Surprisingly incoherent and boring

hyped garbage

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

As Good As It Gets

Copyright 13 December 1947 by RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. New York opening at the Palace: 25 December 1947. U.S. release: 27 December 1947. U.K. release: 25 April 1949. Australian release: 22 July 1948. 11,844 feet. 131½ minutes.SYNOPSIS: American engineer in the Andes falls for the boss' daughter.NOTES: Shooting from early February to early May 1947. Negative cost: $3,209,000. Net loss after worldwide distribution: $1,035,000.COMMENT: Hard to believe in that budget - the largest ever expended by RKO to that time! There's precious little to show for it up there on the screen. The only worthwhile bit of action occurs right at the climax - and that is obviously contrived with miniatures! A couple of earlier explosions were cheated the same way. Location expenses were not heavy, as most of the picture was very obviously lensed in the studio. We can only surmise that the actors, the writers and the director were grossly overpaid.Wayne has the sort of tough, superficial, turnabout role he usually plays with a breezily unassuming credibility. Here his performance is so strained, so artificial his characterization is simply unbelievable. However, Duke is not alone - the same goes for the rest of the cast. Hardwicke can do nothing with the empty posturings the script hands him. Though it's always a pleasure to listen to his sonorous voice and it's a joy to find him in so large a role, what a pity the writers couldn't find him anything exciting to say or dramatic to do. All they have done is to obscure and haze his motivations so that his actions seem utterly incredible. If her part were larger, Judith Anderson would be in the same fix. Laraine Day comes out of the film best. She is certainly the player the photographers have lavished all their attentions upon. Radiantly lit, exquisitely gowned and made up, she projects an alluring luminosity that stays in the mind's eye long after the rest of this silly film is forgotten.It says much for the quality of the support cast to mention that Paul Fix and Harry Woods stand favorably in the forefront. Gleason is bombastically irritating (fortunately he is removed to hospital for a large part of his innings) and Quinn's role is so piffling as to seem almost non-existent.Of course - aside from the writers - the man to blame for the whole debacle is Richard Wallace. Never has direction been so painstakingly dull, so studiously lethargic, so blatantly disinterested.Tycoon provides a lavish feast of colorful hues for the eyes, nothing for the brain, and tintinnabulation for the ears!OTHER VIEWS: Aside from its lustrous Technicolor photography - Laraine Day never looked lovelier - Tycoon is an astonishingly dull, undistinguished effort which wastes a large amount of talent and money on the part of all concerned in its making. As for the time and patience of those forced to view this pleasantly picturesque but ploddingly banal photoplay . . .

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?

A few negative comments here must be countered. This film is a little more drama than action, but it strikes a good balance between the two, pleasing surely both wives and their blue collar husbands who saw it back in 1947. Far from terrible, this story offers up some decent conflict, a couple funny moments (get outta the way, pigeons!), romance, suspense, two fisted action, explosions, and the exotic setting of the Peruvian Andes. Not one of John Wayne's very best films, but solid and entertaining fare, a cut above many of his more regarded 40's outings such as The Spoilers and Angel and the Badman. Good performances and a bit of everything for everybody. Duke doesn't disappoint here. Deserves a higher rating.

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.