What a show-stopper! Watching Jeanette MacDonald singing the title song is such a moving experience, it's too bad you have to wait over an hour to see it. While you're anxiously awaiting the famous San Francisco earthquake, the first hour of the movie isn't very good. By the time the fun happens, it's so spectacular, you've forgotten all about the boring beginning!
In honky-tonk San Francisco, Clark Gable owns a nightclub in the seedy section of Barbary Coast. If you don't know what section of town is, rent the previous year's Barbary Coast, starring Edward G. Robinson and Miriam Hopkins for a taste of the bad area. Anyway, Jeanette is a good girl who doesn't belong in his world, but Clark Gable hires her on as a saloon singer. Spencer Tracy is Clark's pal, a stereotypical priest who has spunk despite his religious overtones, and overwhelming tolerance of his friend's crooked dealings and open atheism. While Spence's part is clearly the supporting role, with not much screen time, the Academy awarded him with a Best Actor nomination that year. Here at the Rags, we were proud to award the film a Best Director nomination as well as the award for Best Original Song.
The special effects are pretty mind-blowing. 1937 was full of disaster movies, like The Hurricane, The Good Earth, In Old Chicago, and just like those, this was made before computers. Special sets were designed with undulating and trembling flooring so the earthquake could be accurately shown. You're going to have to wait a long time to see it, but just remind yourself when you're slogging through the very average first hour that you've got quite a lot to look forward to. And trust me, afterwards, you'll only remember Jeanette MacDonald rousing the audience and the earthquake. You won't remember how ordinary Clark Gable's saloon plotline is, and you probably won't even remember Spencer Tracy is even in the movie.
In honky-tonk San Francisco, Clark Gable owns a nightclub in the seedy section of Barbary Coast. If you don't know what section of town is, rent the previous year's Barbary Coast, starring Edward G. Robinson and Miriam Hopkins for a taste of the bad area. Anyway, Jeanette is a good girl who doesn't belong in his world, but Clark Gable hires her on as a saloon singer. Spencer Tracy is Clark's pal, a stereotypical priest who has spunk despite his religious overtones, and overwhelming tolerance of his friend's crooked dealings and open atheism. While Spence's part is clearly the supporting role, with not much screen time, the Academy awarded him with a Best Actor nomination that year. Here at the Rags, we were proud to award the film a Best Director nomination as well as the award for Best Original Song.
The special effects are pretty mind-blowing. 1937 was full of disaster movies, like The Hurricane, The Good Earth, In Old Chicago, and just like those, this was made before computers. Special sets were designed with undulating and trembling flooring so the earthquake could be accurately shown. You're going to have to wait a long time to see it, but just remind yourself when you're slogging through the very average first hour that you've got quite a lot to look forward to. And trust me, afterwards, you'll only remember Jeanette MacDonald rousing the audience and the earthquake. You won't remember how ordinary Clark Gable's saloon plotline is, and you probably won't even remember Spencer Tracy is even in the movie.