Seven Sinners

An American drama; A story about a saloon entertainer banished from various American protectorates in the Pacific, who uses her femme-fatale charms to achieve her aims including wooing a Navy officer in a South Seas gin joint. This is an enjoyably exotic adventure with raffish comedy, romance and glamour. The film's enduring strength is confined to how Marlene Dietrich thrives as the flamboyant torch singer and scarlet woman. Dietrich satirises the Shanghai Lil stereotype sirens of Far East showbusiness past with aplomb and humour. The young and handsome Naval Lieutenant playing amorous to her is John Wayne, who smooches up to create some nice chemistry. Broderick Crawford, Mischa Auer, Samuel S Hinds, Reginald Denny, and Oscar Homolka all give fine supporting performances. The production standards are good. The sets are reminiscent of film director Josef von Sternberg's films. The atmosphere of a cheap, evil island cafe is captured well. The bar-room finale is preposterous but the rumbustiousness and playful excess the audience experiences from the beginning was energy that had to go somewhere, so the film going out like a thermobaric implosion seemed like a fitting fortissimo coda.

Marlene Dietrich stars as Bijou, a nightclub singer whose mere presence causes men to riot. Her unholy aura causes her to be exiled from one South Pacific island as the film begins, so she heads out for another island with her lunkhead bodyguard Little Ned (Broderick Crawford) and two-bit magician Sasha (Mischa Auer) in tow. It doesn't take long for Bijou to land a new nightclub singer job, and even less time for her to set the menfolk aflame, including sleazeball Antro (Oskar Homolka) and US Navy Lt. Dan (John Wayne).

This meandering flick changes moods almost as often as Dietrich changes outfits, from silly farce to heartfelt romance to menacing drama. The supporting cast is excellent, although Dekker is wasted as a drunken ship's doctor, and Crawford's loud brute grows a bit tiresome. Dietrich, who was 38 at the time of filming, looks ten years older, thanks to too much weight loss, an unflattering hairstyle, and some regrettable outfits. She's beginning to resemble the slightly inhuman mannequin she would become in the last half of her life, too artificial and almost a parody of her 30's heyday. Even her throaty singing seems like a takeoff on her own inimitable style, like someone doing an exaggerated impersonation of Marlene Dietrich.

Wayne's admiration onscreen seems very genuine, and it's been stated by multiple sources that it continued offscreen, as well. The climactic barroom brawl loses some steam by using cartoonishly sped-up action and an obvious stunt double for Wayne, although it does provide the unexpected sight of seeing John Wayne in a fist fight with Oskar Homolka.

It's not wonderful but it is fairly good especially of course that Marlene Dietrich is more than okay with the wonderful costumes, even if she is best as a sailor, and the songs are fine. John Wayne had dozens of small parts through the 20s and many westerns during the 30s and in this one he is really good and is so fresh you might have thought he hadn't already made almost a hundred films before this. I really like Broderick Crawford and he is splendid in this funny and chasing around and brawling all the time with looking after Dietrich. There is enough going on without noticing that there isn't really any story.

"Seven Sinners" is a decent, light-hearted comic romp, first and foremost a vehicle for Marlene Dietrich, with John Wayne as a co-star. Dietrich plays "Bijou", an entertainer at the title island nightclub who is always being deported from various islands because trouble tends to always follow in her wake. (Such as the barroom brawl that plays out behind the opening credits.) Here, Bijou is wooed by an easygoing Navy captain named Dan Brent (The Duke), just one of the people who's fallen under her spell. The latest trouble arises in the form of a character named Antro (Oskar Homolka), a smooth yet menacing type.

The first-rate supporting cast also includes Albert Dekker as an initially gruff ships' doctor, Broderick Crawford as a well-intentioned lug, the luminous young Anna Lee as the governors' daughter, Mischa Auer as a magician who has a tendency to steal anything that isn't nailed down, Billy Gilbert as harried nightclub boss Tony, Samuel S. Hinds as the governor, and Vince Barnett as a bartender, et al. The Duke is quite engaging, and he and Dietrich do make a good pair. Basically, this very lively comedy does showcase the sexy Dietrich very well, giving her the opportunity to belt out a few numbers.

Overall, "Seven Sinners" offers nothing really substantial, but it IS entertaining to watch while it lasts; it's Homolka who injects tension with his mere presence. You just KNOW that this character is going to be a real problem. Crawford and especially Auer tend to steal the show whenever Dietrich is not around. This may not be the best team-up of Dietrich and The Duke, but it delivers undemanding fun for a little under an hour and a half.

Six out of 10.

This was a fair adventure story with some eccentric characters. For example:

Albert Dekker as "Dr. Martin, the musician; Broderick Crawford as "'Litle Ned' Finnegan," Marlene Dietrich's punch-happy protector, and Dietrich as 'Bijou Blanche," a cabaret singer bouncing from place to place.

Dietrich loved to play Cabaret singers and "Bijou Blanche" is a great name for her. She didn't look pretty in here, more grotesque with the super-thin eyebrows and tons of lipstick. She was definitely unappealing....and I like her, normally. Her "makeup" sins, if nothing else, made me dump this VHS.

Of note, John Wayne, Anna Lee, Mischa Auer, Billy Gilbert, Richard Carlson, Oscar Homolka, Reginald Denny and James Craig are all familiar names that add to the cast. Yet despite all the impressive names, I don't think it was that great. I wouldn't watch it again.