Miriam Hopkins
She overacts shamelessly in this film. I've been a fan of Miriam since I saw Design for Living and Becky Sharp but she's so maudlin in this film that whenever she was on screen I had to lower the volume.
shareI've also always enjoyed Miriam's performances. Some critics say that Barbary Coast is her greatest film. I'm not sure what they say her greatest performance is, however.
I think that because she entered film acting at the end of the Silent Era, Miriam must have trained for the exaggerated gestures and emotions, to communicate to her audience through physical measures. And for the talkies, they do require a certain amount of oratory projection and emoting.
So Miriam fits nicely into this period of the great and classic 1930's and does well with Wyler and McCrea and Robinson here.