GamerTab
That was an excellent one.
Tayloriona
Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
Janae Milner
Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.
weezeralfalfa
The opening scene has a bunch of guys in a South Seas cabaret go berserk, hitting each other and tearing up the furnishings. We don't see nor hear Marlene, but it's clear she just finished singing. Unfortunately, this is a standard response of men to Marlene(as Bijou). So why she has been banned from city after city in Indonesia and the South Seas. She brings in business to cabarets, but not enough to replace the destroyed furnishings or reputation of the establishment. Move over Sinatra. Even his bobby soxers weren't this ecstatic. At nearly 40y.o., Marlene looks and acts amazing. And those big soulful eyes. If you are typically bewitched by Marlene's typical screen persona, you should not be disappointed by her performance here.Marlene has tall, broad-shouldered, handsome, John Wayne to romance her on occasion, but it's decided that marriage to her would probably destroy his naval career. Thus, in the finale, they are shown going their separate ways: a bittersweet conclusion to a love affair. Wayne is a lieutenant in the US navy. Just what a US naval vessel is doing exploring Indonesia's many islands isn't pursued. In any case, in Wayne's first encounter with Marlene, he hugs her as he lifts her from the ship to the wharf. By the look on her face, she's quite agreeable to this treatment. This sets the stage for more romantic encounters between the two. Later, Wayne initiates a mega-barroom brawl between two groups, in which the room is totally destroyed, with men leaping around the room. It's mean to be largely a comical performance. This is the action climax of the film.If you like Billy Gilbert's extreme brand of wild befuddled humor, you will find plenty of it here, especially in the first half. He plays the proprietor of the 7 sinners cabaret, which was torn up the last time Marlene performed there. Hence, he's not anxious for a repeat performance. Nonetheless, he is bullied into allowing her to perform there. She sings several songs penned by the combination of Friedrich Hollaender and frank Loesser: "I've Been in Love Before", and "The Man's in the Navy". But, her most memorable performance is the classic from the '20s: "I Can't Give You Anything but Love", composed by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields. Besides Billy Gilbert, and the climactic brawl, humor is sprinkled here and there. For example, a man grabs Marlene's arm roughly. She presses her lite cigarette into his hand, and he immediately releases her. A young Broderick Crawford, as Finnegan, serves as Marlene's voluntary protector, providing a bit of comedy here and there, as does Mischa Auer, as his companion magician and kleptomaniac. In a comical scene, Marlene holds up various items stolen by Auer, one by one, to a group of men, asking who they belong to. The men are embarrassed that these were stolen without their knowledge.This film is presently available at YouTube.
Edgar Allan Pooh
. . . Marlene Dietrich frequently wormed her way onto the Hollywood Big Screen, cavorting blatantly in the forefront of Hitler's Fifth Columnist Gang out to undermine American Values and corrupt Yankee heroes such as rising USAF Gen. James Stewart (in DESTRY RIDES AGAIN) and future USMC water-boy John Wayne, here in SEVEN SINNERS. In this latter flick, Dietrich island-hops--foreshadowing German ally Japan's Real Life Campaign of Terror the following year--bringing loose morals, violence, and destruction to each community in which she sets foot and wiggles her can. Aided by an American Rich People's Party riddled with Nazi Sympathizers (politely referred to in the day as "Isolationists" or "Appeasers") allowing U.S. film censors to turn a blind eye upon her wily shenanigans, Dietrich batted about .500 in persuading able-bodied "Role Models" to plead "4F" (such as Wayne--and remember, VD was NOT accepted as a legitimate grounds for military deferment at this time), while failing to dissuade others--even card-carrying ARPP members such as Stewart--from eventually dropping bombs on Berlin. Even today, when you watch DESTRY, you can see Stewart holding his own against Dietrich's wiles on behalf of her Fuhrer. On the other hand, Wayne is a tongue-tied puppy around Mistress Marlene throughout SINNERS. This is no surprise, as in the movie his role calls for him to ALMOST give up serving in the U.S. Navy, as he ALMOST gets it on with Dietrich. In Real Life, of course, John DID do the deed with this notorious Femme Fatale, and subsequently ducked out of WWII.
