1944's "Barbary Coast Gent" was an MGM 'B' vehicle for faded star Wallace Beery, which also features his lesser known older brother, Noah Beery Sr. (father of Noah Jr. of THE ROCKFORD FILES), in their last appearance together. Wallace spent the silent era in Hollywood playing villains, suddenly becoming popular in talkies doing lovable rogues, as he does here, only six final films before his 1949 death (three years after the passing of brother Noah, both at age 64). Honest Plush Brannon belies his name, a San Francisco con artist who stays one step ahead of the law; former partner and card cheat Duke Cleat (John Carradine) tries to avenge himself for a two year prison term, and winds up with a bad left arm for his troubles. Hightailing it east from the Barbary Coast toward Denver, Brannon pulls off a successful con in the growing Nevada community of Gold Town before discovering real gold present, deciding to try his hand at being a legitimate financier. Duke Cleat unexpectedly reappears, gleefully making off with the town's money, forcing Brannon to replace the cash the old fashioned way by robbing Wells Fargo stages. For his impressive third billing, John Carradine enjoys only 5 1/2 minutes screen time out of the lengthy 87 (he had a busy year, appearing in a baker's dozen titles overall). His only previous experience with Wallace Beery was voicing actor Dell Henderson's President William McKinley in 1936's "A Message to Garcia," while the older Noah was a major player in three of Carradine's earliest titles, "Bright Lights," "Tol'able David," and "To the Last Man," always as a villain.
8 Reviews
W. Beery in an mgm western...
ksf-22 October 2014
At the start of Barbary Coast Gent, "Lil" (Binnie Barnes) and "Plush Brannon" (Wallace Beery) are in San Francisco. Wallace, one of the larger than life Beery Brothers, had already won an Oscar for the Champ. Brother Noah is in this one too. Brannon gets kicked out of San Francisco for his shady activities, and moves on. On the train out of town, he teams up with Bradford Bellamy, owner of the train line (the classic character actor Donald Meek), and uses that friendship to his own advantage. It's ironic that Brannon's nickname is "Honest Plush Brannon" - he's always up to no good, which is why he's getting kicked out of town. And when he ends up in Goldtown, he uses that friendship with Mr. Bellamy to start more shenanigans. Brannon gets another film flam going, and he gets in deep. Watch for Ray Collins and Chill Wills. Chill Wills is the town sheriff, and there's also a sub plot with Bellamy's son and Miss Portia. Pretty entertaining western. The LOCATION tab here says this was shot at the Lone Pine hills, and we DO get to see some of the beautiful scenery there. Directed by Roy DelRuth, who had started in the silents. He directed some biggies in the 1930s and 1940s. They are all worth checking out on Turner Classics.
Jingle Bill a literate bandit
bkoganbing29 September 2014
Wallace Beery was once one of MGM's biggest box office draws, but by the mid Forties he was reduced to B pictures of which Barbary Coast Gent is an example.
Barbary Coast Gent finds Beery a genial con man who has to flee San Francisco and his long time lady love Binnie Barnes and head for Nevada and the alleged precious metals that are to be found there. There's nothing alleged about the gold mine he accidentally finds. But what to do about it.
He certainly needs money and for once he uses his persuasive conning powers to get investors in on a real deal. But he's a guy who usually takes the money and runs and the real problems of mining prove to be formidable.
When former associate John Carradine blackmails him, Beery is forced to real outlaw ways robbing all kinds of places to make him the money that Carradine took. Rather stupidly he takes to using poetical verses left at every scene to identify him as a literate bandit known as Jingle Bill.
It all works out for him though, somewhat in the end. Think of the John Ford Three Godfathers and you'll know what happens to Beery.
MGM did provide Beery with some great players for a supporting cast with Henry O'Neill. Paul Hurst, Ray Collins and the best being Chill Wills as a laconic sheriff. Fans of Wallace Beery should enjoy this.
