San Francisco in gold fever

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Movie
German title San Francisco in gold fever
Original title Barbary Coast
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1935
length 97 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Howard Hawks
script Ben Hecht ,
Charles MacArthur
production Samuel Goldwyn
music Alfred Newman
camera Ray June
cut Edward Curtiss
occupation

San Francisco in Gold Fever (Original title: Barbary Coast ) is an American western by Howard Hawks from 1935.

action

San Francisco around 1850 at the time of the gold rush: the attractive Mary Rutledge arrives in the city to marry the millionaire Dan Morgan. But Morgan died under mysterious circumstances after losing his fortune to the powerful saloon owner Louis Chamalis. The publisher Cobb supports Mary, who can be hired by Chamalis to operate the roulette table. Opposite Chamalis she pretends to be a swan. The saloon owner falls in love with his new employee, who, however, rejects his favors. Chamalis proves his power by hiring his assistant, Knuckles Jacoby, to kill Ferguson, who wants to uncover the marked games in the saloon. When the sheriff arrests Knuckles after the murder, Chamalis manages to find a judge who acquits his assistant.

Cobb is urged by citizens to make Chamalis' scams public. But Chamalis had the type boxes destroyed to warn Cobb. Then he confesses his love to Mary, who rejects him. When the emotionally exhausted Mary rides out, she gets caught in a downpour. She meets the learned Jim Carmichael, who has come to California from the east coast in a carriage to seek his fortune. Mary begins to fall in love with Jim, but believes she will never see him again, she poses as a society lady. When Jim later enters the saloon, he sees Mary at the roulette table. He gambled away all his money and got drunk. Mary is affected and locks herself in. When Jim comes to, he asks Chamalis for a job. Chamalis lets him polish the spittoons, Mary wants to give him the money for the return trip to New York. Jim refuses.

McTavish, a gold prospector who was cheated of his gold by Chamalis, asks Cobb to bring the case into the paper. But Cobb refuses. McTavish puts up leaflets. He and Cobb are shot dead by Knuckles shortly afterwards. The dying Cobb asks his friend Wigham to print the story after all. Wigham receives help from the citizens who distribute the newspapers. The vigilante groups capture Knuckles and execute him.

Meanwhile, Old Atrocity gives Jim a sack of gold that he lost. He says goodbye to Mary, but she persuades him to gamble with the money. With Mary's help, he wins $ 40,000. The two now want to take a rowboat to get to the ship with which Jim wants to travel back to New York. Chamalis, who noticed the betrayal, locks Mary up in her room and looks for Jim. However, Jim has hidden in Mary's room. After both have assured each other of their love for each other, they flee through the window. While the vigilante groups storm the saloon, Chamalis pursues Jim and Mary. One of his men shoots Jim. Mary promises to stay with Chamalis if he lets Jim go in return. Chamalis has Jim brought to the ship. When he sees the crying Mary, he realizes that she loves Jim. He lets them go and faces the vigilante group.

background

David Niven can be seen as the sailor who is thrown out of the saloon . Hank Worden makes a small appearance as a saloon guest . The former Olympic athletics champion Jim Thorpe appears as an Indian . Richard Day was responsible for the production design. The budget for the film is estimated at approximately $ 776,000.

Gary Cooper was scheduled for the role of Jim, while Mary was to be played by the Russian-born Anna Sten . However, since Cooper only had a one-film contract with Goldwyn and had to return to Paramount Pictures , the role of Jim had to be re-cast. Goldwyn also had Anna Sten replaced by Miriam Hopkins. Hopkins and Joel McCrea were in front of the camera for the first time. Three more films followed, all of which were produced by Goldwyn.

The assumption that William Wyler , at the time under contract with Universal Pictures , was the original director of the film and has been replaced by Howard Hawks, has not been confirmed to this day.

The film premiered on October 13, 1935 in the United States. It was only released in German cinemas on September 29, 1950. It was also shown under the title The San Francisco Casino.

Reviews

For the lexicon of international film , San Francisco was in a gold fever "an epic film that fascinates with its careful description of the environment and people". Variety described the film as thoroughbred, the atmosphere of the time was well met.

Andre Sennwald of the New York Times praised the script as an energetic, happy and deliciously phrased story of blood and passion. Dave Kehr of the Chicago Reader described the film as impetuous, the serious undertone of which was essential to get through the censorship.

Awards

Ray June was nominated for an Oscar for Best Cinematography in 1936 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Business on imdb.com
  2. ↑ San Francisco in gold fever. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed June 2, 2019 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  3. ↑ See Barbary Coast . In: Variety , 1935.
  4. ^ Andre Sennwald : 'Barbary Coast,' a Thumping Melodrama of the Gold Rush Days . In: The New York Times , October 14, 1935.
  5. ↑ Dave Kehr : Barbary Coast . In: Chicago Reader .