Customer Reviews

Riff Raff [VHS]

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

 

 

Dutch (Spencer Tracy) works on the waterfront but doesn't like the way the men there are treated. He does his best to make the boss (Joseph Calleia) look bad, but can't quite make a strong impact. He has his eye on Hattie (Jean Harlow) who is being courted by the boss, but Hattie only has eyes for Dutch. Despite their differences, they marry, but Dutch just can't think of his wife over his own opinions and destroys their marriage for revenge.

Also appearing are Una Merkel as Hattie's older sister who has two children. One is played by the energetic Mickey Rooney and the other by the adorable Juanita Quigley.

The casting works to a certain degree but the two redheaded leads do not have enough chemistry to make the film work quite as well as it should have. A lot of the plot is based on their romance but it is hardly steamy. Instead, the relationship between Hattie and her sister is more interesting and the two girls play their hearts out. They contrast each other well with Harlow as the more upscale sister and Merkel as the homely housewife but they are more similar than they appear. Hattie wants to work for her husband and eventual child and doesn't care about money. Her sister encourages her to stick with her boss because she feels money can bring Hattie all the things she missed out on herself.

This is a wonderful old thirties gem with Jean Harlow and Spencer Tracy, who exude some real chemistry! Some typically corny 30's plot elements - girl takes the "fall" for the man she loves - but that's what makes it great!

Movie buffs know and love the Jean Harlow of the glossy sex comedy classics she made at MGM - DINNER AT EIGHT, LIBELED LADY, BOMBSHELL, etc. but Jean was also a wonderful little dramatic actress capable of giving moving, heartfelt performances like in this little gem. Jean is just terrific as a dreamy cannery worker who dreams of a better life but has pinned her hopes on her boorish beau, Spencer Tracy. Rest assured, Jeannie can give as good as she gets though when that "gas bag" as she calls him turns his temper her way. This earthy little picture looks far more like a Warner Bros. effort than the MGM product it was although MGM made it more of a comedy than Warners would have. The wonderful Una Merkel has one of her best "best friend" roles as Jean's more practical sister. Harlow and Tracy made a terrific screen duo, I think only Katharine Hepburn had more chemistry when teamed with Tracy of all his many leading ladies. This movie is no RED DUST or REDHEADED WOMAN as a classic Harlow work but I would definately put it at the top of her lesser MGM movies over such better known pictures as WIFE VS. SECRETARY or SARATOGA.

Imagine making a film about a swell headed fisherman who betrays his friends and abandons his wife, and a wife who ignores all his problems, commits grand theft even though she knows she is pregnant and will go to jail, and then escapes from jail knowing that she will inevitably be caught. Not exactly upbeat! Now combine this with one of Spencer Tracy's worst performances, cheap production values, and a questionable job by Jean Harlow, and you have to wonder why this film was ever made.

25-year old Jean Harlow (1911-1937) was the biggest sex symbol of her times. Only Marilyn Monroe in the 50s ever achieved a rival position. Harlow began by playing gangster's moll in films like "Hell's Angels" (1930), "The Secret Six" (1931), "Public Enemy" (1931), "Scarface" (1932) and "Beast of the City" (1932). She moved to more complex roles in "Red Dust" (1932) and "Three Wise Girls" (1932) and then dabbled as a comedienne in "Red Headed Woman" (1932). By 1936 she was a fully fledged movie actress and one of MGM biggest superstars.

"Riffraff" was her first pairing with Spencer Tracy (1900-1967); they made "Libeled Lady" later that year. Tracey is ranked 9th among AFI's Greatest Male Stars. He won 2 Oscars ("Captains Courageous" in 1937 and "Boys Town" in 1938) and was nominated 7 more times. Personally I think his best performances were "Inherit the Wind" (1960) and "Judgment at Nuremberg" (1961). His acting method was - "Come to work on time, know your lines and don't bump into the other actors." In 1936 he was still a working actor, had just signed with MGM, and his big breakout film (Captains Courageous) was one year ahead.

Tracy is just terrible in this film. He seems to be channeling Clark Gable or Edward G Robinson. The character has no redeeming qualities, and Tracy's rapid fire delivery doesn't help. Harlow, on the other hand, was a little late in the bloom to be playing the tomboy. Moreover, her forte was comedy, not drama. Mickey Rooney, in his autobiography, said "Harlow had won people over by making them laugh. Now MGM had her trying to make people cry. It didn't work."

The film does have a good supporting cast, but who goes to a movie to see the supporting cast? A young energetic Mickey Rooney (1920) plays Harlow's brother, omnipresent Una Merkel (1903-1986) does her usual good job as Harlow's older sister, J. Farrell MacDonald (1875-1952) does his usual good job as "Brains", a friend of the family, and Joseph Calleia (1897-1975) is the scene stealer, playing an Italian owner of the tuna factory where Tracy and Harlow work, and a rival for Harlow's affections.

Calleia appeared in more than 50 films, but is probably best known for playing Buldeo in "Jungle Book" (1942) and Orson Welles's sidekick in "Touch of Evil" (1958).

J. Farrell MacDonald appeared in more than 300 films. He was a staple in western films ("My Darling Clementine", "In Old Cheyenne", "The Miracle at Morgan's Creek) and a favorite of Preston Sturges who used him in 7 of his films

The film is co-written by Anita Loos (1888-1981). She's most well known for "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" (1953) but this was merely one of more than 100 films she helped script. Some of her credits include "Musketeers of Pig Alley" (1912), "Intolerance" (1916), "Riffraff" (1936), "San Francisco" (1936), and "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" (1945) Harlow and Loos worked together in "Saratoga" (1937), "The Girl from Missouri" (1934), "Hold your Man" (1933), "Red Headed Woman" (1932) and "The Struggle" (1931).

