Barbary Coast Gent

Plot synopsis:
Honest Plush Brannon (Wallace Beery) is a confidence man from the Barbary Coast in San Francisco. He is engaged to Li'l Damish (Binnie Barnes) who is a saloon owner. Plush is in need of money to prove he can stand on his own. His plan to come by some money is disturbed by his ex-companion, Duke Cleat (John Carradine), who accuses Plush of doing him wrong in the past. After a quick showdown, Plush manages to shoot and wound Duke badly. Because of this, Plush is forced to leave town, and decides to take the train to Denver to find his luck. Aboard the train he meets an industrial railroad Millionaire, Bradford Bellamy I (Donald Meek) and convinces him he is about to serve the man in a blackmailing process. Bellamy I wants to throw Plush off the train, but instead they make a deal, that Plush will hold a speech in Bellamy I's name in Gold Town. Plush pretends to be Bellamy I's financial voice and is greeted as such in Gold Town. Even his old partner with whom he used to rob stage coaches, Johnny Adair (Ray Collins), believes him. Johnny's daughter, Portia (Frances Rafferty) is engaged to Bellamy I's grandson, Bradford Bellamy III (Bruce Kellogg). When Plush is attending a ceremony and is about to dedicate a cornerstone in the city, he accidentally discovers that the stone has gold in it. Plush prevents an article declaring that Bellamy III is engaging another woman, an Eastern debutante, to reach the press, and since Bellamy III have no intentions of engaging anyone but Portia, he is grateful to Plush. When the gold finding in the cornerstone is confirmed, Plush clais the ground where the stone is, and everyone in Gold Town wants to invest in his newly founded gold-mining company. Back in San Francisco, Duke has recovered from his injuries and seeks revenge. He finds out about Plush's luck, and at gun-point he forces Plush to give all his earnings to him. Broke and homeless, Plush is forced to rob a Wells Fargo payroll stagecoach. He leaves a poem at the crime scene, and after a few more robberies, he is known as the outlaw "Jingle Bill". The only stage coach that never gets robbed is the one Johnny drives. Plush uses his booty to start up the mining for gold in his company, and soon enough he strikes gold. In an attempt to catch the robber, Plush is forced to stage a robbery against Johnny's coach, in which Plush participates. Plush is shot and wounded by Johnny. Meanwhile, Li'l has come to Gold Town to warn Plush that Duke has been at her place, stolen a bunch of Plush's poems, and is headed to Gold Town. After the fake robbery, suspicion falls on Plush to be the robber. When Duke confronts Plush in the street, the two men once again have a showdown, ultimately shooting each other. Duke dies from his wounds, and the stolen poems are found on his body. Duke is taken for Jingle Bill, but Plush steps up and confesses he is the robber. He waves goodbye to Li'l, Bellamy III and Portia, as he is off to serve a one-year sentence in prison.

