Tycoon (1947)

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

What is there about John Wayne? To me, he remains a sort of an enigma. There are quite a few of his films I admire and enjoy a great deal. Yet, his acting is about as shallow as a river in Death Valley. And, his acting in this film is pretty shallow in the love scenes....and this is essentially a love story. But worse than his love scenes is the scene where he is talking in his sleep. Although, the film around John Wayne here has some depth to it.Better than Wayne here is one actress who often doesn't get a lot of credit -- Laraine Day. This is one of her better roles, although for a B actress I was always just a bit partial to her.Sir Cedric Hardwicke is also excellent here, if unlikable. It's actually a role that fit him well. Equally good is Judith Anderson, not quite as austere here as she could be on screen.There are also a few fine character actors here: James Gleason and Paul Fix, for example. A very handsome Anthony Quinn is here, not yet having attained stardom. And, Quinn is very good here.Although it's only the sub plot, the building of a railroad tunnel here is quite interesting, and done quite well.The real plot here, however, is a controlling father, a woman who is interested in a man, and a man who is interested in that woman. Except for Wayne's shallow acting in the love scenes, this part of the story is well done, as well.If there's one thing to complain about -- aside from Wayne's awkwardness in love scenes -- it's the very fake exterior scenes that are matte paintings. The color is so fake.Personally, aside from a few films like "Rio Bravo" and "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence", I think this is better than many of John Wayne's films, but it is seriously underrated. I give it a strong 7 for the story line.

One has to be careful not to judge a 1940s film by 21st century standards of faithfulness to social realities whether involving industrial (read uncaring capitalistic) disregard for safety - even moral - issues, but that doesn't mean that there weren't standards, and somehow the film ran roughshod over them.John Wayne strolled about rather like the (1947 real world only 2 years earlier at the end of WWII) GI's in Europe captivating the local girls and repatriating them 'back home' to enjoy the unheard of luxuries of being American. But hang on, if Cedric Hardwicke and his daughter are high born Hispanic respecters of honour, tradition etc. (the 'shotgun wedding' is proof?) what's she doing ignoring generations of decorum/upbringing and wandering off with this dusty, hired worker - he's 'engineer' but that does not confer as much status on Wayne as he does himself, albeit an American in S. America (at one point he corrects a questioner about his height "..you're 6ft 3" I believe".. "...No, 6ft 4ins!" (Who put that in the script? A self-important Wayne?)Other items in the film stretch our patience in terms of authenticity, but, on the above, I rest my case, M'lud!

This is a perfect example of the kind of film Howard Hughes allowed to be made while destroying RKO Studios. Every studio made pictures sort of like this one (two guys fight over a girl while trying to do a dangerous job)but they didn't overspend like it was Gone With the Wind. This movie lost a million dollars (a lot in 1947). Hughes OK'd many mediocrities like this one, (See Son of Sindbad or the Conqueror) and had no concept of how to handle a studio budget. When he did hire good people (Sturges, Von Sternberg) he interfered, fired them and scuttled the projects, always losing money. We should stop praising or emulating boors like this (Donald Trump) before its too late. Why doesn't anyone emulate the Walter Wangers or Harry Joe Browns of this world instead of idiots with too much money?

John plays an engineer helping to build a bridge over a dangerous South American gorge, and Laraine Day plays the daughter of the wealthy man trying to get the bridge built. This is a tough film to wade your way through; it's over 2 hours long, and not especially exciting. Cedric Hardwicke and Judith Anderson are good, but they can't help this piece much.