★ 7 / 10
I sometimes found Jeanette MacDonald to be a
CinemaSerf
I sometimes found Jeanette MacDonald to be a sort of singing hybrid of Bette Davis and Binnie Barnes! She reminds me very much of that here in this engaging…
I sometimes found Jeanette MacDonald to be a sort of singing hybrid of Bette Davis and Binnie Barnes! She reminds me very much of that here in this engaging, if slightly long, romantic tale set just before the infamous San Francisco earthquake. "Mary Blake" arrives in the city looking for a job and she alights on the owner of the "Paradise Café". He's the suave and savvy "Blackie Norton" (Clark Gable) and he takes quite a shine to her. So too does his rather wealthier and more high-brow competitor "Burley" (Jack Holt) who might be a better fit for this girl's operatic ambitions. What now ensues sees the chemistry between MacDonald and Gable ebb and flow against a background of crookedness, envy and some good old-fashioned thuggery. Trying to help everyone stay on the right track is his childhood friend "Tim" (Spencer Tracy) who now just happens to be the local priest, a dab hand with a boxing glove, and a man who refuses to see evil in just about anyone. "Mary" has some tough choices to make, and those around her seem perfectly happy to make it for her if she doesn't - so which way is she going to turn? There's no doubt that MacDonald could sing, and her performances here are powerful and at times quite mischievous as her semi-operatic numbers illustrate quite well her character's struggle to fit into a society that wanted music hall numbers and not a good dose of "Faust"! Gable brings his usual lighthearted charm to the proceedings and there are a couple of amiable scenes from the rags-to-riches "Maisie" (Jessie Ralph) to remind us that just about everyone in that city started from nothing - even those on it's exclusive Nob Hill. The photography and visual effects at the end are really quite impressive and the audio of both the musical and thunderous elements of destruction work really quite well on a big screen too. It's not a plot that really stands out, but everyone here works well together to provide an enjoyable reminder of not just these stars, but also of the variety of Vaudeville entertainers that our forebears watched on stage.
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★ 8 / 10
Love and Earthquake in the Sin City
claudio_carvalho
On 31 December 1905, a fire destroys a building at Barbary Coast in San Francisco and on the next day, the singer Mary Blake (Jeanette MacDonald) from Benson…
On 31 December 1905, a fire destroys a building at Barbary Coast in San Francisco and on the next day, the singer Mary Blake (Jeanette MacDonald) from Benson, Colorado, that lived in the burnt building looks for a job at the nightclub Paradise. The owner Blackie Norton (Clark Gable) is a ruthless but good man and hires Mary after asking her to show her legs. Blackie is also invited to run to the position of Supervisor of the Coast by his friends and acquaintances to protect the neighborhood.
When Blackie's competitor from Nob Hill, Jack Burley (Jack Holt), and his friend Maestro Baldini (William Ricciardi), hear Mary singing, Jack invites her to sing at his fancy Tivoli Opera House. However, Mary has a two-year contract signed with Blackie and is in love with him. But when the other artists from Paradise see her with Blackie and make malicious comments about her, she quits and goes to Tivoli. On her debut at the Tivoli, Blackie goes there with an authority to call off the concert. Blackie has an injunction against Jack Burley since Mary is still under contract with him. However, when he hears Mary singing the opera, he changes his mind and proposes her to get married with him.
Mary returns to the Paradise but when Blackie's friend Father Tim Mullin (Spencer Tracy) sees Mary exposing her legs, he does not allow her to go to the stage. Mary works at Tivoli and is proposed by Jack Burley to marry him. Meanwhile the powerful Jack Burley uses his influence with the Powers that Be to close the Paradise and arrest the performers. During a musical competition between the clubs, Mary Blake learns the truth and decides to help the Paradise with her presentation. However, it is 1906, the year of the major earthquake that struck San Francisco.
"San Francisco" is a wonderful film of love and earthquake in the sin city. I had no idea that this film was so good and this is the first time that I watch "San Francisco". The story is excellent, with charismatic and ambiguous characters, enjoyable songs sang by Jeanette MacDonald and stunning special effects, with a realistic and convincing earthquake. The very last scene is fantastic.
Clark Gable and Jeanette MacDonald show a magnificent chemistry and it is impressive the resemblance of the face of Madonna in the 80's with Jeanette MacDonald. I only regret that I had not seen this film before. My vote is eight.
Title (Brazil): "San Francisco – A Cidade do Pecado" ("San Francisco" – The Sin City")
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Thank you so much for this. This movie is older than I am but it's still one of the greats.