Clark Gable plays a con man who busts into the life of hard-boiled dame Jean Harlow. He tries to sucker her while she brushes him off with her tough-gal attitude. Despite their cynicism and cons they fall in love. When Gable accidentally kills a man during a sting he runs out leaving loyal Harlow to women's prison where she discovers she's pregnant. Anita Loos' and Howard Emmett Rogers' writing is excellent throughout with many well-drawn and surprising characters (including a Jewish socialist woman inmate and a black woman inmate and her preacher father played with hardly a trace of stereotype). Gable and Harlow show their mettle as actors adding telling nuances and quirks to their characters that send them beyond the typical Gable and Harlow roles. And the direction is much better than you'd expect from Sam Wood. One beautiful shot has Harlow being inducted into the prison, then led out into a surprisingly snowy courtyard as the camera tracks after her. This is one of the best of both the "criminals in love" and "women's prison" genres and has some of the best hard-boiled dialogue ever written.
40 Reviews
Harlow Shines
atlasmb17 May 2017
This pre-Code box office success pairs Clark Gable with Jean Harlow. Gable plays Eddie, a purveyor of the short con who, after taking advantage of his mark (or his women) quickly moves on. Harlow is Ruby, a platinum blond with common tastes who gets around and knows how to handle herself. She's the wiser of the two and she knows the odds are stacked against Eddie due to his criminal myopia.
After Eddie does a stint in jail, their relationship changes, but the consequences of past crimes derail the couple. Some reviewers have said that the film changes tone at this point and suffers from the change in focus. But this is when the viewer realizes this is Ruby's story. Eddie is the one who goes through the greatest transformation, but the tale is told from Ruby's point of view and we follow her ordeals.
Fortunately, Ms. Harlow is up to the challenge, delivering a touching performance that is multi-dimensional and deeply touching.
After Eddie does a stint in jail, their relationship changes, but the consequences of past crimes derail the couple. Some reviewers have said that the film changes tone at this point and suffers from the change in focus. But this is when the viewer realizes this is Ruby's story. Eddie is the one who goes through the greatest transformation, but the tale is told from Ruby's point of view and we follow her ordeals.
Fortunately, Ms. Harlow is up to the challenge, delivering a touching performance that is multi-dimensional and deeply touching.
Surprisingly Moving
MajRusKitt11 January 2009
Warning: Spoilers
If you only read a synopsis of the plot, this movie would sound like quite a typical one of the 1930's. The story would seem quite contrived, the subject matter maudlin. The strength and beauty of this film is in the direct, earthy performances of the cast.I have seldom seen Jean Harlow display such a range of feeling, rich and subtle nuances float over her face. If you watch their faces during the wedding ceremony in the chapel, there is such an obvious depth of feeling between the principal characters. The raw emotions are so sincerely portrayed, so true. The final sequence is almost unbearably poignant: when Clark Gable looks down with such joy and surprise at his son, lifts him up and proudly says, "My kid!", I couldn't help remember that Mr. Gable's own son was born to him posthumously. This is one of the finest examples of Depression era cinema.
My God, she is stupendous! As real as unreal gets.
whitedudekickin25 July 2003
I always loved Rita Hayworth and Ava Gardner, but not so much Jean Harlow. Me = dumb. I'd only seen clips of her films here and there. I always thought she was a hot one-liner, a glamour girl. But after seeing this, my first full length Jean Harlow experience, I admit that Miss Harlow was a truly great screen artist with the gift of creating rich characters. I simply fell in love with her, not because she was the first blonde bombshell or because she died young and became a legend. In this film, Miss Harlow's character is multi-dimensional beyond the traditional 1930's moll. She starts out one place and travels an arduous journey to end up on the other side of life. I loved her tough exterior. I loved her smile. I loved her song at the piano. My God, she was stupendous, she made me burst into tears when she sang her sad song. Most of all, I loved the HAPPY ENDING, Hollywood style. One other thing I was thrilled about was the African American inmate and her preacher father. Anita Loos was SO ahead of her time. She wrote 2 characters who were so lovely and so real. The inmate girl and her father brought such harmony to their scenes with all the white folk. A REVELATION for me. I hate stereotypes.
