Sun 9 May 2021
Archived Movie Review: BARRICADE (1939).
Posted by Steve under Films: Drama/Romance , Reviews[8] Comments
BARRICADE. 20th Century Fox, 1939. Alice Faye, Warner Baxter, Charles Winninger, Arthur Treacher, Keye Luke, Willie Fung, Philip Ahn. Directed by Gregory Ratoff.
In the midst of war-torn China, an isolated, almost forgotten American consulate is besieged by Mongolian bandits, Trapped inside, among others, are a beautiful American woman (traveling incognito without a passport as the Russian wife of a dead American) and a reporter who is “temporarily” between jobs, fired for having concocted an interview with a Chinese general who (unbeknownst to him) was dead at the time.
On the surface this is nothing more than a love story, taking place against a background of history’s making, filled with suspense and brave deeds, but once again the real hero is neither of the two leading stars. As the consul who is all but forgotten by his country, Charles Winninger turns in an outstanding performance as a patriot who has not forgotten his country a fraction of an inch. Seemingly bumbling and naive, Winninger shows that his character knows exactly what is going on, and that trampling on the rights of Americans is not an action that should be taken lightly.
In other words, an old-fashioned movie that’s as timely as last month’s headlines.
May 9th, 2021 at 11:50 pm
I love Alice Faye (but hate that garish blonde hair).
In any case it is unusual to see her in a drama. Fun comedienne, slightly awkward delivery but still many laugh-out-loud moments as Ms. Phil Harris (rather, dopey Harris is ‘Mr. Alice Faye’) on their OTR radio show.
I think Alice needed to do what Joan Bennett did.
May 9th, 2021 at 11:58 pm
I liked Alice Faye in FALLEN ANGEL, which came along for her later on. It was a straight dramatic role in a very effective film noir. But Linda Darnell was in the movie too, and all the attention was given to her. As I remember the story, Alice Faye left the lot and never made another movie for 10 or 15 years.
May 10th, 2021 at 12:20 am
Charles Winninger: ‘Nothing Sacred’ (1937) and ‘Destry Rides Again’ (1939). No way to overstate the rich talent of this character actor.
May 10th, 2021 at 8:46 am
Add Show Boat to Winninger’s career highlights.
May 10th, 2021 at 1:10 pm
Alice told me this picture was “a mess from beginning to end.” BARRICADE went into production with a script apparently nobody was happy with. After a few weeks of shooting the film was shut down for script retooling. Other projects intervened and nearly a year passed before principal photography resumed. The final cut saw deletion of several sequences shot early on, including Alice’s only song. By that time Fox just wanted it in the marketplace to salvage their investment. Alice’s popularity got BARRICADE plenty of bookings but also bad reviews, and she always considered it a misfire.
May 10th, 2021 at 1:24 pm
Thanks, Ed, that all makes sense.
May 10th, 2021 at 1:30 pm
Yes indeed, thanks, Ed. What I found interesting is that a song that Alice Faye was supposed to sing got cut from the movie. I wish I remembered more of the movie than I do, since I’m left wondering how that would have fit in.
May 10th, 2021 at 7:28 pm
The kind of solid cast you could rely on in almost any type of movie. Ratoff remained an interesting director for much of his career and appeared as an actor as late as A RAVISHING IDIOT with Brigette Bardot.
While not a success the movie still shows what a cast and studio could do with even mediocre material.