Diagonaldi Very well executed

Actuakers One of my all time favorites.

ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Harriet Deltubbo Set in the days of the great Canadian Gold Rush, this rousing musical stars Randolph Scott as a "reformed" con artist-turned-dance hall owner whose girlfriend, singer Gypsy Rose Lee, tries to keep him on the straight and narrow. I really like this type of film, as it reminds me of French movies where it's more about the characters and their environment. It also reminds me of some of those sombre Chinese films that were popular back in the 1990. From an artistic standpoint, it holds its own. From an artistic standpoint, there were some plot elements and character developments I didn't think were totally needed. They do however drive the story, which seemed to be their purpose. 7 outta 10.

Terrell-4 Belle of the Yukon is the kind of mid-Forties Hollywood misfire that can lead earnest cinephiles to make clever wisecracks. My advice...put the rented DVD in the player, start folding the laundry on the coffee table and enjoy yourself. The movie is something of an uncertain romantic comedy-musical-western with a clever con. Randolph Scott is Honest John Calhoun, charming and untrustworthy. Gypsy Rose Lee is Belle De Valle, a high class music hall entertainer. The river town of Malamute plays the Yukon during the gold rush days. Honest John and Belle have a history that goes back to Seattle, where Honest John, then Gentleman Jack, had to skedaddle just ahead of the law, leaving Belle in the lurch. When Belle shows up with her troupe of dancers to play the music hall in Malamute, she finds the owner is Jack, now Honest John. He swears he's reformed. She's not so sure...there's a lot of gold dust in the town. When Honest John, who doesn't gamble, suggests the town pick an upright, non-gambling man to start a bank, guess who gets picked. We know the con is on, but we're not sure what the con is. Not to be too critical, but the director, William Seiter, gives us plodding direction even as the Technicolor photography looks like a million dollars. The dance hall costumes and Belle's dresses are so garish even Vincente Minnelli would have gawked. With one exception, the songs are no more than Hollywood professional. The acting varies from satisfying (Scott) to interesting in a kind of unformed way (Lee) to standard cliché (Charles Winninger and Guinn Williams) to pre-nostalgia (Bob Burns sounding like what Andy Griffith will) to really awful (Dinah Shore and William Marshall). The important thing to remember, while reining in the temptation for MST3K commentary, is that this is all done with good humor and good intentions. There are happy endings all over Malamute. Belle of the Yukon does no harm. Gypsy Rose Lee with her 37-23-36 figure, her great voice and her ability to make dialogue sound like one-liners can be forgiven for being no actress. I doubt if she ever thought of herself as one except when she was stripping. She seems to be enjoying herself. She was an intelligent, honest woman with a fine, skeptical sense of humor. She even wrote a best- selling mystery, The G-string Murders. Even though she probably received some help from Craig Rice, a good friend, she did most of the heavy writing herself. Barbara Stanwyck played a bumping, grinding Gypsy Rose Lee, now named Dixie Daisy, in Lady of Burlesque: The G- String Murders, the movie made from the book. William Wellman directed. It's a movie worth seeing. I'd skip the lumbering movie made from the Broadway hit Gypsy, based on her autobiography. The television special of Gypsy starring Bette Midler isn't bad. Gypsy Rose Lee had to grow up fast. Dinah Shore and William Marshall play the young lovers. Shore is Lettie Candless, daughter of Honest John's saloon manager. Lettie is an innocent young woman who sings at the music hall. Shore has two major romantic songs that stop the movie dead in its tracks. "Like Someone in Love" is pleasant enough, but the numbers were used only to showcase Dinah Shore. They are as out of place as...well, as romantic ballads in a Yukon music hall. The makeup department did Shore no favors. Her bright red Technicolor lipstick emphasizes how much teeth she has, Reassuringly, the older Shore got the more interesting she became. Maturity suited her. William Marshall plays Steve Atterbury, the music hall's piano player. Marshall was a big, passive guy without, as far as I can tell, any acting talent. He got by on impressively blond good looks. Close your eyes and you'd think you were listening to the high school lead in Brigadoon. Randolph Scott is just fine as a friendly, well-dressed saloon owner you'd be wise not to trust. He's often been the best thing in the movies he's starred in. I enjoy watching his old- fashioned (by current tastes) approach to good guy Hollywood leading men.

dougandwin If you combine the worst acting , the worst songs, the worst script and the worst direction you will describe "Belle of the Yukon" - one wonders how Randolph Scott ever got convinced that he should be in this travesty of , I guess, a Western, but he was able to go through the movie with one expression only. As for Gypsy Rose Lee the less said the better, as her acting attempts were pathetic, and the odd one-liners she had to deliver fell flat in the worst way, and when she tried to look seductive, I was amazed Scott could keep a straight face. Dinah Shore was terribly miscast and looked past it, while two old stagers in Charles Winninger and Florence Bates must have dreamed of their good old days when they had been in good films rather than one of the great disasters of the era! The only redeeming feature was the color photography. Do not waste your time.

bkoganbing Randolph Scott tones it down a might, but he continues in the role he had in The Spoilers as a con man in Alaska. He's running a gambling establishment in Malamute and has taken great pains to establish his identity as HONEST John Calhoun. Up pops Gypsy Rose Lee an old girl friend who heads a group of chorus girls who support her act. She's rightly suspicious and Randy has a con working with the help of Bob Burns, Charles Winninger and especially Victor Killian. I'm not going to say more, except it's a beaut.The main problem with the film is Gypsy Rose Lee can't act. But with those two prominent weapons of mass destruction she's sporting, who cares. William Marshall who's the second lead also can't act worth anything and he doesn't have what Gypsy has for a distraction.Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke wrote two of their biggest songs from the 40s for this film and interestingly enough NOT introduced by Bing Crosby although he did record them. The introducer is Dinah Shore who plays Winninger's daughter in the film and she sings Sleigh Ride In July and Like Someone In Love and does them well. What she saw in William Marshall I can't figure out.If you like Randolph Scott and Gypsy Rose Lee's assets that's a good enough reason to watch this.