Howard Hawks wasn’t the only director who went in for homoerotic bromance – here we have best friends George Raft and Henry Fonda making eyes at one another in Alaska for Henry Hathaway. They are fisherman, with Raft tempted to dodgy pirating tactics, bringing him into conflict with straight arrow Fonda. This causes much anguish on both their parts, particularly Fonda. The look on Fonda's face after he shoots Raft - dude, the guy deserved it. He becomes less interested in Louise Platt as it goes on. Platt never struck me as someone who had the glamour to be a female lead - she's easily outshone by Dorothy Lamour, who is lovely and touching as the girl with a yen for Raft.
This has a great setting – seaside fishing town, piers and bars, Indians doing soft, chants – augmented by good location footage. Fonda and Raft give good performances (well, Raft is good by Raft standards which aren't as high as Fonda's), but they don't have great chemistry as friends - you just don't believe they'd be mates in the way you would say Fonda and James Stewart, or Raft and Humphrey Bogart.
There is some bright dialogue, too much comic business involving a seal and the story gets sillier as it goes on (the goodies are pretty full on vigilantes). It's reminiscent in a way of Reap the Wild Wind -a good fisherman and a bad one. That had the two guys clashing over the same girl - they should have done that here, and for a time it seems they're going to, but they pull back, and I think it hurt the movie.
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