Love takes time; a scheme goes bad.
michaelRokeefe23 March 2011
Warning: Spoilers
This romantic comedy has Jean Harlow billed over Clark Gable and the couple are a touch or two away from combustible. Sam Wood produces and directs. Con-man Eddie Hall(Gable)in hiding from his last sucker slips into the apartment of Ruby Adams(Harlow)...from that moment the flirting, the sharp banter and "come-hither" looks begin. A quick blackmail scheme involving one of Ruby's married admires backfires when the would be victim is punched out cold, real cold...like...dead. Eddie manages to escape during the confusion, but the platinum blonde Ruby is put away for a couple years. When Eddie finds out that there is going to be a little Eddie, he must find a way to reach Ruby in the reformatory. Eddie is determined to marry Ruby so their child will not be illegitimate. Others in the cast: Stuart Erwin, Dorothy Burgess, Garry Owen, Blanche Friderici and Barbara Barondess. Harlow and Gable made six films together and this movie shows why.
precode starring Harlow and Gable
blanche-218 August 2017
Jean Harlow and Clark Gable star in "Hold Your Man," a film from 1933.
Gable plays con man Eddie Hall who runs into the apartment of Ruby Adams (Harlow) as he races to escape from the police. She's taking a bath and isn't happy having a strange man in her apartment. But Ruby has no problem taking care of herself.
Though she is dating a sturdy businessman (Stu Erwin) whom she attempts to con for her rent money, Ruby falls for Eddie. She falls for him so hard that she helps him with a con and winds up in prison. One day she gets dizzy. Well, we know what that means. But Eddie hasn't been in touch. Then, one day, she gets word of him from an unlikely person.
The highlight of this film is the snappy dialogue and the wonderful Harlow who, when she's offered a look at Gable's bedroom says, "Send me a picture of it." There was criticism here that when she went into prison, her personality changed, but I disagree. It's obvious in the beginning that she's interested in Eddie, and why wouldn't a woman in love, in prison, and pregnant, show vulnerability? That was the great thing about Harlow - underneath the street-smart wise cracks, there was a sensitivity.
Gable had been ascending the Hollywood ladder by leaps and bounds, and he is delightful here. Both he and Harlow play characters who put up a front, but ultimately their defenses come down.
I enjoyed it.
Gable plays con man Eddie Hall who runs into the apartment of Ruby Adams (Harlow) as he races to escape from the police. She's taking a bath and isn't happy having a strange man in her apartment. But Ruby has no problem taking care of herself.
Though she is dating a sturdy businessman (Stu Erwin) whom she attempts to con for her rent money, Ruby falls for Eddie. She falls for him so hard that she helps him with a con and winds up in prison. One day she gets dizzy. Well, we know what that means. But Eddie hasn't been in touch. Then, one day, she gets word of him from an unlikely person.
The highlight of this film is the snappy dialogue and the wonderful Harlow who, when she's offered a look at Gable's bedroom says, "Send me a picture of it." There was criticism here that when she went into prison, her personality changed, but I disagree. It's obvious in the beginning that she's interested in Eddie, and why wouldn't a woman in love, in prison, and pregnant, show vulnerability? That was the great thing about Harlow - underneath the street-smart wise cracks, there was a sensitivity.
Gable had been ascending the Hollywood ladder by leaps and bounds, and he is delightful here. Both he and Harlow play characters who put up a front, but ultimately their defenses come down.
I enjoyed it.
50 out of the 87 minutes are entertaining
aimless-4627 April 2006
"Hold Your Man" is significant as Harlow's transitional film from the pre-code days. Although technically the Hays Code did not go into effect until July 1934, studios were to some extent trying to police themselves earlier than that to take some of the heat off. Harlow is significantly de-tuned physically here, from the hot presence a year earlier in "Red-Headed Woman" and "Red Dust". It also appears that to illustrate their ability to police themselves without a formal approval process, the studio tacked on a moralistic second half that turned a very entertaining romantic comedy into a sappy melodrama.
The film begins when depression-era hustler Eddie (Clark Gable) and his pal Slim con a pedestrian out of $30. Running from the police he blunders into an apartment and finds Ruby (Harlow) taking a bath. Ruby turns out to be a bit of a con artist herself and gets rid of the police. Eddie takes off but he has made an impression on Ruby and she arranges an "accidental" meeting. They soon fall in love but their marriage plans are interrupted by Eddie's accidental murder of one of Ruby's marks. He gets away but Ruby gets two years in a reformatory, which is portrayed as an intense Home Economics class.
Until it crashes and burns at the end this is a slick little romantic comedy written by Anita Loos (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes). Gable provides his standard bravado and Harlow gives it right back to him. The script is quite clever and entertaining. Gable does not have quite the chemistry with Harlow that he had with Claudette Colbert or Rosalind Russell, but this is the kind of film that is best when its two stars are competing instead of cuddling.
