"Seven Sinners" was the first of three films starring Marlene Dietrich and John Wayne. This one is all Dietrich and a must for all of her fans.
Dietrich plays Bijou Blanche a "saloon singer" who has been deported from several Indonesian Islands as an undesirable. She is followed around by her "friends", the buffoonish Little Ned Finnigan (Broderick Crawford) and pick pocket Sasha (Mischa Auer). Bijou learns that a new Governor has been installed on the island of Sumatra (I think) and sets sail for there. On board the ship she is befriended by a down and out doctor named Dr. Martin (Albert Dekker).
Anyway, Bijou and friends land and head for the Seven Sinners cafe run by Tony (Billy Gilbert) to seek work. The Seven Sinners is frequented by several US naval officers, one of whom is the dashing Lt; Dan Brent (Wayne). However, Dorothy Henderson (Anna Lee), the daughter of the governor (Samuel S. Hinds) also has designs on him.
An apparent Nazi spy, Antro (Oskar Homolka) has had a past with Bijou. She falls for Brent and hears from his men that he will ask her to marry him. The Governor steps in and asks Brent's ship's Captain Church (Reginald Denny) to appeal to his sense of duty. We all know that the saloon girl with the heart of gold has little chance of landing the clean cut hero but................................
The legendary Dietrich sings several forgettable songs in her inimitable style, which for many is the highlight of the film. For me it was the knock down drag out saloon brawl which was excellently staged.
As I have said before, this film is all Dietrich. Once again playing the femme fatale she is as glamorous as ever. Wayne, just emerging as a major star plays second fiddle to La Dietrich in this one. Broderick Crawford spends most of the picture running around yelling "gangway, gangway". There is far too much comic relief as well. We have Crawford, Auer, Gilbert and Vince Barnett as the bartender. Its also hard to take seriously the "all in white" bad guys led by Homolka, who participate in the the aforementioned brawl.
"B" picture plot and characters with an "A" list (for the most part) cast. "The Spoilers" and "Pittsburgh" were much better Dietrich/Wayne vehicles.
Dietrich plays Bijou Blanche a "saloon singer" who has been deported from several Indonesian Islands as an undesirable. She is followed around by her "friends", the buffoonish Little Ned Finnigan (Broderick Crawford) and pick pocket Sasha (Mischa Auer). Bijou learns that a new Governor has been installed on the island of Sumatra (I think) and sets sail for there. On board the ship she is befriended by a down and out doctor named Dr. Martin (Albert Dekker).
Anyway, Bijou and friends land and head for the Seven Sinners cafe run by Tony (Billy Gilbert) to seek work. The Seven Sinners is frequented by several US naval officers, one of whom is the dashing Lt; Dan Brent (Wayne). However, Dorothy Henderson (Anna Lee), the daughter of the governor (Samuel S. Hinds) also has designs on him.
An apparent Nazi spy, Antro (Oskar Homolka) has had a past with Bijou. She falls for Brent and hears from his men that he will ask her to marry him. The Governor steps in and asks Brent's ship's Captain Church (Reginald Denny) to appeal to his sense of duty. We all know that the saloon girl with the heart of gold has little chance of landing the clean cut hero but................................
The legendary Dietrich sings several forgettable songs in her inimitable style, which for many is the highlight of the film. For me it was the knock down drag out saloon brawl which was excellently staged.
As I have said before, this film is all Dietrich. Once again playing the femme fatale she is as glamorous as ever. Wayne, just emerging as a major star plays second fiddle to La Dietrich in this one. Broderick Crawford spends most of the picture running around yelling "gangway, gangway". There is far too much comic relief as well. We have Crawford, Auer, Gilbert and Vince Barnett as the bartender. Its also hard to take seriously the "all in white" bad guys led by Homolka, who participate in the the aforementioned brawl.
"B" picture plot and characters with an "A" list (for the most part) cast. "The Spoilers" and "Pittsburgh" were much better Dietrich/Wayne vehicles.