bad because I found this to be one of the most entertaining of his career even though he did take the picture over from William Wyler. Some have called this LITTLE CAESAR set during the gold rush and that might be a fair saying but you could also mix in another Robinson picture, THE HATCHET MAN. This film here is pulp entertainment from start to finish as we have three legends really giving it their all in a pretty good story that contains romance, action, drama, comedy and one masterfully directed sequence. This sequence takes place as a vigilante group is holding a trial while walking through some mud. The sound effects used here and the constant editing down towards the mud is priceless and will certainly remain in the viewers mind long after the film ends. Robinson dives head first into his role and really delivers one of the finest performances of his career. His scenes where the character goes mad or better yet, love struck, are priceless and really pack a nice little punch as he goes off the deep end. The evilness Robinson brings to the role was not only creepy but it added to the entertainment value just because it will also put a smile on your face. Hopkins is also terrific and manages to deliver a full performance full of all sorts of emotions. Her character goes through various stages and the actress captures all of them perfectly. Her and Robinson have wonderful chemistry and I was shocked to learn after the movie that the two hated working with one another on this film. McCrea is also terrific and plays the naive and soft-spoken character wonderfully. The supporting cast features the wonderful Walter Brennan, Frank Craven, Brian Donlevy, Harry Carey and Donald Meek. The film's biggest problem is the ending, which really felt added on but I haven't been able to find anywhere that it was forced by the studio. Why this film isn't better known is beyond me but there's enough packed in here for two movies so hopefully more people will check it out.

kenjha During the gold rush, Robinson runs San Francisco like a mafia boss. Enter Hopkins as a gold-digging young lady, who apparently is just about the only white woman in the whole city, given how the men react to her. The familiar cast also includes McCrea as an earnest young prospector, Donlevy as Robinson's hatchet man, and Brennan as an old guy named "Old Atrocity." Entertaining film has a decent story but is marred by acting that is either wooden or melodramatic, with Hopkins particularly guilty of the latter. It's fun watching Robinson play the heavy. Hawks does a nice job of evoking foggy San Francisco of a bygone era.