Unfortunately the audience's identification impulse and emotional connection are casualties of Harlow's abrupt personality change from gritty seductress to dewy-eyed self-pitying victim. This confuses and distances those who were most involved in the story until that point.
Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.
The film begins when depression-era hustler Eddie (Clark Gable) and his pal Slim con a pedestrian out of $30. Running from the police he blunders into an apartment and finds Ruby (Harlow) taking a bath. Ruby turns out to be a bit of a con artist herself and gets rid of the police. Eddie takes off but he has made an impression on Ruby and she arranges an "accidental" meeting. They soon fall in love but their marriage plans are interrupted by Eddie's accidental murder of one of Ruby's marks. He gets away but Ruby gets two years in a reformatory, which is portrayed as an intense Home Economics class.
Until it crashes and burns at the end this is a slick little romantic comedy written by Anita Loos (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes). Gable provides his standard bravado and Harlow gives it right back to him. The script is quite clever and entertaining. Gable does not have quite the chemistry with Harlow that he had with Claudette Colbert or Rosalind Russell, but this is the kind of film that is best when its two stars are competing instead of cuddling.
Unfortunately the audience's identification impulse and emotional connection are casualties of Harlow's abrupt personality change from gritty seductress to dewy-eyed self-pitying victim. This confuses and distances those who were most involved in the story until that point.
Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.
Gable And Harlow Rock!
Noirdame7923 October 2005
Warning: Spoilers
This movie is witty, watchable and utterly touching. And now often do you get to see Jean Harlow (or any actress of this era, for that matter) give another woman a swift punch in the jaw? (Twice!)
After Harlow's Ruby is sent to a reformatory after getting mixed up with Gable's Edward Hall (he of that cheesy yet endearing crooked smile), her predicament becomes all the more complicated when she discovers that she is pregnant, and she's convinced that this rake has abandoned her, but in fact, her love has reformed him and he comes to see her, despite the fact that he will be arrested, and from the help of a minister, are married.
The wonderful relationship that Harlow shares with her fellow inmates is second only to her electric chemistry with Gable, who was her most frequent leading man. Her cynical character is a perfect match for Gable's smooth-talking crook. What's not to like?
"You know, you wouldn't be a bad looking dame - if it wasn't for your face!" Ruby cuttingly remarks to Gypsy, her rival. "If you're going to get that close to me, I'll have to open the other window!"
Priceless.
After Harlow's Ruby is sent to a reformatory after getting mixed up with Gable's Edward Hall (he of that cheesy yet endearing crooked smile), her predicament becomes all the more complicated when she discovers that she is pregnant, and she's convinced that this rake has abandoned her, but in fact, her love has reformed him and he comes to see her, despite the fact that he will be arrested, and from the help of a minister, are married.
The wonderful relationship that Harlow shares with her fellow inmates is second only to her electric chemistry with Gable, who was her most frequent leading man. Her cynical character is a perfect match for Gable's smooth-talking crook. What's not to like?
"You know, you wouldn't be a bad looking dame - if it wasn't for your face!" Ruby cuttingly remarks to Gypsy, her rival. "If you're going to get that close to me, I'll have to open the other window!"
Priceless.
There's a good girl hidden underneath that tough dame bravado...
mark.waltz4 May 2013
Warning: Spoilers
In a role which seems to have been inspired by Mae West, Jean Harlow is a good time gal down on her luck, hard on the men who pass through her doors, but ultimately searching for love to guide her. When con-man Clark Gable bursts through her doors (finding her in the tub!) after a scheme that has him in danger of being caught, she immediately falls underneath his spell, although denying it from the start. She does everything she can to suppress her real feelings, even giving rival Dorothy Burgess a response to a slap across the face (two in fact!) that Burgess will never forget and will have you in stitches. The first half of the film is a comic delight, filled with many great lines, such as one where Harlow snarls at Burgess, "You know you wouldn't be a bad looking dame if it wasn't for your face", but turns dramatic as Harlow faces time in a reformatory while carrying Gable's child.
A gem of a supporting cast includes Stuart Erwin, Elizabeth Patterson, Vera Lewis, and Louise Beavers in a bit role. There's a sensitive storyline involving a black inmate and her preacher father which treats them with dignity and absolutely no stereotype, an important plot point in the last reel. Harlow gets to wear some outrageous outfits, including one that looks like an orchid on steroids.