MARIO GAUCI
Fond memories I had of watching this movie on Italian TV as a kid made me spring for the rather lackluster "John Wayne: An American Icon" 2-disc collection from Universal; the film itself reunites four actors (Marlene Dietrich, Mischa Auer, Billy Gilbert and Samuel S. Hinds) from Universal's successful Western comedy of the previous year – DESTRY RIDES AGAIN (1939).Co-star John Wayne had just re-achieved stardom with John Ford's seminal STAGECOACH (1939) – the nine years following his impressive turn in Raoul Walsh's THE BIG TRAIL (1930) had mostly been spent in Grade Z Westerns; while he would eventually make this boisterous type of entertainment his own, he's likable enough but still somewhat stiff here. Dietrich, on the other hand, has a ball with her role of an exotic cabaret singer (she even does a number in full naval uniform, recalling her famous top hat 'n' tails routine ending in a lesbian clinch in Josef von Sternberg's MOROCCO [1930]) – who effortlessly turns the head of every man that crosses her path and, consequently, is the cause – or, should I say, prize? – of many a row (but which leads to her deportation from one Pacific island to the other).Again, the supporting cast is marvelous – not just the three character actors I mentioned earlier (Auer is a pickpocket-cum-magician who tags along with Dietrich's Bijou, Hinds the stern Governor of the island, and Gilbert actually steals the show with his typically amiable flustered shtick as the boss of the titular café), but also Albert Dekker (a brief but very interesting role as a ship's doctor with whom Dietrich ends up – I dare say that the subtle relationship between them is more believable than the central one between her and Wayne!), Oscar Homolka (a mobster with pretenses to Dietrich's favors, he makes for a particularly strong villain), Broderick Crawford (who is terrific as a rough ex-sailor who purports to be Dietrich's bodyguard – however, his loyalty to the navy is even greater, and this brings about an unexpected dramatic scene towards the end where he nearly beats up Dietrich because she's disrupting naval officer Wayne's career chances!), Vince Barnett (amusing as the taciturn but resourceful bartender of the "Seven Sinners" whose recurring loud jeering at Homolka's expense could prove fatal at any moment), Reginald Denny (appearing all too briefly as Wayne's understanding superior officer) and Richard Carle (as the judge appointed to run Dietrich, Auer and Crawford out of town at the start of the picture – despite his owlish demeanor, he doesn't flinch from carrying out his duty when confronted with the wiles of the legendary femme fatale, the sleight-of-hand of the Russian émigré, or the uncouth manners of the seaman). As would also prove to be the case in their subsequent teamings – THE SPOILERS (1942) and PITTSBURGH (1942) – Wayne and Dietrich's romance is interrupted by his involvement with another woman of higher standing; here, it's Anna Lee in her American debut – and, even if the role doesn't amount to very much, the actress invests it with a quiet gracefulness that is typically British.The film (which was remade in 1950 as SOUTH SEA SINNER) runs a bit thin on plot, but is kept on track most of the time by director Garnett – who made other ensemble pieces in exotic settings, namely CHINA SEAS (1935) and BATAAN (1943). It also benefits from expert shadowy lighting courtesy of the great Rudolph Mate', but the undeniable highlight of SEVEN SINNERS is the climactic bar-room brawl – which is really no less elaborate (or uproarious) than the one featured in DODGE CITY (1939), which is often singled out as the quintessence of this type of sequence.
Neil Doyle
Both Marlene Dietrich and John Wayne are at their physical peak in 'Seven Sinners', a South Seas island romp that concludes with one of the most colorful barroom brawls in movie history. Dietrich is a Sadie Thompson kind of character, island hopping as she is deported from one tropical island to another--always attracting a bunch of attentive admirers with a knack for inciting riots. It's a film that's briskly entertaining from start to finish.Dietrich has never been more appealing, gorgeously gowned and photographed to advantage whether appearing in skin-tight glittering gowns or sporting lacey parasols or wearing a sailor's uniform. She projects the same sort of character she played in 'Destry Rides Again'. John Wayne is young, handsome and earnest in one of his earlier roles. James Craig can be spotted briefly as an admiring ensign. Mischa Auer and Oscar Homolka have some colorful supporting roles, but the most enjoyable member of the cast is Billy Gilbert as the night club owner who sees trouble brewing the minute Dietrich shows up at his tavern.Breezy entertainment with a couple of good songs done in the stylish Dietrich manner.
