In Belle of the Yukon, Randolph Scott stars as Honest John Calhoun, proprietor of a saloon and dance hall in Malamute, Alaska, during the gold rush days. With a name like Honest John, of course the man is not on the up and up. The daughter of his manager, named Lettie, is played by Dinah Shore; she is in love with the piano player who has a seemingly shady past. Gypsy Rose Lee plays Belle, who was John’s love interest in Seattle; she and her troupe of dancers have just arrived to work at the Emporium, as Honest John's place of entertainment is called. The main plot points revolve around these four characters but there are several secondary plots as well.
The name Honest John reminds me of the name of the character Pete Duel played in The Young Country, Honest John Smith. The con games played by John Calhoun in this film remind me of those pulled by Oscar Harlingen (played by Severn Darden) in Never Trust an Honest Man and by Heyes himself in Don’t Get Mad, Get Even.
Like those ASJ episodes, there are double crosses in this movie as well and the only reason I watched Belle of the Yukon to the end was to see how they were resolved. At one point, John Calhoun remarked, “You can carry this honesty thing too far”, and I can definitely envision Heyes saying something like that!
What I enjoyed most about Belle of the Yukon were the outrageous hats worn by Belle and her dancers.
Website about Robert Service:
http://www.robertwservice.com/
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