Red Dust

Red Dust (1932)

Runtime: 83 minutes

Directed by: Victor Fleming

Starring: Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Mary Astor, Gene Raymond, Donald Crisp

From: MGM

This is a classic movie I saw on Turner Classic Movies last night, as it's not as easy to see online as other Jean Harlow flicks. I am glad I did this. Read all about it below: 

I watched this movie last night on Turner Classic Movies as it is not easy to see online, unless you go into the bowels of the Internet, that is. It was easier to see it this way so that's what I did. I haven't seen a lot of Jean Harlow's all too short career but this movie was another example why she was so popular back in the day as she was a blonde bombshell who was very talented and very funny.

This is set at a rubber plantation in Indochina; that's Southeast Asia and included such countries as Thailand, Vietnam and Laos. They weren't specific where in Indochina it was. Clark Gable is the grumpy owner of the rubber plantation. Although, after looking at how conditions were at the plantation, I understand his grouchiness; it was not an easy business to be a part of. It requires a lot of hard work and when the monsoon season comes... the fact that Gable throughout the entire first act was incredibly sweaty is at least noteworthy to me. I mean, he was even sweatier than the rest of the cast. The plot is that Gable romances both prostitute Harlow and Mary Astor, the wife of an engineer. Gable makes sure that the engineer is off the plantation doing various tasks, and that wasn't by accident. The fact that Gable is part of a love triangle is more objectionable than this temperament. Yet this is greatly entertaining, and not just for a scene where Gable and Harlow engage in a seduction scene while discussing different cheeses.

The picture is simply a lot of fun to watch. While you have to deal with a rather unflattering view of “the coolies” (i.e. the natives of the area that work on the plantation) where they are portrayed quite negatively, otherwise this is an engrossing melodrama filled with interesting characters who aren't stereotypes; for example, you might think that the two ladies would be feuding with each other, but they don't. Harlow in fact warns Astor not to deal with a cad like Gable, and she was right. Still, I have to say that I was greatly amused when a major event happened to Gable and he reacted quite nonchalantly even though it was something which could have been fatal for him.

Even with its faults I definitely did like this hot and saucy Pre-Code picture which had its share of risque moments; a few years later you couldn't have such things as Old Jean bathing in a barrel, covering herself up so she doesn't reveal too much. The three stars have great chemistry with each other and when they speak acres of quality dialogue, it's all good. One day I'll watch the remake done by John Ford known as Mogambo, where Gable returns.