Barbary Coast Gent finds Beery a genial con man who has to flee San Francisco and his long time lady love Binnie Barnes and head for Nevada and the alleged precious metals that are to be found there. There's nothing alleged about the gold mine he accidentally finds. But what to do about it.
He certainly needs money and for once he uses his persuasive conning powers to get investors in on a real deal. But he's a guy who usually takes the money and runs and the real problems of mining prove to be formidable.
When former associate John Carradine blackmails him, Beery is forced to real outlaw ways robbing all kinds of places to make him the money that Carradine took. Rather stupidly he takes to using poetical verses left at every scene to identify him as a literate bandit known as Jingle Bill.
It all works out for him though, somewhat in the end. Think of the John Ford Three Godfathers and you'll know what happens to Beery.
MGM did provide Beery with some great players for a supporting cast with Henry O'Neill. Paul Hurst, Ray Collins and the best being Chill Wills as a laconic sheriff. Fans of Wallace Beery should enjoy this.
con life
SnoopyStyle9 October 2022
Honest Plush Brannon (Wallace Beery) is a con man in San Francisco's Barbary Coast. He is forced out after an incident with a rival. He cons into the private car of railroad tycoon Bradford Bellamy I. He uses this connection to further con the people of the burgeoning Gold Town.
This one relies on the plentiful natural charms of Wallace Beery. It's a little fun to watch him doing his constant conning, but it's not actually that funny. It occurs to me that he needs a partner. This needs to be a duo for him to play off a young protégé. It could give some real personal conflicts and higher stakes.
This one relies on the plentiful natural charms of Wallace Beery. It's a little fun to watch him doing his constant conning, but it's not actually that funny. It occurs to me that he needs a partner. This needs to be a duo for him to play off a young protégé. It could give some real personal conflicts and higher stakes.
Too many great supporting characters with not enough for them to do.
mark.waltz26 August 2022
Warning: Spoilers
By 1944, Wallace Beery films at MGM followed a strict formula and some of them work and some of them didn't. In this one, he's a San Francisco con man who must leave town out of the blue for shooting former partner John Carradine. He ends up in a small town in Nevada where he tries to perpetuate a gold scheme and everything goes well until Carradine shows up and threatens to spoil it all. Beery finds that he can't rip off the town filled with people that he likes, and tries to make amends, through robbing the Wells Fargo Wagon on its way into town that has Bonnie Barnes (Beery's long suffering fiancee) aboard.
I wish there was more of Barnes, seen early on giving Beery money to get out of town, and hoping he'll be able to return one day, eventually seeking him out. No sooner has he left the city the the next thing you know, he is in the private car on a train which belongs to the railroad's owner, Donald Meek, hoodwinking him as well and using his sudden friendship with Meek to influence the people in the Nevada hamlet. There's a young love story between Frances Rafferty and Bruce Kellogg (as Meek's grandson) which provides further distraction.
In typical MGM tradition, there's a great supporting cast of character actors, particularly Louise Beavers as Barnes' maid, Chill Wills, Henry Travers and Henry O'Neill. It's in A budget Western (considered a B film for MGM) that has too much going on to truly be a good film although a lot of it is very entertaining and humorous. Director Roy Del Ruth does keep the film moving at a quick pace, with Beery amusing if no different than normal. Beery's ability to charm pretty much everyone and get out of every mess he's ever been in does go over the top at times. So you have to get over the impossibilities to truly enjoy this, but you can't deny the MGM gloss aiding the film in providing decent entertainment.
I wish there was more of Barnes, seen early on giving Beery money to get out of town, and hoping he'll be able to return one day, eventually seeking him out. No sooner has he left the city the the next thing you know, he is in the private car on a train which belongs to the railroad's owner, Donald Meek, hoodwinking him as well and using his sudden friendship with Meek to influence the people in the Nevada hamlet. There's a young love story between Frances Rafferty and Bruce Kellogg (as Meek's grandson) which provides further distraction.
