Best movie of this year hands down!

People are voting emotionally.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

John Wayne is a gold prospector who romances Marlene Dietrich and fights crooked Randolph Scott, who's out to steal both his claim and his woman. Strong cast in a fairly typical but enjoyable gold rush western. Dietrich sizzles. She has great chemistry with both Wayne and Scott. Lots of innuendo in her dialogue. For their parts, the two western stars are solid. Scott shines in a rare villainous role. His cohorts in crime in this one are, surprisingly, Samuel S. Hinds and pretty Margaret Lindsay. Duke is good. His climactic bar fight with Scott is the movie's highlight. Harry Carey plays Duke's friend. George Cleveland and Russell Simpson are fun as a couple of grizzled prospectors.

This filming of the oft told Rex Beach tale is a knock down, drag 'em out, shoot 'em up story of a group of your favorite players, transported from the old West to the Alaska gold rush. And it is a whole bunch of fun.You just can't beat the cast.....even to the small parts such as Russell Simpson as Flapjack and the consummate drunk Jack Norton as Skinner. Of course, the main characters, Wayne, Dietrich and Scott are the focal points which pull the story together. They are at their best with Dietrich as the sassy dance hall owner: Randolph Scott playing against type as a unapologetic scoundrel: and Margaret Lindsay,usually the sweet virginal type is also against type here as a schemer with a heart of gold (well, sort of).But there is something about Richard Barthelmess that kept my attention. Here was an Oscar winner (The Patent Leather Kid), who was as big as they got during the silent era but just couldn't seem to make the transition to talkies (with the exception of "Only Angels Have Wings"). And I'm not sure why.....it wasn't his looks, his voice or his acting style. Maybe he just didn't age well (he was only 47 when this film was made but looked older). Whatever the case, he does a good job here but you know from the beginning that he has to die somewhere along the line.....and sure enough, he does.The film includes one of the most famous fights scenes in movie history between Wayne and Scott (although the use of stunt doubles is pretty obvious). They brawl upstairs, downstairs, on the stairs, and out the door. It's a dandy. It's a rousing, good time film that is worth watching......I like it!!

The John Wayne Marathon continues into the 14th hour with a whole boatload of interesting characters in a story about the gold rush in Alaska.Wayne gets third billing in this movie to Marlene Dietrich and Randolph Scott. Dietrich plays a jealous girlfriend and Scott is the new dude in town that is muscling in.Margaret Lindsay plays the new girl in town after Wayne's heart. Harry Carey is Wayne's partner.This is at least the 4th version of this story and it won't be the last. A tale of gold mining, claim jumping, saloon, muddy streets, brawls and fancy women will always be in style.Hang on to your hat and enjoy another Wayne classic.

It gets off to a slow start, a story about miners being cheated out of their claims by crooked bureaucrats and gangsters. Takes an hour before you find out who the spoilers are. They do not include Marlene Dietrich, who plays the owner of the local "dance hall" or whatever it's called, and whose affections Randolph Scott and John Wayne compete for.Boy, is she blond in this one, and with a wig that makes her resemble an olive on a toothpick. Wayne is a cocky guy, rarely serious, with a smile that eerily combines shyness with self-confidence. Scott beams with virility. There is a sneaky "good girl" too, who is actually one of the gangsters. No one puts much effort into any of the roles.It's the kind of movie in which one of the minor villains takes a bead on a good guy having a conversation, is shot dead, and the talk continues without any remarks relevant to the recently deceased. If someone says something even vaguely offensive to another man, his reward is a sock in the jaw and his lights go out.All of the fist fights take place in accelerated motion which, at the time, must have added zest to the action but today draws attention to itself as the expression of a souped-up camera.The climactic fist fight lasts longer than most. Bodies tumble all over the place -- through doors, down staircases, over bars, onto tables, and through huge plate glass windows. Clothing is ripped to shreds and there are bruises and a trickle or two of blood, but nobody's nose is bleeding and no one loses any teeth or breaks a finger.It's shot in California although it's supposed to be the Yukon. You can tell it's a Yukon-type Western because all the characters wear high-laced boots with woolen socks folded down over the tops, instead of cowboy boots. Otherwise it's a cowboy Western.Diverting enough, especially when it gets down to business in the second half. What I want to know is, where the hell is Gabb Hayes?