Watch Tycoon For Free

Just perfect...

From my favorite movies..

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

. . . if and who the title character of John Wayne's flick TYCOON could be. Perhaps a slick Hollywood producer bought the film rights to an obscure novel with a plagiarized copycat title in an effort to trick Americans into thinking that John Wayne was starring in an F. Scott Fitzgerald story. Wayne's "Johnny" character is such a bumbling loser here that NO ONE would mistake him for a TYCOON! Johnny's an engineer who designs tunnels which collapse and bridges that fall down the first time it rains. He tends to get lost in the woods, cuts corners on safety in his work place (maiming or killing most of his friends in a foreign country lacking Union Rules to protect working men), and sees all of his surviving employees quit when he turns into a mean drunk, causing his wife to flee in horror. Maybe Johnny's spouse IS the TYCOON, since she seems to wear the brains in the family (at least until this flick's implausible finale). Or maybe Johnny's father-in-law is the TYCOON, since this guy has the good sense to liquidate his foreign assets and move to Vermont. Without bonus points for ladies' lounge wear and llamas, TYCOON would get more of a piker's rating.

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?

Despite the fact that the technicolor location photography is great, John Wayne and Laraine Day have to deal with a script that is way too long (2 hrs. 8 min.) for the kind of romantic adventure seen here. One of the chief compensations for the overlong film, is seeing Laraine Day look lovelier than ever in technicolor. But other than that, the script is too long-winded and lacks enough action or drama to sustain itself over the long running time. Let me quote from my "LARAINE DAY: All-American Girl" article that appears in the Spring 2001 issue of FILMS OF THE GOLDEN AGE:"'Tycoon' is a spectacular action-romance co-starring her with John Wayne in which he carried most of the film. Once again, she was easy on the eyes in technicolor as a woman in love with a railroad constructor (Wayne) in conflict with his employer over construction of tracks through the Andes mountains. She handled the role capably enough but it was one that any young actress could have played and offered no new challenges."The nice supporting cast included Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Judith Anderson, James Gleason and Anthony Quinn. It passes the time, but don't expect anything much.

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.