thejcowboy22 A turn of the Century twist with another Cooper, O'Neal romance. NOT!!! Don't let that stop you at the Gates of the Singleton Plantation. Gary Cooper,(Brandt Royle) the last of his families line,a wannabee businessman meets Northerner Mr. Barton with a cigarette rolling machine that could make them millions. Enter Bordello owner Sonia, (Lauren Bacall) who has feelings for Mr. Royle. Royle needs money to start up his cigarette business but Sonia knows all to well that she's being used as his love interest. This movie is not about the money or the success that it brings. This movie shows how old fashioned ways, traditions and family hatred get in the way of just about everything. Cooper does a fine job of transforming from a humble upstart to a drunken self absorbed entrepreneur. In my opinion Lauren Bacall could have played Patricia Neal's role but the casting dept had other ideas. The supporting cast does a fine job of holding the story together. Donald Crisp as the irascible old school Tobacco King and Jack Carson who starts out a down on his luck charlatan running a medicine show at the beginning of the story into a well polished boardroom businessman at movie's end. Does this movie teach us to love our superficial business world or should we search for our true passions instead? This question haunts the masses for centuries and this movie may or may not give us the answers but you will be entertained by an all star cast.

Victoria Bergesen I was excited when I saw this film advertised on TCM. It has an incredible cast including Gary Cooper, Lauren Bacall, Patricia Neal, Phyllis George, Donald Crisp, Jack Carson. With Michael Curtiz as director this should be a stunner. The story and script are just awful. Neither Neal nor Bacall succeed as 19th-century southern heroines. They try to cover for Bacall's tough girl accent by saying she is from Pittsburgh. Even Gary Cooper, who often did period pieces struggles here.Obviously the adoration of tobacco and the quest for the cheap cigarette date this film, but many dated films have merit. The glorification of cigarettes here is so extreme that today it is humorous, but not enough to redeem this dismal production.

Mikel3 Yes, this movie has some good actors and one of the best directors ever. However it still doesn't work for me. It drags (no cigarette pun intended) on and on. Finally I was left with the feeling I had just wasted a good hour and a half. Lauren Bacall is beautiful as always but seems out of place here. And it's hard to believe any sane man would shun her for Neal. Coop at 49 is way to old to be playing the young maverick he is supposed to be. Patricia Neal is young and wide eyed but not nearly as attractive as Bacall whom we are expected to believe is second best. The other actors are also good, but sadly they don't have much to work with. This film is predictable from the start. The ending is telegraphed well in advance and contains no surprises. It's one of those films where nobody gets the girl or the guy.I find it hard to believe it's been rated here as highly as it is. If you love Coop or any of the other fine actors in this there are countless better films to see them in.

bill strickland I've seen this movie 5-6 times on the late night movies. I think its one of the very best I've ever seen. I hope to find a copy to purchase. Older movies don't compare to late movies, and I don't expect them to, but I like the older ones best. Cooper was mid career here, the other actors and actresses were well known and for some of them, this was not the character parts their fans typically expected them to play. As a result, the critics of the time, and today, don't give it the best of ratings. I gave it top ratings for content and depiction of the relationships and involvements and heartbreaks between a man torn between two women, business, and what is right.