Directed by Joseph Kane
Republic Pictures was created in 1935 out of the merger of three Poverty Row movie studios: Monogram, Liberty and Mascot. During its first decade, the fledgling studio was best-known for its low-budget serials and B-westerns. Republic's first star was John Wayne, who made a string of westerns there in the late '30s. Most of these were directed by Joseph Kane, who also worked with Gene Autry and Roy Rogers.
As Republic approached the end of its first decade, priorities shifted to more A-pictures with bigger stars and larger budgets. The studio opted for a reunion of actor and director when it re-teamed Kane and Wayne in Flame of Barbary Coast. which Republic announced as its "Tenth Anniversary Film." The film also introduced an important screenwriter of westerns: Borden Chase. Flame is one of the first screen credits for Chase, who would go on to write Red River and several of Anthony Mann's classic westerns.
Wayne plays a cowboy who comes to the wild and woolly Barbary Coast and falls for a singer (Ann Dvorak). The singer in turn loves Tito Morell (Joseph Schildkraut), who runs the casino and nightclub where she sings. This love triangle fuels the dramatic tension in a film that builds to a doozy of a climax. (Hint: the setting is 1906 San Francisco.) Schildkraut got the most praise in contemporary reviews, and his likeably smooth villain still steals the show today with the help of Chase's snappy dialogue.
–David Pendleton
Republic Pictures Corp. Screenwriter: Borden Chase Cinematographer: Robert DeGrasse Art Director: Gano Chittenden Editor: Richard L. Van Enger Cast: John Wayne, Ann Dvorak, Joseph Schildkraut. Wil liam Frawley, Virginia Grey
35mm, 91 min.
Preserved in cooperation with National Telefilm Associates, Inc. from the 35mm original nitrate picture and track negatives and from a 35mm nitrate composite fine grain master positive. Laboratory services by Film Technology Company, Inc.