Tags: revenge

Review:
Wallace Beery and John Carradine. 1944's "Barbary Coast Gent" was an MGM 'B' vehicle for faded star Wallace Beery, which also features his lesser known older brother, Noah Beery Sr. (father of Noah Jr. of THE ROCKFORD FILES), in their last appearance together. Wallace spent the silent era in Hollywood playing villains, suddenly becoming popular in talkies doing lovable rogues, as he does here, only six final films before his 1949 death (three years after the passing of brother Noah, both at age 64). Honest Plush Brannon belies his name, a San Francisco con artist who stays one step ahead of the law; former partner and card cheat Duke Cleat (John Carradine) tries to avenge himself for a two year prison term, and winds up with a bad left arm for his troubles. Hightailing it east from the Barbary Coast toward Denver, Brannon pulls off a successful con in the growing Nevada community of Gold Town before discovering real gold present, deciding to try his hand at being a legitimate financier. Duke Cleat unexpectedly reappears, gleefully making off with the town's money, forcing Brannon to replace the cash the old fashioned way by robbing Wells Fargo stages. For his impressive third billing, John Carradine enjoys only 5 1/2 minutes screen time out of the lengthy 87 (he had a busy year, appearing in a baker's dozen titles overall). His only previous experience with Wallace Beery was voicing actor Dell Henderson's President William McKinley in 1936's "A Message to Garcia," while the older Noah was a major player in three of Carradine's earliest titles, "Bright Lights," "Tol'able David," and "To the Last Man," always as a villain.. W. Beery in an mgm western.... At the start of Barbary Coast Gent, "Lil" (Binnie Barnes) and "Plush Brannon" (Wallace Beery) are in San Francisco. Wallace, one of the larger than life Beery Brothers, had already won an Oscar for the Champ. Brother Noah is in this one too. Brannon gets kicked out of San Francisco for his shady activities, and moves on. On the train out of town, he teams up with Bradford Bellamy, owner of the train line (the classic character actor Donald Meek), and uses that friendship to his own advantage. It's ironic that Brannon's nickname is "Honest Plush Brannon" - he's always up to no good, which is why he's getting kicked out of town. And when he ends up in Goldtown, he uses that friendship with Mr. Bellamy to start more shenanigans. Brannon gets another film flam going, and he gets in deep. Watch for Ray Collins and Chill Wills. Chill Wills is the town sheriff, and there's also a sub plot with Bellamy's son and Miss Portia. Pretty entertaining western. The LOCATION tab here says this was shot at the Lone Pine hills, and we DO get to see some of the beautiful scenery there. Directed by Roy DelRuth, who had started in the silents. He directed some biggies in the 1930s and 1940s. They are all worth checking out on Turner Classics.. Jingle Bill a literate bandit. Wallace Beery was once one of MGM's biggest box office draws, but by the mid Forties he was reduced to B pictures of which Barbary Coast Gent is an example.Barbary Coast Gent finds Beery a genial con man who has to flee San Francisco and his long time lady love Binnie Barnes and head for Nevada and the alleged precious metals that are to be found there. There's nothing alleged about the gold mine he accidentally finds. But what to do about it.He certainly needs money and for once he uses his persuasive conning powers to get investors in on a real deal. But he's a guy who usually takes the money and runs and the real problems of mining prove to be formidable. When former associate John Carradine blackmails him, Beery is forced to real outlaw ways robbing all kinds of places to make him the money that Carradine took. Rather stupidly he takes to using poetical verses left at every scene to identify him as a literate bandit known as Jingle Bill.It all works out for him though, somewhat in the end. Think of the John Ford Three Godfathers and you'll know what happens to Beery.MGM did provide Beery with some great players for a supporting cast with Henry O'Neill. Paul Hurst, Ray Collins and the best being Chill Wills as a laconic sheriff. Fans of Wallace Beery should enjoy this.. This B comedy Western features Wallace Beery in the title role. Roy Del Ruth directed this comedy Western (his first) that was written by William Lipman, Grant Garrett (aka Garett), and Harry Ruskin featuring Wallace Beery in the title role.Beery plays a stylish rogue with a checkered past named Honest Plush Brannon. Plush is loved and supported by Lil Damish (Binnie Barnes), a nightclub owner in San Francisco. As the picture begins, Plush is confronted by Duke Cleat (John Carradine), a man who just got out of jail for taking the rap when he and Plush got caught in a crooked deal. Lil had vouched for Plush, so he served no time, which naturally infuriated Duke. Even though Plush is able to shoot and wound Duke first, the local police suggest Plush should get out of town before they are forced to arrest him.With some money from Lil, Plush takes a train east intending to go to Denver, but instead stops in "Gold Town". Through a series of comic occurrences, Plush convinces the residents of "Gold Town" that he is a millionaire and is then asked to be their guest, even dedicating the cornerstone laid for their new jail. Plush quickly becomes a "respectable" member of the community. He runs into a former colleague with whom he used to rob trains in the old days, asking him not to tell anyone about their past. His colleague is happy to oblige given the fact that he is now employed to protect Wells Fargo stagecoaches from crime.Though Plush's initial intention is to scam the town by selling stock to a fake goldmine and departing in the dark of night, he actually discovers the real thing, making a claim which will allow him to go legitimate for the first time in his life. However, Duke shows up and robs him of the town's capital he needed to start the mine. So, he decides to rob the stagecoaches to get the needed funds, leaving notes of poetry in the Wells Fargo strong boxes once he's taken the loot.This, along with his friend's past, become issues to be resolved (somewhat non-predictably, I might add) in the end with help from Lil, a Wells Fargo detective, and Duke.