I’ll be the first to admit that I’m never one to jump at the chance to watch an old movie. With the exception of Hitchcock classics, and black & white Universal monster movies, nothing much pre-1970’s can keep my interest. Imagine my surprise when I watched Barbary Coast, and found it to be pleasantly satisfying.

Set against the 1849 Gold Rush, the film stars Miriam Hopkins as a shrewd gold digger named Mary, who lands in San Francisco to discover her fiancé has been murdered, and then partners with the richest crook in town (played by Oscar winner Edward G. Robinson). When shady things begin happening around the city, and the gambling establishment she works in, Mary looks for an escape with an idealistic miner she has fallen in love with.

Even though the movie has very little to do with the actual title (not once is the establishment ever referred to as "Barbary Coast", like the spot in Las Vegas), it’s one of the better classic films I have seen. The performances are quite good (especially Robinson, who commands the screen each second he’s on it), its an interesting love story, and the ending is surprising based on everything you think you know about the characters involved.

Barbary Coast is directed by Howard Hawks. This is the man responsible for the original 1932 film version of Scarface, and Quentin Taratino’s favorite film of all time, Rio Bravo. It’s almost no surprise that Barbary Coast plays out so well because of the strong directorial effort behind it.

On DVD, the film’s picture image is excellent for a black & white transfer. But the Mono sound mode causes problems. On many occasions the musical score seriously drowns out some of the vocal dialogue and overpowers a scene. It’s hard to complain about it though, considering the film was made all the way back in 1935. There are also moments where the acting is over-dramatic, and the dialogue is so rapid-fire you have to rewind to catch information.