Hold Your Man (1933)

Ruby falls in love with small-time con man Eddie. During a botched blackmail scheme, Eddie accidentally kills the man they were setting up. Eddie takes off and Ruby is sent to a reformatory for two years.

Writers:

Anita Loos (screen play), Howard Emmett Rogers (screen play),

Stars:

Jean Harlow, Clark Gable, Stuart Erwin

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Jean Harlow	...	Ruby
Clark Gable	...	Eddie
Stuart Erwin	...	Al
Dorothy Burgess	...	Gypsy
Muriel Kirkland	...	Bertha
Garry Owen	...	Slim
Barbara Barondess	...	Sadie
Elizabeth Patterson	...	Miss Tuttle
Inez Courtney	...	Maizie
Blanche Friderici	...	Mrs. Wagner
Helen Freeman	...	Miss Davis

Storyline

Eddie Hall and his partner Slim are a pair of nickel-and-dime con men on the hustle. Nearly caught by the police, Eddie ducks into Ruby Adams's apartment and convinces her to hide him. Ruby isn't averse to taking advantage of the gullible herself and has even tried to manipulate money out of Al, the square shooter from Cincinnati who adores her. Ruby and Eddie hit it off, but when Eddie accidentally kills a drunk who was pawing Ruby, he takes off and she ends up in a women's reformatory, where she discovers she is pregnant. Devastated at the thought that Eddie has deserted her, she doesn't realize that Eddie has undergone a great change--one that will have a powerful impact on her.

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Plot Keywords:

reformatory | police | sexually aggressive woman | fugitive | jealousy | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 July 1933 (USA)

Also Known As:

Alt for den Eneste

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$260,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Third of five movie pairings of Clark Gable and Jean Harlow.

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Quotes

Gypsy: Just two weeks ago, he (Eddie) sent me ten bucks for Christmas. I bet that's a bit of news to certain somebody.
Ruby: He was tossin' ten-dollar bills to ALL the tramps at Christmas!
Gypsy: Did you get yours?

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Connections

Featured in Bombshell (1933)

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Soundtracks

"I've Got a Roof Over My Head"
(uncredited)
Music by Jimmy McHugh
Lyrics by Dorothy Fields

User Reviews

Harlow and Gable sizzle but the film is only good in the first half...

HOLD YOUR MAN starts out as a brisk romantic comedy about a con man and a smart-talking dame (CLARK GABLE and JEAN HARLOW), and appears to be a perfect vehicle for the two stars. She aids him when he's fleeing from the police and they gradually form an intimate relationship. She comes back at him with lots of sassy remarks any time they play the flirting game and the film is entertaining, breezy and funny, full of racy situations that got by in the pre-code era.

Then--wham--the tone changes when she's picked up after a scam goes wrong and Gable escapes. She's sentenced to two years in a women's reformatory and therein the plot gets stuck in a bundle of clichés as she interacts with other "roommates" and the film loses all the charm of the earlier scenes and settles for becoming a sob story--especially when she finds out she's pregnant and has no idea whether she'll ever see Gable again. As the only honest person in the whole story, Stu Erwin does a nice job in a thankless role. Gary Owen is amusing as Gable's fellow grifter.

Fortunately, the two stars have enough chemistry together to make it all very watchable, but the disappointing mid-section and predictable ending weakens it considerably from an entertainment standpoint.