Too Hot to Handle (1938)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Jack Conway

Writers:

Len Hammond (story)
Laurence Stallings (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

16 September 1938 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Adventure | Romance | Drama

Tagline:

Love Scoops the world's hottest news . . . !

Plot:

Chris Hunter is a sly newsreel reporter. While in Shanghai doing reports on the Chinese-Japanese war...

Plot Keywords:

South America | Jungle | Deception | American Abroad | New York City

Cast

Clark Gable	...	Christopher 'Chris' Hunter
Myrna Loy	...	Alma Harding
Walter Pidgeon	...	William O. 'Bill' Dennis
Walter Connolly	...	Arthur 'Gabby' MacArthur, Union Newsreel chief
Leo Carrillo	...	Joselito 'José' Estanza, Hunter's soundman
Johnny Hines	...	Mr. Parsons, Dennis' associate
Virginia Weidler	...	Hulda Harding, Alma's niece
Betty Ross Clarke	...	Mrs. Ruth Harding
Henry Kolker	...	'Pearly' Todd, Atlas Newsreel chief
Marjorie Main	...	Miss Kitty Wayne
Gregory Gaye	...	Popoff
Al Shean	...	'Gumpy' Gumpert
Willie Fung	...	Willie
Lillie Mui	...	Tootsie
Patsy O'Connor	...	'Fake' Hulda

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #4453) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Filming Locations:

Sherwood Forest, California, USA

Company:

Loew's

Trivia:

Ray June took over as photographer for the last few days of shooting when Harold Rosson left to go on vacation. Also, Harrold Weinberger took over as assistant director when Joseph M. Newman became ill.

Quotes:

Christopher 'Chris' Hunter: I'm not distorting the truth. I'm heightening the composition.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Another Romance of Celluloid (1938)

Soundtrack:

Sobre las Olas (Over the Waves)

Never a dull moment!

The epitome of the madcap comedy/adventure genre! From the Japanese invasion of China to the bustle of midtown Manhatten to the Amazon jungle, never a dull moment. This could have served as the prototype for the "Indiana Jones" films or "Romancing the Stone".

War correspondent Gable is not beyond inventing a scoop if none is readily available. Myrna Loy, playing a sort of Amelia Earhart role, is duped by a rival news organization into a ploy to beat Gable at his own game. How the action moves from China to New York to a burning ship off the east coast to South America is....too complicated to describe in a short review. This may not be the best Gable film or the most convincing role ever played by Myrna Loy (although it's quite similar to her "Thin Man" roles), but it is highly entertaining. Both the filming and the story may be a little simplistic for today's taste and is certainly a far fetched plot but it's a good rip-roaring yarn nevertheless. I'll downgrade it to a 9 out of 10 only because the transfer that I saw wasn't up to the highest standards.