A gem of a supporting cast includes Stuart Erwin, Elizabeth Patterson, Vera Lewis, and Louise Beavers in a bit role. There's a sensitive storyline involving a black inmate and her preacher father which treats them with dignity and absolutely no stereotype, an important plot point in the last reel. Harlow gets to wear some outrageous outfits, including one that looks like an orchid on steroids.
Surprisingly sweet and romantic film
divapig28 April 2006
Warning: Spoilers
I expected this film to be a run-of-the-mill 1930's romance. Boy meets girl, they fall in love, boy loses girl, boy wins her back in the end. It wasn't like that at all. Clark Gable plays con artist Eddie with all his usual charisma and mischievous eyebrow raising. He is hiding out from the cops when he bursts into Ruby (Jean Harlow)'s apartment, to find her covered in bubbles in the bathtub, no less. Instant chemistry.She plays hard to get for a while, but a girl can only resist that grin for so long. The heat between them is evident, and there are some scenes that are definitely pre-production code! When a blackmail job goes bad and Ruby ends up in a boarding house for "troubled girls", she is miserable and, thanks to the ragging her roommate gives her, begins to believe that Eddie will never come for her. Harlow plays the hard-nosed, fast talking Ruby perfectly. She never lets Gable get all the good lines! There is an especially moving scene with her playing "their song" on the piano that is acted perfectly. The last fifteen minutes have me crying every time. A truly sweet romance.
Next best thing to a time machine
1930s_Time_Machine13 February 2022
Transports you back to 1932! Has the feel of an early WB b-movie at the start. It captures the feel and mood of the time brilliantly. Gable and Harlow could easily have been Cagney and Blondell although I think Joan Blondell would have done this much, much better.
Half way through however the film switches from happy-go-lucky to a much darker place. Harlow isn't too bad and carries the film from then but the supporting cast are horribly wooden. Refreshing however to have a couple of black actors in proper roles which was rare for then. Nice to see.
Although it's MGM, it's not as classy as you'd expect. It feels a bit rushed; like it's been thrown together in a couple of weeks to cash in on the success of Gable and Harlow's previous hit, Red Dust (which is a much better film). Nevertheless an engaging little film, definitely worth watching but it's no classic.
Half way through however the film switches from happy-go-lucky to a much darker place. Harlow isn't too bad and carries the film from then but the supporting cast are horribly wooden. Refreshing however to have a couple of black actors in proper roles which was rare for then. Nice to see.
Although it's MGM, it's not as classy as you'd expect. It feels a bit rushed; like it's been thrown together in a couple of weeks to cash in on the success of Gable and Harlow's previous hit, Red Dust (which is a much better film). Nevertheless an engaging little film, definitely worth watching but it's no classic.
Jean In Stir
bkoganbing27 November 2007
Hold Your Man finds Jean Harlow, working class girl from Brooklyn falling for con man Clark Gable and getting in all kinds of trouble. The film starts out as his film, but by the time it's over the emphasis definitely switches to her character.
The film opens with Gable pulling a street con game with partner, Garry Owen and the mark yelling for the cops. As he's being chased Gable ducks into Harlow's apartment and being he's such a charming fellow, she shields him.
Before long she's involved with him and unfortunately with his rackets. Gable, Harlow, and Owen try pulling a badger game on a drunken Paul Hurst, but then Gable won't go through with it. Of course when Hurst realizes it was a con, he's still sore and gets belligerent and Gable has to punch him out. But then he winds up dead outside Harlow's apartment and that platinum blond hair makes her easy to identify. She goes up on an accomplice to manslaughter.
The rest of the film is her's and her adjustment to prison life. Her interaction with the other female prisoners give her some very good scenes. I think some of the material was later used for the MGM classic Caged.
Harlow also gets to do the title song and it's done as torch style ballad, very popular back in those days. She talk/sings it in the manner of Sophie Tucker and quite well.
Gable is well cast as the con man who develops a conscience, a part he'd play often, most notably in my favorite Gable film, Honky Tonk.
Still it's Harlow who gets to shine in this film. I think it's one of the best she did at MGM, her fans should not miss it.
The film opens with Gable pulling a street con game with partner, Garry Owen and the mark yelling for the cops. As he's being chased Gable ducks into Harlow's apartment and being he's such a charming fellow, she shields him.
