grade Movie Reviews

• Reviewed by michaelRokeefe grade 7 / 10

  Financial success at any cost.

  John Wayne shares the screen with Randolph Scott and Marlene Dietrich. The Duke plays Charles 'Pittsburgh' Markham, who is always looking for something better, tries to make some quick bucks with his best friend Cash Evans (Scott). The two take jobs in the coal mines. Markham is unsatisfied, but has more than enough ambition and by "hook or crook" manipulates financial backing to eventually become a wealthy tycoon in the coal and steel industry. His over bearing and sometimes underhanded methods as a player in in the battle between labor and management affords him the loss of his best friend Cash and drives away the woman he loves (Dietrich). Rounding out the cast: Frank Craven, Samuel S. Hinds, Louise Allbritton, Paul Fix, Thomas Gomez, Charles Arnt and Ludwig Stossel.

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• Reviewed by MartinHafer grade 6 / 10

  Sort of like "The Spoilers II"

  This film is sort of like "The Spoilers II", as the three leads in this film had just starred in THE SPOILERS and the tone and style of the two movies are so similar. Once again, Marlene Dietrich, Randolph Scott and John Wayne star as people who are all determined to strike it rich, and like the previous movie, they do. But it all comes at a great cost, as Wayne slowly looses sight of what was important in life and he slowly becomes a twisted and greedy industrialist. At the same time, Scott and Dietrich are waiting in the wings---waiting and hoping that Wayne will come around to his senses.The film begins during WWII and Scott is making a patriotic speech about how everyone needs to continue giving their best for the war effort. Then, in an office, Scott, Wayne and their old friends reminisce about the old days. At this point, the film gos back about twenty years. All of them are poor and Scott and Wayne are humble coal miners. However, to impress Dietrich (who wants more out of life than to just marry a humble miner), he connives and builds himself a dandy little empire.Oddly, although the film is set in the 1920s, Universal Studios did a lousy job of trying to achieve the look. Everyone dresses like they do in the 40s and the cars are all late models--barely a 20s-era car in sight! This is just sloppy. While it doesn't ruin the film, this must be considered when giving the film a rating.Also, while Wayne does a very good job of evolving into a total jerk, because the film starts out with Wayne and Scott together, you know that eventually, Wayne changes back to the character he was at the beginning of the film. This takes out all the suspense, plus it seems a bit hard to believe--after all, he was very, very bad before this. On top of all this, the preachy narration seemed preachy and the WWII propaganda aspect was a bit heavy-handed. Despite the film following this formula and the anachronisms, the movie still is quite entertaining and worth seeing. Just don't expect Wayne's or Scott's best.

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• Reviewed by bkoganbing grade 7 / 10

  "I Love Ya, Cash, So Help Me, I Love Ya."

  I think with this film John Wayne's casting potential was stretched to its very limit. After his image was established, he could never have been been given a role as a heel like Pittsburgh Markham.Pittsburgh and his buddy Cash Evans (Randolph Scott) start out as a pair of happy-go-lucky coalminers who on a night on the town where Wayne tricks Scott into going a round with a heavyweight prizefighter (almost like the way Crosby used to bamboozle Hope in the Road Pictures)they meet up with Marlene Dietrich. They got the hots for her, but she has eyes for Wayne and Wayne is now determined to better himself. And he does and his methods are pretty shady. They even include marrying into a wealthy family, but he wants to keep Marlene on the side. That's where she gets off. And at some point in the picture Randolph Scott gets tired of Wayne's arrogance and the way he's treated Marlene and that climaxes in the only screen fight John Wayne ever lost. It's not as long a fight as they had when they duked it out in The Spoilers, but it's exciting and Randy puts him down for the count.The three leads are fine and also watch for a nice comic turn by Shemp Howard. Marlene and the Duke were winding up a long term relationship that began on the set of Seven Sinners. Supposedly she found Wayne something of a philistine in terms of education and tried to get him to read Proust and Zola and other European novelists. Wayne wasn't having any of that and they went their separate ways. Marlene tried the same with George Raft and he too told her that they ought to call it a day.One thing that people do not realize is that back in her native Germany, Marlene Dietrich was considered a traitor for appearing in American films, especially ones like these that started and ended on a patriotic note. Another reviewer said this was a western moved east, maybe because the male leads were so identified with westerns. Personally I think it has elements of Edna Ferber in it. Lot of similarities between this and films made from her novels.

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