In typical MGM tradition, there's a great supporting cast of character actors, particularly Louise Beavers as Barnes' maid, Chill Wills, Henry Travers and Henry O'Neill. It's in A budget Western (considered a B film for MGM) that has too much going on to truly be a good film although a lot of it is very entertaining and humorous. Director Roy Del Ruth does keep the film moving at a quick pace, with Beery amusing if no different than normal. Beery's ability to charm pretty much everyone and get out of every mess he's ever been in does go over the top at times. So you have to get over the impossibilities to truly enjoy this, but you can't deny the MGM gloss aiding the film in providing decent entertainment.
Enjoyable but thoroughly ridiculous.
planktonrules13 October 2022
"Barbary Coast Gent" is an enjoyable but thoroughly illogical film. The ending, in particular, makes no sense whatsoever and the writers seem to have lost their minds!
'Honest' Plush Brannon (Wallace Beery) is a disreputable con man who lies even more than the average politician! After being tossed out of California, he manages to lie and fenagle his way into the hearts of some trusting townsfolk in Nevada. He quickly convinces them that he's a very rich man and folks all over town fall all over themselves trying to please him. Eventually, he comes upon a scheme to sell shares in a gold mine but, oddly, this mine might actually pan out and produce gold! But eventually his old rival arrives in town and steals all the money Brannon has raised from the locals for the mine. To hide this, Brannon comes upon a very novel, albeit insane, scheme to cover the loss until the mine, hopefully, pays for itself.
There are so many logical problems with this picture, but MGM and Beery were experts in making Beery's characters seem sweet and likable. In real life, according to Jackie Cooper's autobiography, it was all clearly an act and off screen Beery was an incredible jerk. Oddly, none of the people in the town in the film EVER seem to realize he's anything but a saint! Very watchable but also utterly ridiculous.
'Honest' Plush Brannon (Wallace Beery) is a disreputable con man who lies even more than the average politician! After being tossed out of California, he manages to lie and fenagle his way into the hearts of some trusting townsfolk in Nevada. He quickly convinces them that he's a very rich man and folks all over town fall all over themselves trying to please him. Eventually, he comes upon a scheme to sell shares in a gold mine but, oddly, this mine might actually pan out and produce gold! But eventually his old rival arrives in town and steals all the money Brannon has raised from the locals for the mine. To hide this, Brannon comes upon a very novel, albeit insane, scheme to cover the loss until the mine, hopefully, pays for itself.
There are so many logical problems with this picture, but MGM and Beery were experts in making Beery's characters seem sweet and likable. In real life, according to Jackie Cooper's autobiography, it was all clearly an act and off screen Beery was an incredible jerk. Oddly, none of the people in the town in the film EVER seem to realize he's anything but a saint! Very watchable but also utterly ridiculous.
This B comedy Western features Wallace Beery in the title role
jacobs-greenwood15 December 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Roy Del Ruth directed this comedy Western (his first) that was written by William Lipman, Grant Garrett (aka Garett), and Harry Ruskin featuring Wallace Beery in the title role.
Beery plays a stylish rogue with a checkered past named Honest Plush Brannon. Plush is loved and supported by Lil Damish (Binnie Barnes), a nightclub owner in San Francisco. As the picture begins, Plush is confronted by Duke Cleat (John Carradine), a man who just got out of jail for taking the rap when he and Plush got caught in a crooked deal. Lil had vouched for Plush, so he served no time, which naturally infuriated Duke. Even though Plush is able to shoot and wound Duke first, the local police suggest Plush should get out of town before they are forced to arrest him.
With some money from Lil, Plush takes a train east intending to go to Denver, but instead stops in "Gold Town". Through a series of comic occurrences, Plush convinces the residents of "Gold Town" that he is a millionaire and is then asked to be their guest, even dedicating the cornerstone laid for their new jail. Plush quickly becomes a "respectable" member of the community. He runs into a former colleague with whom he used to rob trains in the old days, asking him not to tell anyone about their past. His colleague is happy to oblige given the fact that he is now employed to protect Wells Fargo stagecoaches from crime.