Before long she's involved with him and unfortunately with his rackets. Gable, Harlow, and Owen try pulling a badger game on a drunken Paul Hurst, but then Gable won't go through with it. Of course when Hurst realizes it was a con, he's still sore and gets belligerent and Gable has to punch him out. But then he winds up dead outside Harlow's apartment and that platinum blond hair makes her easy to identify. She goes up on an accomplice to manslaughter.
The rest of the film is her's and her adjustment to prison life. Her interaction with the other female prisoners give her some very good scenes. I think some of the material was later used for the MGM classic Caged.
Harlow also gets to do the title song and it's done as torch style ballad, very popular back in those days. She talk/sings it in the manner of Sophie Tucker and quite well.
Gable is well cast as the con man who develops a conscience, a part he'd play often, most notably in my favorite Gable film, Honky Tonk.
Still it's Harlow who gets to shine in this film. I think it's one of the best she did at MGM, her fans should not miss it.
"Even your smile's crooked."
utgard1421 May 2014
Jean Harlow plays a streetwise dame who falls for charming con man Clark Gable. After Gable accidentally kills a guy, he takes off and leaves Harlow to take the rap. She winds up in a women's reformatory where she discovers she's pregnant. Mix of romantic comedy and drama helped a lot by the immense likability and sublime chemistry of its two leads. Harlow is terrific. One great scene has a floozy slapping Jean, only to get a punch in the kisser in return. The floozy tries it again later and gets the same results! Gable is as roguish as ever. It's hard to dislike him, even when he plays a cad. Love the girls at the reformatory. They're fun characters with some great lines. The sweet ending will please everybody but cynical types. Harlow fans should love this one.
Con Couple Shifts into Sap Mode
krdement25 January 2009
This movie down-shifts from 4th into 1st without bothering with 3rd or 2nd, grinding gears all the way to the sappy, b-movie finish-line. The con at the beginning is easily the best and cleverest part of the movie. That is worth seeing. The scene with Harlow in the bathtub occurs so fast, you may miss it. Definitely not worth all the ballyhoo provided by Robert Osborne in his TCM intro to this bad-to-mediocre confusion. There is no real conflict, and all of the characters in this supposed fringe society turn out to be saints - especially the unbelievable character, Al. I wonder if he's got a job for me in Cincinnati?
Gable and Harlow demonstrate star power in this lesser known pairing.
Poseidon-331 January 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Two of MGM's most memorable stars enjoy some snazzy scenes together in this somewhat uneven, but mostly entertaining, romantic film. Gable, a con man, has to hot-foot it from the police after a scam gone wrong and winds up in the apartment of Harlow, who's no slouch in the pilfering business herself, though she gets her dough from an array of men in her life. After an uneasy start, they become close and embark on a relationship, one that isn't above the odd con job, but, when one goes horribly wrong, Gable is on the lam again and Harlow is sent off to a reformatory for women! Here things get a little sticky as Harlow pines for Gable and he risks everything in order to see her. A gaggle of fellow inmates work overtime in order to reunite the couple as the police close in. Gable looks positively adorable here. He delivers his lines with confidence and panache, but also reveals many different shades as his character begins to regard Harlow as more than just another floozy. His big emotional scene is, perhaps, a bit beyond his range, but most of the time he's in fine form and shares sparkling chemistry with his leading lady. Harlow is equally fine. She has a boatload of one-liners and wisecracks and delivers them all with her wonderfully common and knowing persona. She doesn't skimp on the emotional aspects of her character, though. It's a strong performance with a lot of variety to it. She is filmed, however, with some astonishingly heavy soft focus for someone who was only 22 or 23! Erwin appears as one of Harlow's devoted suitors and Burgess (the real-life niece of Fay Bainter) is one of Gable's cast-offs. She and Harlow have some terrifically bitchy exchanges in the film along with some physicality. Notable for its time is the fairly prominent presence of Harris as a black inmate at the reformatory. Though she is depicted as rooming in a different area, she spends much time in Harlow's room and has a substantial role with no mention made of race. Her father in the film, played by Reed, also has a critical role, though that is one of the more saccharine bits of the storyline. A good example of how busy MGM's stable of supporting players were is Friderici as the head matron. She appeared in 15 films the year before this one and 10 this year before dying in December (and appearing in two previously-filmed 1934 films after that!) The vast difference between the lighthearted first half and the more soapy second half may disappoint some viewers, but fans of the stars will surely enjoy seeing them go through their paces regardless. It's not an overly long film and has many captivating facets to it. The quasi-happy ending would likely not be possible just a year later when the Production Code was fully functioning.
