MoPoshy Absolutely brilliant

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Jakoba True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

armandcbris I've seen this film a number of times on late-night TV, and quite enjoyed it, especially Marlene Dietrich. Go figure.The story is all fun...kind of a South Seas version of "Destry Rides Again"....mixed moments of comedy and drama.But the scene that gets me, and literally makes me always want to watch this film over and over again, is the one scene where Dietrich and Wayne are flirting with one another somewhere outside her home, and Dietrich is just looking at Wayne with a "oh yeah, we're gonna hook up tonight" look (for want of a better term) that would make any sane man melt. She's also so beautifully lit up and photographed, and the light in her eyes glowing with desire....sigh. It comes across as such a genuinely captured moment of desire on film, that it makes you wish you were in the Duke's shoes at that moment (he does indeed look happy to be there himself). Considering there are reports they in fact had an affair and spent time together around and after the making of this film, you can easily imagine and believe that it is indeed just that.

theowinthrop Declared "box office poison" in the middle 1930s with such inept film figures as Katherine Hepburn and Fred Astaire (one would like to know what happened to the idiot that wrote the advertisement about "box office poison" in later years - did he find nobody listened to his opinions anymore?), Marlene Dietrich made a comeback in the late 1930s with DESTRY RIDES AGAIN, cementing it with SEVEN SINNERS and FLAME OF NEW ORLEANS. She proved quite adept at performing without her old "Svengali" director Joe Von Sternberg pulling the strings. Her stardom would survive intact until her retirement in the 1960s. Box office poison indeed!Had Von Sternberg directed instead of Tay Garnett SEVEN SINNERS would have been somewhat like THE DEVIL IS A WOMAN. Concha, the heroine in THE DEVIL IS A WOMAN goes from man to man for her own benefit, not caring for any evil results that befall these men (in fact, she only seems to change at the end when she senses that she has lost Lionel Atwill's affections for good - it is a new experience and she is not crazy about it). Bijou is willing to use her sexual allure too, but unlike Concha she is not in control of the situation constantly. Concha rules the roost of the provincial town society she resides in (witness how she basically controls the Mayor of the town (Edward Everett Horton) about the matter of the duel between Atwill and Cesar Romero). Bijou finds she is not in control of the officials of the south sea islands she is living in. She is a notorious character, and can be thrown off islands at will.Yet she does fascinate or control a good number of men - most notably John Wayne, a U.S. Navy officer who risks his career and future social marriage to Ann Lee for her. There are also Broderick Crawford and Mischa Auer, her two raffish protectors (Crawford a naval deserter and Auer a swindler and magician). There is her former employer Billy Gilbert, who rehires her despite misgivings (more about that later), and - most sinisterly, Oscar Homolka - a knife wielding criminal mob boss. Homolka is ultimately quite a dangerous and bad guy, but he does have one running joke with Vince Barnett, the bartender at Gilbert's cafe. Barnett is a quiet, timid character of few words, but he does appreciate a joke. Every now and then Homolka makes some really nasty joke about what he'd do to Wayne or anyone else standing between him and Dietrich. Barnett starts laughing along with Homolka at the jokes, and at first Homolka is appreciating his own sense of humor to notice - then he does notice, and it makes him less happy. He's not there to entertain this idiot bartender. So each time he ends Barnett's laughing by throwing a stiletto next to his head. And Barnett does shut up...until the next time.There is also one other - an exception to the rule of the manipulatable men in her life: Albert Dekker. Dekker was starting his interesting film career at this time. He had first gained notoriety playing Baron Geiger in the original stage version of Vicki Baum's GRAND HOTEL. Dekker was "Albert Van Dekker" when he essayed the role (opposite Sig Ruman as Preysling). Both were noted as first rate performers in the drama, but neither was brought to Hollywood for the film (John Barrymore and Wallace Beery playing the two roles in the movie). Ruman got the Hollywood nod first, but by 1939 Dekker was in Hollywood too. He soon was given some interesting parts - the twin brothers in AMONG THE LIVING and the evil scientist in DR. CYCLOPS being the best known. His performance as the ship doctor in SEVEN SINNERS is interesting. He and Bijou hit it off, but he is not ready for commitment when the ship docks, but they part amicably. As a result, when the film ends and Bijou again is on board the ship, Dekker is available to replace Wayne as her permanent lover. It's a situation (by the way) that never reappears in any other Dietrich film: she usually ends with the hero, or ends alone.The other men are besotted regarding Bijou, and it eventually leads to the final battle (nearly to the death) between Wayne and Homolka. But the most interesting (to me) is Gilbert. A hard working, and flustered, businessman - his role seems typical for Gilbert. He is forced to do things he knows are illegal or dangerous for Bijou because he does like her. But in the end, surprisingly, she shows she really cares for him too. Gilbert rarely had a dramatic moment in his films (he was such a good comic actor, nobody thought of him in dramatic parts). Here he is accidentally stabbed when the homicidal Homolka was aiming at Wayne in the final fight. Critically stabbed in his back, Gilbert is under a table when Dietrich comes over to him, and starts taking care of him and comforting him until the doctors can come. It too is a rather unusual moment for Dietrich, and one is glad that it was brought out in this fine movie.

notmicro Its fun and spunky enough, but it has the schizophrenic feel of a "B" film with "A-list" actors. It was made by Universal, which had taken a chance the year before, and cast Dietrich in "Destry Rides Again" following her inclusion in the famous "box-office poison" list. Wayne was just transitioning from shoestring Republic Pictures; he had made zillions of minor films, and his career was just starting to take off. Dietrich often seems to be in a different film altogether; the way she looks and acts goes way above what the material calls for - she was always extremely conscious of her "look" and image. Her musical numbers are fun, especially the awesome nightclub number in Navy uniform drag - who else could pull THAT one off so successfully!

rfkeser This rowdy South Seas romp is the high point of Marlene Dietrich's more user-friendly populist period: she plays "Bijou", a "singer" who gets deported from island after island because she innocently enflames both locals and sailors into brawling and destroying the nightclubs. Bijou values handsome guys, diamonds, and good friends, not to mention her wardrobe of feathers, flounces, silks, lace parasols, and even a sailor's uniform. As the object of Bijou's attention, John Wayne is at his freshest and most appealing, sheepishly bringing her armloads of orchids. The supporting cast is unusually deep: dense but loyal Broderick Crawford, sneaky Mischa Auer, menacing Oscar Homolka, perpetually befuddled Billy Gilbert, world-weary Albert Dekker, pretty Anna Lee. The lavish production includes sunny lighting and dynamic camera moves from Rudolph Mate. For once, director Tay Garnett gets it all right: the tropical atmosphere, the teasing romance, the broad comedy, the bittersweet edge [see Bijou's exchanges with the ship's doctor], plus four good musical numbers.