Jack London's The Sea Wolf does not stand the voyage to the American west all that well in Barricade. Raymond Massey is in the lead and is no longer a sea captain but a mine owner and one cruel and sadistic man in the tradition of Wolf Larsen. Out in the middle of the desert no one is any more in a position to leave than they would be if they were on a ship at sea.
The themes that London tells in his story are just so watered down in this version. The players do well, but the watered down themes also water down the performances. Raymond Massey would have made a great Wolf Larsen in a straight version of The Sea Wolf, too bad he's stuck here.
The biggest change is to the roles that John Garfield and Ida Lupino played in The Sea Wolf. The two runaways from the criminal justice system would not remotely contemplate what they say they will do in Barricade. Robert Douglas for once is a good guy in the part that Alexander Knox did in The Sea Wolf. But as a lawyer instead of an existential writer again the part loses something.
What Barricade is in the end is a great action western and those who like action westerns will like Barricade. But if you are expecting Jack London, Jack didn't make the trip west.