Harlow and Gable sizzle but the film is only good in the first half...
Doylenf18 September 2009
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.
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.
best with both Gable and Harlow
SnoopyStyle12 April 2019
Petty grifter Eddie Hall (Clark Gable) and his crime partner Slim are chased by their mark and a policeman. Eddie hides in the apartment of Ruby Adams (Jean Harlow). She's also a hustler with many of her men. Slim suggests a blackmail con on one of those men. Eddie gets jealous and punches the man who accidentally dies. Eddie goes on the run and Ruby is locked up.
Both stars would reach higher heights. Their charisma is undeniable. Her entrance in the bubble bath is superb and his version is hilarious. It does get a bit muddled but the biggest hurdle comes when Clark Gable doesn't get any screen time for a whole large section in the middle. The movie works with both of them and when Gable disappears, the movie stagnates. It would be so much better if the two of them go on the run together as fugitives. No matter what, they need to stay together for the chemistry to work. The movie started with Gable and it's hard when he goes away.
Both stars would reach higher heights. Their charisma is undeniable. Her entrance in the bubble bath is superb and his version is hilarious. It does get a bit muddled but the biggest hurdle comes when Clark Gable doesn't get any screen time for a whole large section in the middle. The movie works with both of them and when Gable disappears, the movie stagnates. It would be so much better if the two of them go on the run together as fugitives. No matter what, they need to stay together for the chemistry to work. The movie started with Gable and it's hard when he goes away.
Reckless Love
lugonian28 April 2014
HOLD YOUR MAN (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1933), directed Sam Wood, places its two leading players from RED DUST (1932) fame from jungle plantation of Indo-China to Depression-era Brooklyn, New York. It also reverses their star billing over the title from Clark Gable and Jean Harlow in RED DUST to Jean Harlow and Clark Gable in HOLD YOUR MAN. Being more Harlow's movie than Gable's, considering a long stretch where he's off-screen in the midway point, the dual continues their likely screen partnership in an unlikely but not entirely uninteresting story written by Anita Loos.
For its opening shot, a wallet is dropped on the sidewalk. Eddie Huntington Hall (Clark Gable, minus mustache) and another passerby pick it up only find a ring and two dollars inside. After defrauding the other man of forty dollars, Eddie, a slick confidence man by profession, ends up being followed and chased after by both victim and a policeman. He runs into an apartment building, up the stairs and enters an unlocked apartment door of Ruby Adams (Jean Harlow), a sassy 19-year-old girl whose "been around and knows all the answers." Rather than turning him over to the police, and taking a liking to his crooked smile, Ruby helps him out. After the two get acquainted, a knock on the door has Eddie hiding in the next room where he suddenly disappears when Ruby comes looking for him. Tracing him to his favorite speakeasy, The Elite, Ruby has Al Simpson (Stuart Erwin), a "swell guy" who loves her unconditionally, escort her there. After a few occasional visits, Ruby finally locates Eddie, and the two get together once more. Later that evening, Ruby comes to Eddie's residence at the Norma Apartments where she unexpectedly meets up with his drunken girlfriend, Gypsy Angicon (Dorothy Burgess) leading to verbal insults with instant rivalry. After spending 90 days in jail on a crooked job with pals Slim (Garry Owen) and Phil (George Pat Collins), Eddie talks Ruby on assisting him in one of his latest blackmail schemes. Things go afoul when the police arrest Ruby and Eddie disappears, letting her take the rap. Sentenced to serve two years in a state reformatory under Mrs. Wagner (Blanche Frederici), along with Mrs. Tuttle (Elizabeth Patterson) and Miss Allen (Lillian Harmer) as the matrons, Ruby finds herself sharing the same quarters with Sadie Kline (Barbara Barondess), a socialist, Bertha Dillon (Muriel Kirkland) and much to her surprise, her arch rival, Gypsy. Even more to Ruby's surprise is to find she's pregnant (as she would be again while serving time in RIFFRAFF (MGM, 1935) with Spencer Tracy) and wondering if she will ever get to hold her man (Eddie) again.
