In China Seas, Clark Gable and Jean Harlow essentially take their characters from Red Dust off the rubber plantation and transplant them to the high seas. What's wild about this film is that both Gable and Harlow are supposed to be English, but do not even attempt to adopt an accent. In Gable's case he figured the public accepted him in Mutiny on the Bounty so why not. In any case the part called for a rough and tough adventurer and that certainly did fit Gable.
Harlow's a girl who's been around the block a few times and she's crazy about Gable. But Gable takes her for granted and he's now pursuing a cultured widow of a friend in Rosalind Russell. That doesn't sit too well with Harlow so she goes after China trader Wallace Beery who's always had a yen for her.
The problem is that Beery is hooked up with Malay pirates, a nasty bunch if there ever was. They're looking to steal some gold bullion that Gable's transporting on this voyage. What happens is the rest of the story.
This was one of Rosalind Russell's earliest roles and once again there's little trace of the fine comedic actress she became. She worked with Gable again in They Met in Bombay and the results there were excellent. Here she's being a mannered version of Myrna Loy. MGM did that a lot, had back up players in case stars became hard to handle. In this case that's what they envisioned Russell as at this time. She does well in a part, gets more out of the role than I'm sure was originally intended.
Actually my favorite in China Seas is Lewis Stone. He's a former captain himself who was beached for cowardice. Gable signs him on as a third officer and Stone makes himself a human bomb and martyrs himself to save the ship. It's a touching and tragic performance.
Russell in her memoirs says that at this time she was not terribly friendly with the MGM star roster while she was an up and coming player in the ranks. One exception she did mention was Jean Harlow who she describes as warm, friendly, and helpful. Not that the two would have been up for the same kind of parts, but I got the feeling Russell felt Harlow was a genuinely nice person.
The stars and the supporting cast fill out the roles they are normally type cast in. China Seas is still rugged action adventure entertainment.
Harlow's a girl who's been around the block a few times and she's crazy about Gable. But Gable takes her for granted and he's now pursuing a cultured widow of a friend in Rosalind Russell. That doesn't sit too well with Harlow so she goes after China trader Wallace Beery who's always had a yen for her.
The problem is that Beery is hooked up with Malay pirates, a nasty bunch if there ever was. They're looking to steal some gold bullion that Gable's transporting on this voyage. What happens is the rest of the story.
This was one of Rosalind Russell's earliest roles and once again there's little trace of the fine comedic actress she became. She worked with Gable again in They Met in Bombay and the results there were excellent. Here she's being a mannered version of Myrna Loy. MGM did that a lot, had back up players in case stars became hard to handle. In this case that's what they envisioned Russell as at this time. She does well in a part, gets more out of the role than I'm sure was originally intended.
Actually my favorite in China Seas is Lewis Stone. He's a former captain himself who was beached for cowardice. Gable signs him on as a third officer and Stone makes himself a human bomb and martyrs himself to save the ship. It's a touching and tragic performance.
Russell in her memoirs says that at this time she was not terribly friendly with the MGM star roster while she was an up and coming player in the ranks. One exception she did mention was Jean Harlow who she describes as warm, friendly, and helpful. Not that the two would have been up for the same kind of parts, but I got the feeling Russell felt Harlow was a genuinely nice person.
The stars and the supporting cast fill out the roles they are normally type cast in. China Seas is still rugged action adventure entertainment.