Customer Reviews

Hold Your Man [VHS]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Jean Harlow and Clark Gable try to capitalize on their onscreen heat from "Red Dust", in this comedy-gone-melodrama about a couple conjoined in crime during the desperate years of the Great Depression. The stark depictation of life in a women's jail (or a "boarding house," as they call it...) is pretty amazing, and pretty raw. Plus, Gable and Harlow had great chemistry together... definitely worth checking out!

This is a different kind of comedy, somehow absolutely fresh after 70 years. The characters are all unique and very believable. One bizarre aspect of this terrific comedy is that there a black character in the movie that actually has personality. She is one of Jean Harlow's cellmates and is quite charming -- not like the typical 30s and 40s Hollywood black character that is either fodder for jokes or a happy domestic, is an extra in the background, or is a submissive caricature of the Old South. This movie is surprising in may ways. It's hard to believe that Loos, the screenwriter, had very few other big movies to her credit. Maybe she was too different.

"Hold Your Man" (1933) is the second of five films that Jean Harlow and Clark Gable made together before her premature death in 1937. The couple made "Red Dust" with its infamous scene with Harlow taking a bath in a rain barrel the year before. This time Gable is slick confidence man Eddie Nugent while Harlow is tough girl Ruby Adams; she tells him that even his smile is crooked. Along with Eddie's pal Slim (Gary Owen), Eddie and Ruby tried to play a scam on Mitchell (Paul Hurst), the owner of a laundry. Things go wrong when Eddie sees Ruby struggling with Mitchell and kills the old man. Eddie flees, leaving Ruby to talk the fall only to learn that she is going to have a baby.

The small time hustles are fairly interesting but the chief attraction here are the sparks between Harlow and Gable. Anita Loos and Howard Emmett Rogers did the screenplay from her original story and the wisecracking romance works well overall. It is just that the sudden shifts to sentimentality seem force (and rather unexpected in a pre-code film that has more than its hare of off-color dialogue). When they are both free the two characters are equally cheeky, but slap one of them in jail or reform school and they get sappy. Overall, "Hold Your Man" like "Red Dust" has its moments, where the chemistry between the two characters overcomes the limitations of the plot.

This movie is witty, watchable and utterly touching. And now often do you get to see Jean Harlow (or any actress of this era, for that matter) give another woman a swift punch in the jaw? (Twice!)

After Harlow's Ruby is sent to a reformatory after getting mixed up with Gable's Edward Hall (he of that cheesy yet endearing crooked smile), her predicament becomes all the more complicated when she discovers that she is pregnant, and she's convinced that this rake has abandoned her, but in fact, her love has reformed him and he comes to see her, despite the fact that he will be arrested, and from the help of a minister, are married.

The wonderful relationship that Harlow shares with her fellow inmates is second only to her electric chemistry with Gable, who was her most frequent leading man. Her cynical character is a perfect match for Gable's smooth-talking crook. What's not to like?

"You know, you wouldn't be a bad looking dame - if it wasn't for your face!" Ruby cuttingly remarks to Gypsy, her rival. "If you're going to get that close to me, I'll have to open the other window!"

Priceless!!!

Hold Your Man is an excellent pre-code movie with lots of action, suspense, drama and even a little touch of comedy to keep things really interesting. The plot moves along at a very good pace and I was never bored--not even for a minute. The choreography works best in crowd scenes and the scenes in the ladies reformatory; and the cinematography left nothing to be desired. In addition, the acting was very convincing--but, then again, when you've got a cast featuring Clark Gable and Jean Harlow, how can you really go wrong?

When the action starts, we quickly meet a small time crook Eddie Hall (Clark Gable) who cons guys on the street with phony wallets and phony ring scams, too. Eddie works with his sidekick Slim (Garry Owen); and together they do a pretty good "business." One day, however, a phony ring scam gets the cops after Eddie really fast. In order to escape the police, Eddie runs into an apartment building and he enters the apartment of Ruby Adams (Jean Harlow)--right when Rudy's taking a bath!

It isn't long before the romantic sparks fly between Eddie and Ruby; despite the fact that Gypsy Angecon (Dorothy Burgess) wants Eddie and Al Simpson (Stuart Erwin) wants to marry Ruby. The snappy, racy dialogue between Ruby and Eddie adds even more spice to the plot. As time goes by, Ruby and Eddie only grow more romantically involved. Trouble starts, though, when Eddie comes back to his apartment one day to find another man trying to be intimate with Ruby; that's when Eddie punches him and accidentally kills him! Ruby and Eddie don't realize that the guy is dead, so they simply go ahead and get their marriage license--but when they return to the building where Eddie lives, a huge crowd has gathered because of the violence. Eddie thinks quickly and runs away; but Ruby stays there just a minute too long and she is recognized by someone from the apartment building. Unfortunately, Ruby gets slapped with a two year sentence in a women's reformatory institution.

Ruby certainly meets a cast of characters while she in the reformatory; but she never even gets word from Eddie. Ruby even comes up against Gypsy, who has also been sent to the same reformatory because of repeated public drunkenness and other inappropriate behavior in public. There certainly are sparks between Ruby and Gypsy! In addition, I agree with the reviewer who writes that it certainly is wonderful to see an African-American in this movie who doesn't portray a crude, embarrassing stereotype from that era--she's very much a human being just like the others.

What happens now? The plot could go anywhere from here. Does Eddie ever contact or try to see Ruby? What about Al, the wealthy guy who's willing to marry Ruby and get her out of the reformatory much, much sooner if they marry--will Al talk Ruby into marrying him and forgetting Eddie? And will Eddie even bother to be true to Ruby, or is he in prison himself for the accidental murder? Watch and find out!