HOLD YOUR MAN (no relation to the Universal 1929 drama starring Laura LaPlante) does live up to its title in plot. It's also a title used in theme song, with words and music by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed initially heard on a phonograph record, then reprized by Harlow herself in the reformatory segment while playing the piano to her fellow inmates. Aside from Harlow's singing, there's a segment during church service where the inmates of various ethnic backgrounds gather together singing "Onward Christian Soldiers." On a couple of on-screen occasions earlier in the story, both Eddie and Ruby rate "Hold Your Man" as their favorite song. The song would be used again for another Gable movie, DANCING LADY (1933), a backstage musical starring Joan Crawford, sung by the one and only Winnie Lightner. Others in the cast include: Theresa Harris (Lily Mae Crippen), the preacher's (George Reed) daughter also serving time in the reformatory; Paul Hurst (Aubrey Mitchell); Inez Courtney (Maizie); and in smaller roles, Louise Beavers (The Maid), Joseph Sawyer and Wade Boteler (The Policemen).
In some ways, HOLD YOUR MAN tends to be a reminder to many of those hard-luck dame/confidence man related themes most commonly found during the Depression era, at best from the Warner Brothers studio. Though HOLD YOUR MAN has some traces of James Cagney and Joan Blondell sassy style from BLONDE CRAZY (Warners, 1931), a bit here and there from Mae West's I'M NO ANGEL (Paramount, 1933) where duping a sucker (William B. Davidson) to blackmail, the film stands well on its own merits, even when the raunchy comedy shifts to serious melodrama with certain scenes that really don't ring true-to-life.
Classic moments include Gable's Eddie hiding from the law while taking a bubble bath in Ruby's bath-rub; Eddie's reaction when observing a handful of autographed photos from Ruby's male lovers posted all over her living-room; Harlow-Burgess facial slap/jaw socking return incidents (a scene that got the most laughs during its 1981 movie revival screening at New York City's Regency Theater); and the usual pre-code sassy verbal exchanges between Gable and Harlow being true highlights. Stuart Erwin, in a role of Mr. Nice Guy, is played to the limit, but quite satisfactory as nice guy's go, even in Cincinnati.
With the rare exception of a 1978 late show presentation on WKBS, Channel 48, in Philadelphia, HOLD YOUR MAN has become the least known of the six on-screen collaborations of Gable and Harlow. It wasn't until February 15, 1986 when HOLD YOUR MAN finally made it to New York City television on public broadcasting station, WNET, Channel 13, as part of its Cinema Thirteen Saturday night classic movies lineup.
Distributed to home video in the 1990s and later onto DVD, HOLD YOUR MAN can be seen to a film lovers delight whenever shown on Turner Classic Movies cable channel. (***)
For its opening shot, a wallet is dropped on the sidewalk. Eddie Huntington Hall (Clark Gable, minus mustache) and another passerby pick it up only find a ring and two dollars inside. After defrauding the other man of forty dollars, Eddie, a slick confidence man by profession, ends up being followed and chased after by both victim and a policeman. He runs into an apartment building, up the stairs and enters an unlocked apartment door of Ruby Adams (Jean Harlow), a sassy 19-year-old girl whose "been around and knows all the answers." Rather than turning him over to the police, and taking a liking to his crooked smile, Ruby helps him out. After the two get acquainted, a knock on the door has Eddie hiding in the next room where he suddenly disappears when Ruby comes looking for him. Tracing him to his favorite speakeasy, The Elite, Ruby has Al Simpson (Stuart Erwin), a "swell guy" who loves her unconditionally, escort her there. After a few occasional visits, Ruby finally locates Eddie, and the two get together once more. Later that evening, Ruby comes to Eddie's residence at the Norma Apartments where she unexpectedly meets up with his drunken girlfriend, Gypsy Angicon (Dorothy Burgess) leading to verbal insults with instant rivalry. After spending 90 days in jail on a crooked job with pals Slim (Garry Owen) and Phil (George Pat Collins), Eddie talks Ruby on assisting him in one of his latest blackmail schemes. Things go afoul when the police arrest Ruby and Eddie disappears, letting her take the rap. Sentenced to serve two years in a state reformatory under Mrs. Wagner (Blanche Frederici), along with Mrs. Tuttle (Elizabeth Patterson) and Miss Allen (Lillian Harmer) as the matrons, Ruby finds herself sharing the same quarters with Sadie Kline (Barbara Barondess), a socialist, Bertha Dillon (Muriel Kirkland) and much to her surprise, her arch rival, Gypsy. Even more to Ruby's surprise is to find she's pregnant (as she would be again while serving time in RIFFRAFF (MGM, 1935) with Spencer Tracy) and wondering if she will ever get to hold her man (Eddie) again.