Frances Marion (1888-1973) also worked on the script. Loos and Marion were two of the top screenwriters of the silent and early talkie era. Marion was the first woman to win an AA for writing. She was the favorite writer for such well known actors as Mary Pickford, Marion Davies, and Marie Dressler. She won an Oscar in 1930 for "The Big House" and in 1931 for "The Champ" (both starred Wallace Beery).

The plot of the film revolves around union problems at the tuna factory and "left wing" infiltration. In that era Chaplin's "Modern Times" also addressed the problem of the workers as did "The Grapes of Wrath", both of them excellent films.

In 1936 Jean Harlow had 3 films in the top 20 - "Libeled Lady" ( Spencer Tracy, William Powell, and Myrna Loy), "Wife vs. Secretary" (Gable and Loy), and "Suzy" (Cary Grant). The other big money winners were "San Francisco" (Gable), "The Great Ziegfeld" (Powell and Loy), "Modern Times" (Chaplin), and "Charge of the Light Brigade" (Flynn and de Havilland). The big Oscar winner was "The Great Ziegfeld" (Picture, Best Actress). Other notable films from that year were "The Petrified Forest" (Bogart), "Romeo and Juliette" (Shearer and Howard), "Dodsworth" (Walter Huston) and Fritz Lang's "Fury".

Riffraff was a terrible waste of talent and resources. The audience agreed. It lost money. Despite the good performances from the supporting cast and the interesting subplot about unions, the film fails, largely as a result of the poor performances from the stars and the questionable nature of the story.

...but I guess the title "Riffraff" would do as well as anything else MGM could have come up with - it's not very descriptive. Hattie (Jean Harlow) is a cannery worker in love with Dutch (Spencer Tracy), a very good fisherman and also a tremendous blow-hard. He fancies himself the leader of some future workers' revolution. Hattie lives with her extended family including sister Lil (Una Merkel) and Lil's husband and two kids, with the son being played by a mischievous Mickey Rooney. Dutch doesn't treat Hattie very well - they spend most of their time arguing, and to complicate matters she has caught the eye of cannery owner Nick (Joseph Calleia).

However, between arguments, Dutch and Hattie do manage to get married. Some have asked whatever Hattie saw in a selfish windbag like Dutch, but if a coherent 500 word essay was a prerequisite for love it would be the end of the human race, and I have seen odder pairings in real life that worked. They are married only a few months when Dutch decides he was meant for bigger and better things, and he tells Hattie he is leaving her - for awhile - to find his destiny. She understandably doesn't take this well, and he gets the last word in by saying that it's goodbye for keeps. Thus begins the long melodrama of these two apart as Dutch's plans don't exactly work out as he figured and an impulsive act by Hattie meant to aid Dutch in a time of trouble and that act's repercussions show Dutch how selfish he has been and how much she really means to him.

In spite of the melodrama, there really are no bad guys here. Even lecherous Nick is likable in his own way, and his conversations with his lawyer are particularly humorous. Thus this film is pure Depression-era entertainment in the MGM tradition. It has many of the familiar building blocks of 30's MGM dramas, but they are assembled in a rather quirky way such that this is nothing that will change the world, but it's still very interesting. The cast is outstanding with good performances by all. Especially notable is Una Merkel's performance as loyal sister Lil who manages to be simultaneously feisty and frumpy.

This is one of Harlow's lesser-known good films, and here's hoping it comes out next year in a boxed set in celebration of her 100th birthday.

Jean Harlow shows the difference between an actor and a star in this comedy-drama from the 1930's. Though her name today only calls to mind images of sex and glamour for many, you can see there was much more to Harlow than just the promise of sex. She was a star.

Frances Marion crafted the script with Anita Loos and H.W. Haneman from her own story about a girl from the docks who can't stay away from a guy whose ego is bigger than the both of them. Harlow makes you care about her character, Hattie, right from the start, when her soft heart makes her cave in and give her pop some money to drink on when no one is watching.

It's her heart which leads her into trouble, getting tangled up with Dutch Miller (Spencer Tracy). Dutch is not that bright and there isn't a lot of character underneath his massive ego, but the more he ignores her the more you know she loves him. Dutch's desire to be a big-shot as the union leader of the tuna boat fishermen will lead both he and Hattie to near ruin and disgrace.

Dutch's Tracy is such an irresponsible blowhard that he's almost unlikable during much of the film. Yet Harlow's Hattie will keep coming his way, despite the interest of the cannery owner, Nick Lewis (Joseph Calleia). When she spits on his dice for luck their fate is sealed and they marry. But his head gets too big for him, refusing to even listen to his pal "Brains," nicely played by J. Farrell MacDonald. Una Merkel gives fine support to Harlow here also.

Hattie loses everything and Dutch's pride sends him to the hobo camps rather than back down. When Hattie discovers where he's at she steals from Nick to help him and ends up in prison. The union won't take him back and his wild plan for a prison break disgusts her. He still isn't the man she wants him to be. It will not be Dutch who becomes the man she wanted even at the end of this film, but rather that Hattie has finally made him the man she needs.

There is a terrific ending to this film if you stay with it. It's to Harlow's credit, who has made you care about her, that the film seems better than it actually is. A young Mickey Rooney as her brother Jimmy deserves some credit also. He steals every scene he's in. Tracy, legendary for underplaying his roles and upstaging his fellow actors, can do no such thing here. It was the difference between an actor and a star. Tracy was a good actor, but Harlow was a star, and it is obvious here that Mick was about to become one.

This is a three star story that becomes a five star film because of Jean Harlow. If you want to discover what her real appeal was to audiences during the 1930's, this isn't a bad film with which to start.