Hold Your Man in an excellent film with so much snappy dialogue it stands out as one of the best pre-code movies I've ever seen. I highly recommend this film for fans of the actors in this movie; and people who enjoy those wonderful pre-code movies will not be disappointed.

"Hold Your Man" is a good example of what the Hays Production Code did to Hollywood films. Almost overnight films went from being racy and funny and risque (but never vulgar, unlike many of today's films) to squeaky-clean fare, where violence was kept to a minimum and sex, especially among women, was practically non-existant. 'Hold Your Man' is a good example of a pre-Code film. Harlow is white-hot, Gable is irresistable, the dialogue is packed with innuendo and many characters and ideas pop up in the film that would not be seen again (or at least portrayed fairly) in American film for decades: A fully-rounded, three-dimensional black character; a socialist; marital abandonment and unwanted pregnancy.

Now on to the VHS transfer itself: it is just a pitiful state. The audio hisses and the volume must be turned up high to properly hear the dialogue; the film looks dark and dusty and scratched. It is a stark contrast to the bright, clean look of the DVD version of "Dinner At Eight", also starring Harlow, released about a year ago.

After "Hold Your Man", Jean Harlow would become perhaps the biggest female star, certainly the biggest female star at MGM, of the 1930s. Her popularity was enormous; some have credited Harlow's films with keeping MGM in the black (in fact, the only studio to regularly show a profit) in the dark days of the Depression. The Harlow/Gable combo was a box-office goldmine; they were paired several times throughout the 30s in other mega-hits including "Red Dust" (not yet on DVD); "China Seas" (not yet on DVD); "Wife vs. Secretary" (not yet on DVD); and finally "Saratoga", during production of which Harlow would collapse and suddenly die, of what was revealed to be kidney failure. "Saratoga" is not on DVD.

Why the dearth of Harlow DVDs? I urge the readers of this review to write Warner Bros (who now issues the DVDs she appears in) to ask if they have any plans on releasing more of Harlow's excellent catalog of film on DVD.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) presents "HOLD YOUR MAN" (1933) (87 min/B&W) -- Starring: Jean Harlow, Clark Gable, Stuart Erwin, Dorothy Burgess, Muriel Kirkland, Garry Owen, Barbara Barondess, Elizabeth Patterson

Directed by Sam Wood

Miss Harlow was a truly great screen artist with the gift of creating rich characters. In this film, Miss Harlow's character is multi-dimensional beyond the traditional 1930's moll. She starts out one place and travels an arduous journey to end up on the other side of life. I loved her tough exterior, her smile, her song at the piano brought tears to my eyes.

Gable and Harlow show their love for acting adding telling nuances and quirks to their characters that send them beyond the typical Gable and Harlow roles. One beautiful shot has Harlow being inducted into the prison, then led out into a surprisingly snowy courtyard as the camera tracks after her. This is one of the best of both the "criminals in love" and "women's prison" genres and has some of the best hard-boiled dialogue ever written.

Gable is well cast as the con man who develops a conscience, a part he'd play often, most notably in another film, Honky Tonk.

And the direction is great from Sam Wood, who lets each character come to life on the screen.

The ending is very dramatic and contains a beautiful message that comes across very well. It's also worth noting that there's a black preacher in the film and I think this is the nicest role I've seen a black actor play in this era of Hollywood. The stereotypes we normally see were thrown out and this is a beautiiful change.

* Special Footnote: -- Third of five films pairings of Clark Gable and Jean Harlow.

BIOS:
1. Sam Wood ;aka: Samuel Grosvenor Wood] (Director)
Date of Birth: 10 July 1883 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Date of Death: 22 September 1949 - Hollywood, California

2. Jean Harlow [aka: Harlean Harlow Carpenter]
Date of Birth: 3 March 1911 - Kansas City, Missouri
Date of Death: 7 June 1937 - Los Angeles, California

3. Clark Gable
Date of birth: 1 February 1901 - Cadiz, Ohio,
Date of death: 16 November 1960 - Los Angeles, California

4. Stuart Erwin
Date of Birth: 14 February 1903 - Squaw Valley, California
Date of Death: 21 December 1967 - Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California

Mr. Jim's Ratings:
Quality of Picture & Sound: 4 Stars
Performance: 4 Stars
Story & Screenplay: 4 Stars
Overall: 4 Stars [Original Music, Cinematography & Film Editing]

Total Time: 87 min on DVD ~ Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) ~ (September 1, 1998)

Being 27, I am a young classic film fan but certainly appreciate (and prefer) the innocence and humor of days long passed. Of all the Gable/Harlow films, this one is my favorite- closely followed by Red Dust. Harlow can break your heart in an instant and who can help but fall in love with Clark Gable over and over again? Everyone should see this film!

"Hold Your Man" is perfect for those of us who like Gable and Harlow together. Gable plays a small-time con man and Harlow is the current lady of his affection. Gable does a stint in the county jail for a crime, and when released, cooks up a plot using Harlow as a way to blackmail a guy out of some money. When the guy gets too fresh with her, Gable knocks him out--and kills accidentially kills him! He disappears, but poor Harlow is snagged and sent to a girls' reform school. The girls learn to cook, sew and all those skills that will make them desirable wife material once they're released. The only problem is that Harlow finds she's pregnant! She has to get married! A former rival for Gable's attention helps her out, and the movie has a classic sugar-coated ending.

Gable is great and Harlow never looked better. This movie is worth your time and money, especially if you're fans of one of the silver screen's best and hottest couples!

Jean Harlow & Clark Gable! Can't get much better than this. I'd rather watch movies like this than most new movies. VHS excellent condition.