Though Plush's initial intention is to scam the town by selling stock to a fake goldmine and departing in the dark of night, he actually discovers the real thing, making a claim which will allow him to go legitimate for the first time in his life. However, Duke shows up and robs him of the town's capital he needed to start the mine. So, he decides to rob the stagecoaches to get the needed funds, leaving notes of poetry in the Wells Fargo strong boxes once he's taken the loot.
This, along with his friend's past, become issues to be resolved (somewhat non-predictably, I might add) in the end with help from Lil, a Wells Fargo detective, and Duke.
Beery plays a stylish rogue with a checkered past named Honest Plush Brannon. Plush is loved and supported by Lil Damish (Binnie Barnes), a nightclub owner in San Francisco. As the picture begins, Plush is confronted by Duke Cleat (John Carradine), a man who just got out of jail for taking the rap when he and Plush got caught in a crooked deal. Lil had vouched for Plush, so he served no time, which naturally infuriated Duke. Even though Plush is able to shoot and wound Duke first, the local police suggest Plush should get out of town before they are forced to arrest him.
With some money from Lil, Plush takes a train east intending to go to Denver, but instead stops in "Gold Town". Through a series of comic occurrences, Plush convinces the residents of "Gold Town" that he is a millionaire and is then asked to be their guest, even dedicating the cornerstone laid for their new jail. Plush quickly becomes a "respectable" member of the community. He runs into a former colleague with whom he used to rob trains in the old days, asking him not to tell anyone about their past. His colleague is happy to oblige given the fact that he is now employed to protect Wells Fargo stagecoaches from crime.
Though Plush's initial intention is to scam the town by selling stock to a fake goldmine and departing in the dark of night, he actually discovers the real thing, making a claim which will allow him to go legitimate for the first time in his life. However, Duke shows up and robs him of the town's capital he needed to start the mine. So, he decides to rob the stagecoaches to get the needed funds, leaving notes of poetry in the Wells Fargo strong boxes once he's taken the loot.
This, along with his friend's past, become issues to be resolved (somewhat non-predictably, I might add) in the end with help from Lil, a Wells Fargo detective, and Duke.
Black Bart
savannahnwyc3 September 2023
Warning: Spoilers
I watched this for the first time today. It follows the real story of Black Bart. Who was a Real West Wells Fargo stage robber who left poetry behind his heist. It was really interesting to see MGM bring this real life criminal to the screen. Somethings were changed from the real history. However, It followed exactly how he was caught, the top detective coming in to solve the thefts and using the laundry mark, which that really happened. So those who think it's ridiculous should read the real history of Black Bart. It's interesting because I just watched the Fox series "Legends and Lies: The history of Black Bart, the bandit who left behind not bloodshed, but poetry." Therefore I was able to recognize the movie and character were a parity of Black Bart.
Charles E. Boles (b. 1829; d. After February 28, 1888), also known as Black Bart, was an American outlaw noted for the poetic messages he left behind after two of his robberies. Often called Charley by his friends, he was also known as Charles (or C. E.) Bolton. Considered a gentleman bandit with a reputation for style and sophistication, he was one of the most notorious stagecoach robbers to operate in and around Northern California and Southern Oregon during the 1870s and 1880s. From to Wikipedia.
Charles E. Boles (b. 1829; d. After February 28, 1888), also known as Black Bart, was an American outlaw noted for the poetic messages he left behind after two of his robberies. Often called Charley by his friends, he was also known as Charles (or C. E.) Bolton. Considered a gentleman bandit with a reputation for style and sophistication, he was one of the most notorious stagecoach robbers to operate in and around Northern California and Southern Oregon during the 1870s and 1880s. From to Wikipedia.
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