Riffraff (1936)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

J. Walter Ruben

Writers:

Frances Marion (story)
Frances Marion (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

3 January 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

When a red-headed woman meets a red-headed man!

Plot:

Fisherman Dutch marries cannery worker Hattie. After he is kicked out of his union and fired from his...

Plot Keywords:

Cannery | Ship | Marital Separation | Tuna | Fishing Boat

Cast

Jean Harlow	...	Hattie
Spencer Tracy	...	Dutch
Una Merkel	...	Lil
Joseph Calleia	...	Nick
Victor Kilian	...	'Flytrap'
Mickey Rooney	...	Jimmy
J. Farrell MacDonald	...	'Brains'
Roger Imhof	...	'Pops'
Juanita Quigley	...	Rosie
Paul Hurst	...	Belcher
Vince Barnett	...	Lew
Dorothy Appleby	...	Gertie
Judith Wood	...	Mabel
Arthur Housman	...	'Ratsy'
Wade Boteler	...	Bert

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #1765) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles Harbor, San Pedro, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

A charge of negligence was brought against MGM by the California State Industrial Welfare Committee on behalf of the 40 female extras who were drenched in the prison rainstorm sequence. It contended that women who lost work because of illness after that sequence should be compensated. Each of the extras received an extra $15 as an initial compensation.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Babes in Arms (1939)

Soundtrack:

You Are My Lucky Star

Pure entertainment

RIFFRAFF is the kind of movie Hollywood forgot to make sometime during WWII; lightning-paced, fast-talking, plot-driven with only the scantest regard to any meaningful characterisation, it's the kind of 30's staple that promised – and delivered – nothing other than pure entertainment for the masses.

The unusual setting of the Californian tuna fishing industry is the backdrop for this bittersweet depression-era comedy that pitches Spencer Tracy and Jean Harlow together as a bickering couple who end up on the wrong side of the law, largely due to the pride and pig-headedness of Tracy's character, Dutch Muller. The pair spend a large amount of time yelling insults at each other (Tracy gets so bug-eyed at times he looks as though he is about to explode), which makes it difficult for them to generate any real rapport until the latter stages of the film when, ironically, they share much less screen time. In fact, the film calms down considerably in the second half when proud Dutch Muller inevitably undergoes a fall and learns a little humility.

The supporting cast are terrific, with special mention going to Joseph Calleia as Nick Lewis, the Italian owner of the tuna canning factory, who mangles the English language with effortless skill (`What is past is gone out and over done with,' he proclaims, about his failed romance with Harlow's character). The script is sprinkled with pithy one-liners (`To think, my grandchild being born in a jail. And such a crummy jail!') to complement the cracking pace, and demonstrates how even a movie steeped in the depression-era could be escapist fare in the hands of experts.