Red Dust (1932)

Red Dust
Directed by Victor Fleming
Written by John Lee Mahin from the play by Wilson Collison
1932/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
First viewing/FilmStruck

Vantine: [sarcastically] What a pleasant little house party this is gonna be

The sparks fly when Clark Gable gets all pre-Code with Jean Harlow and Mary Astor.

Dennis Carson (Gable) is the manager of a Southeast Asian rubber plantation.  Conditions are primitive and the coolies stop working any time the boss’s eyes are turned.  Into this milieu comes Vantine (Jean Harlow), a sassy “working girl” who is lying low from authorities at the moment.  At first, Carson looks down his nose at her but soon they are going at it hot and heavy.  It is clear there is a genuine affection.  She gets on the boat back to Saigon at the same time rookie engineer Gary Willis (Gene Raymond) arrives to take up duties at the plantation with his wife Barbara (Astor) and some tennis rackets in tow.

It is clear the Willises are out of their depth.  To make matters worse, Gary comes down with a serious bout of malaria and Dennis must nurse him back to health.  This brings Dennis and Barbara into alliance and he is drawn to the beautiful and proper married lady at first sight.  While Dennis schemes to get alone with Barbara, Vantine returns from the boat, which will be out of commission for the next six weeks. This is going to get very interesting …

I have been dying to see this for ages.  It just turned up on FilmStruck with a bunch of other movies starring Harlow.  Red Dust did not disappoint.

Gable and Harlow were at the peak of their sex appeal and the tension among the three leads is palpable.  The film has the kind of snappy 30’s dialogue that I love so much and Fleming provides the energy that makes everything hang together beautifully.  Highly recommended.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSTFagCpsAM