Oh, the bathtub in a barrel movie! Reportedly, Jean Harlow, actually nude, stood up during one of the takes to give the workers in the editing lab a thrill. Now that we've gotten the sensationalism out of the way, let's talk about the movie.
Red Dust is the most famous of all the Clark Gable and Jean Harlow movies. My favorite is Hold Your Man, but Red Dust is very fun to watch from time to time. Clark is a manager of a rubber tree plantation in Malaysia, and when prostitute Jean Harlow literally gets dropped at his doorstep, sparks fly. The only problem with their romance is that Clark treats Jean like garbage. His scruffiness and extremely crude, gruff demeanor makes for continual criticism and disrespect. Jean is street-wise and rather low-class, but she's always sweet. She's the hooker with a heart of gold, and while you can't help but root for them, you also hope she softens out his rough edges after a while.
Then, Gene Raymond comes to the plantation to shoot big game, and he brings his prim and proper wife, Mary Astor. Mary is disgusted by Clark's uncouthness as well as Jean's presence, but since Clark's a cad, he makes a play for her. I'm willing to bet Mary Astor wishes she never made this movie. Yes, Red Dust is famous, but in pitting her against sheer perfection, also known as Jean Harlow, Hollywood sealed her fate to play "the other woman" forever after-and not in a good way. Playing "the other woman" to Mary Astor meant playing the wife when the story is about her husband falling in love with someone else, or playing the snooty best friend, or the uptight mother-in-law. If you look at her body of work, Red Dust was clearly the turning point in her career. Plus, her character is so unlikable, in contrast to Jean Harlow's delightful, perpetually nude, bathtub-barreling, quip-rattling, cute as a button character. No one would ever like Mary Astor in this. If you're looking for a good Mary Astor movie, this isn't it.
If you're looking for the bathtub in a barrel movie, this is it. Obviously, since Jean Harlow didn't make many movies, you'll want to watch every one she ever made. And she's so incredibly darling, even when she doesn't try to be, like when she leans back in her chair to file her nails and her dress exposes her thigh; or when she flicks Clark's wandering hand off her leg while reading him a bedtime story. The sparks between the real-life friends are off-the-charts, and whenever I see them together, I'm always glad MGM "punished" Clark Gable and Joan Crawford for not covering up their affair as they should have. She was supposed to have been in Red Dust, but they pulled her out at the last minute to give the steamy couple some distance. And now we get to see Jean Harlow immortalized in her barrel bath!
Red Dust is the most famous of all the Clark Gable and Jean Harlow movies. My favorite is Hold Your Man, but Red Dust is very fun to watch from time to time. Clark is a manager of a rubber tree plantation in Malaysia, and when prostitute Jean Harlow literally gets dropped at his doorstep, sparks fly. The only problem with their romance is that Clark treats Jean like garbage. His scruffiness and extremely crude, gruff demeanor makes for continual criticism and disrespect. Jean is street-wise and rather low-class, but she's always sweet. She's the hooker with a heart of gold, and while you can't help but root for them, you also hope she softens out his rough edges after a while.
Then, Gene Raymond comes to the plantation to shoot big game, and he brings his prim and proper wife, Mary Astor. Mary is disgusted by Clark's uncouthness as well as Jean's presence, but since Clark's a cad, he makes a play for her. I'm willing to bet Mary Astor wishes she never made this movie. Yes, Red Dust is famous, but in pitting her against sheer perfection, also known as Jean Harlow, Hollywood sealed her fate to play "the other woman" forever after-and not in a good way. Playing "the other woman" to Mary Astor meant playing the wife when the story is about her husband falling in love with someone else, or playing the snooty best friend, or the uptight mother-in-law. If you look at her body of work, Red Dust was clearly the turning point in her career. Plus, her character is so unlikable, in contrast to Jean Harlow's delightful, perpetually nude, bathtub-barreling, quip-rattling, cute as a button character. No one would ever like Mary Astor in this. If you're looking for a good Mary Astor movie, this isn't it.
If you're looking for the bathtub in a barrel movie, this is it. Obviously, since Jean Harlow didn't make many movies, you'll want to watch every one she ever made. And she's so incredibly darling, even when she doesn't try to be, like when she leans back in her chair to file her nails and her dress exposes her thigh; or when she flicks Clark's wandering hand off her leg while reading him a bedtime story. The sparks between the real-life friends are off-the-charts, and whenever I see them together, I'm always glad MGM "punished" Clark Gable and Joan Crawford for not covering up their affair as they should have. She was supposed to have been in Red Dust, but they pulled her out at the last minute to give the steamy couple some distance. And now we get to see Jean Harlow immortalized in her barrel bath!