Red Dust (1932)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Writers:

Wilson Collison (play)
John Lee Mahin (screenplay)

Release Date:

22 October 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

The owner of a rubber plantation becomes involved with the new wife of one of his employees.

Plot Keywords:

Rubber Plantation | Malaria | Surveyor | Indochina | Prostitute

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Clark Gable	...	Dennis Carson
Jean Harlow	...	Vantine
Gene Raymond	...	Gary Willis
Mary Astor	...	Barbara Willis
Donald Crisp	...	Guidon
Tully Marshall	...	McQuarg
Forrester Harvey	...	Limey
Willie Fung	...	Hoy

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:TV-G | Australia:PG | USA:Passed

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Jean Harlow's famous rain-barrel bath is recreated in her film Bombshell (1933).

Quotes:

Vantine: You can check the wings and halo at the desk.
Dennis Morgan: I'll be right up.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood (2008) (TV)

Soundtrack:

There's No Place Like Home (Home, Sweet Home)

A Trip to Cinema's Past with a Timeless Theme

If you can't stand old films that perpetuate and even celebrate racist notions, skip 1932's "Red Dust." Putting that historical reality in perspective, "Red Dust" is a very good, well-acted film set in a studio's fantasy of the Indo-China jungle and its rubber plantations.

Where would film have gone in depicting real romantic relationships with steamy exchanges and barely hidden amorous capers if, two years after "Red Dust," the puritanical code that stifled sexuality hadn't been imposed? Who knows but here Clark Gable as Denny, a plantation manager, Jean Harlow as Lily, a woman who, as they used to say, was no better than she ought to be and lovely Mary Astor as Babs Willis act out an adult story.

Babs is married to "gosh, oh, golly" idealist and almost straight man Gary Willis, played with affecting naivete by Gene Raymond. Gary works for Denny who is working Babs. Sent away into the deep black-and-white monsoon greenery of the jungle by Denny, Gene is thankful for what he thinks is a fine job opportunity. Also happy are Babs and Denny whose obvious affair is portrayed without any of the sweaty gymnastics that are the staple of today's films.

Enter Lily who really loves Denny and knows she's the only true tramp for him. Gene is planning (in 1932!) for a house in Westchester County, NY (then a true rural backwater, not a suburban one) complete with kids. Denny doesn't know what he wants and Babs loves him but she hasn't forgotten she's hitched.

Director Victor Fleming lets this story play out within, barely, the bounds of then acceptable storytelling.

"Red Dust" shows up on movie channels and is available for sale. It's an important piece of Hollywood's pre-war history and is still a viewer-grabbing flick.

8/10.