BBB
(out of 5)
Average adaptation of Rex Beach’s novel (one of five filmed versions, though you’ll be hard-pressed to find any of the other ones) features John Wayne as a man who strikes gold in a turn-of-the-century mining town in the Old West, only to have to protect it from evil dudes who plan on stealing it. What the bad guys don’t realize is, he’s got saloon-gal Marlene Dietrich on his side. Rich characters, but it’s not all that memorable.
Universal Pictures, Frank Lloyd Productions, Charles K. Feldman Group
USA, 1942
Directed by Ray Enright
Screenplay by Lawrence Hazard, Tom Reed, based on the novel by Rex Beach
Cinematography by Milton R. Krasner
Produced by Frank Lloyd
Music by Hans J. Salter
Production Design by Jack Otterson
Costume Design by Vera West
Film Editing by Clarence Kolster
Academy Award Nomination
Best Art Direction (Black-and-White) (art direction: Jack Otterson, John B. Goodman; interior decoration: Russell A. Gausman, Edward R. Robinson)
