Goldie

I sought out this film because I'm a big Warren Hymer fan (yes, we exist). It's nice to see him in a leading role with Spencer Tracy (they'd go on to make several more films together, all of which are better than this one) and Jean Harlow when she was beginning to get noticed in Hollywood.

The script for this remake is quite weak but the three leads do their best to elevate the material they're working with. The original Howard Hawks film "A Girl in Every Port" is slightly better because the characters are more real and the story is less hateful towards women in general. There's even a scene in the original film (missing from this remake) where the two friends come together to help a single mother and her child. Here, Harlow manages to be much more scheming and outright evil than Louise Brooks.

Hymer's best moment comes towards the end when he learns the truth about Goldie and the realization of betrayal hits him. It's a shame that Warren Hymer became typecast as a thick-headed goof (he graduated from YALE) after the Hays Code came into effect because his Pre-Code output contains impressive performances (Sinners' Holiday, Men Without Women, Up the River, One Way Passage, Madison Sq. Garden, I Love That Man). This particular film isn't his best work but if you enjoy him in other films, it's likely you'll enjoy him in this one too.

I'd really like to see "Goldie" shown on TCM, Fox Movie Channel or released through Fox Cinema Archives manufacture-on-demand line of DVDs. If you see it's being screened in your local revival movie house, check it out for curiosity's sake.