This was the first film I saw that paired Clark Gable and Jean Harlow. I expected a lot from it and I was not disappointed. They were one of the finest screen teams of the 30s.
In a way, the plot is like RED DUST on the high seas. Gable is again in charge of a location and the leader of men, including a crew of Asians. Harlow is again the woman of easy virtue with a heart of gold. Rosalind Russell, in an entertaining turn as Sybil, Gable's long ago love, is a comedic and decidedly more classy dame who captures Captain Gaskill's attention, and who incites China Doll's jealousy. Wallace Beery, who worked with both Harlow and Gable in "THE SECRET SIX" and with Harlow in the 1933 classic "DINNER AT EIGHT" is enjoyably slick and subtly shady as Jamesy. But it is the chemistry between Harlow and Gable that really holds this movie together. They obviously had great respect and liking for one another, and this only cemented their working relationship on-screen. My favorite lines, one spoken by China Doll: "When I want you to sound off, Golden Bells, I'll pull your rope!" The other by Gaskill, with that unmistakable Gable grin: "And as a man said when they were about to hang him, 'This will be a lesson to me.' " It's a gem, and don't pass it up.
In a way, the plot is like RED DUST on the high seas. Gable is again in charge of a location and the leader of men, including a crew of Asians. Harlow is again the woman of easy virtue with a heart of gold. Rosalind Russell, in an entertaining turn as Sybil, Gable's long ago love, is a comedic and decidedly more classy dame who captures Captain Gaskill's attention, and who incites China Doll's jealousy. Wallace Beery, who worked with both Harlow and Gable in "THE SECRET SIX" and with Harlow in the 1933 classic "DINNER AT EIGHT" is enjoyably slick and subtly shady as Jamesy. But it is the chemistry between Harlow and Gable that really holds this movie together. They obviously had great respect and liking for one another, and this only cemented their working relationship on-screen. My favorite lines, one spoken by China Doll: "When I want you to sound off, Golden Bells, I'll pull your rope!" The other by Gaskill, with that unmistakable Gable grin: "And as a man said when they were about to hang him, 'This will be a lesson to me.' " It's a gem, and don't pass it up.