Sat 22 Oct 2011
Archived Movie Review: RED DUST (1932).
Posted by Steve under Films: Drama/Romance , Reviews[6] Comments
RED DUST. MGM, 1932. Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Gene Raymond, Mary Astor, Donald Crisp. Director: Victor Fleming.
All things considered, one things a movie fan might ask for is a film that is entertaining all the way through, and well made as well. Here’s one, and isn’t it hard to believe that this picture is almost [80] years old?
It takes place on a rubber plantation, with Clark Gable in charge of operations. Jean Harlow is a brassy blonde tramp who needs a few weeks away from Saigon, where things have gotten a little too hot for her.
Gene Raymond is a naive young engineer just hired to do some surveying and irrigation work. Mary Astor is his wife, who has come along with him without realizing how primitive conditions would be.
Jean Harlow falls in love with Clark Gable, who finds Mary Astor more attractive than he should. Raymond, well, as I said, he’s young and naive. The movie is funny, steamy, and fascinating, all rolled into one.
I may have mentioned before that I sometimes find Clark Gable’s performances a little too slick for my tastes, but he’s down-to-earth (if not outright earthy) in this film. Jean Harlow was pretty without being beautiful, but she also had a raucous sense of humor that goes well here with her portrayal of a pretty loose woman. A more terrifically matched couple you couldn’t imagine.
October 23rd, 2011 at 1:40 am
One of my favorite films of the 1930s. Actually right at the moment (11:40 pm. local time), I can’t think of any ’30s film I like as much…
October 23rd, 2011 at 1:43 am
Well, now I’ve thought of the riches of 1939, and feel a little silly.
RED DUST is in my very top tier of 30s films, though.
October 23rd, 2011 at 7:18 am
It’s a terrific film. This might well be the two stars best performances. They are rounded, imperfect, real people who exist outside of the context of the film. Would any studio make a movie like this, nowadays? It’s a small-scale story about people whom you come to care about. No car crashes anywhere. Equally, would any movie these days manage to be so sexy without showing anything that wouldn’t be allowed on daytime TV?
October 23rd, 2011 at 8:00 pm
I haven’t seen this movie since I wrote this review, some 20 years ago. I think the time has come to see it again!
October 26th, 2011 at 3:51 pm
Since no one else has mentioned it, I should say that Gable did a (sort of) remake 21 years later called MOGAMBO with Ava Gardner in the Harlow role and Grace Kelly in Mary Astor’s part. John Ford directed and it was filmed in Kenya (rather than the Indochina of the first film). The two women got Oscar nominations; neither won.
October 27th, 2011 at 2:04 pm
Thanks for bringing this remake up, Jeff. I’ve never seen it, so I wonder how I’d enjoy it, compared to the first one. I also wonder how many remakes include at least one leading player from the earlier film — in the same role, that is. Maybe quite a few, but offhand I can’t think of any.