HOLD YOUR MAN (no relation to the Universal 1929 drama starring Laura LaPlante) does live up to its title in plot. It's also a title used in theme song, with words and music by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed initially heard on a phonograph record, then reprized by Harlow herself in the reformatory segment while playing the piano to her fellow inmates. Aside from Harlow's singing, there's a segment during church service where the inmates of various ethnic backgrounds gather together singing "Onward Christian Soldiers." On a couple of on-screen occasions earlier in the story, both Eddie and Ruby rate "Hold Your Man" as their favorite song. The song would be used again for another Gable movie, DANCING LADY (1933), a backstage musical starring Joan Crawford, sung by the one and only Winnie Lightner. Others in the cast include: Theresa Harris (Lily Mae Crippen), the preacher's (George Reed) daughter also serving time in the reformatory; Paul Hurst (Aubrey Mitchell); Inez Courtney (Maizie); and in smaller roles, Louise Beavers (The Maid), Joseph Sawyer and Wade Boteler (The Policemen).
In some ways, HOLD YOUR MAN tends to be a reminder to many of those hard-luck dame/confidence man related themes most commonly found during the Depression era, at best from the Warner Brothers studio. Though HOLD YOUR MAN has some traces of James Cagney and Joan Blondell sassy style from BLONDE CRAZY (Warners, 1931), a bit here and there from Mae West's I'M NO ANGEL (Paramount, 1933) where duping a sucker (William B. Davidson) to blackmail, the film stands well on its own merits, even when the raunchy comedy shifts to serious melodrama with certain scenes that really don't ring true-to-life.
Classic moments include Gable's Eddie hiding from the law while taking a bubble bath in Ruby's bath-rub; Eddie's reaction when observing a handful of autographed photos from Ruby's male lovers posted all over her living-room; Harlow-Burgess facial slap/jaw socking return incidents (a scene that got the most laughs during its 1981 movie revival screening at New York City's Regency Theater); and the usual pre-code sassy verbal exchanges between Gable and Harlow being true highlights. Stuart Erwin, in a role of Mr. Nice Guy, is played to the limit, but quite satisfactory as nice guy's go, even in Cincinnati.
With the rare exception of a 1978 late show presentation on WKBS, Channel 48, in Philadelphia, HOLD YOUR MAN has become the least known of the six on-screen collaborations of Gable and Harlow. It wasn't until February 15, 1986 when HOLD YOUR MAN finally made it to New York City television on public broadcasting station, WNET, Channel 13, as part of its Cinema Thirteen Saturday night classic movies lineup.
Distributed to home video in the 1990s and later onto DVD, HOLD YOUR MAN can be seen to a film lovers delight whenever shown on Turner Classic Movies cable channel. (***)
Pre-code joy, and Gable and Harlow shine
gbill-7487714 October 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Jean Harlow and Clark Gable provide high-wattage star power in this film filled with classic images of both. Ah, the 1930's, when you could elude the law by waltzing into a young woman's unlocked apartment, find her taking a bath, and then have her come out and not only cover for you, but iron your clothes. The pair have great chemistry and repartee, and sparks fly. Dorothy Burgess is a firecracker as Gable's old girlfriend who drinks a little too much, and Stuart Erwin is solid as his sidekick in grifting. Overall, the film has that playful, pre-Code joy to it, naughty as it is. The screenplay by Anita Loos and Howard Emmett Rogers is delightful, and the direction from Sam Wood includes some wonderful shots. The final 45 minutes drag a bit, as Harlow is sentenced to a reformatory school, though it was nice to see the shenanigans of her fellow inmates, which included the lovely Theresa Harris, and Harlow singing at the piano to them. It's interesting to see the reaction to Harlow being pregnant, which leads to some over-the-top melodrama in the form of Gable pleading for a preacher to perform marriage services. You can see the ending coming a mile away, but an entertaining film throughout.
Love Will Out.
rmax30482317 May 2017
Warning: Spoilers
It's 1933 in a unnamed city and prohibition is still in effect. People are still drinking homemade. "Scotch, eh? Glasgow or Brooklyn?" In fact, some of the most impressive features of this unimposing drama are in the snappy dialog. Not TOO snappy, even though this was shot pre-code, but just snappy enough.
Jean Harlow is a tough urban babe, seduced by the reckless and cocky Clark Gable. A mix-up puts Harlow in a reformatory, convicted of having something to do with a crime of which Gable was the sole author. Most of the movie takes place within the confines of the reformatory. It's not nearly as depressing a milieu as those we see in period movies about men in the penitentiary. Harlow is ensconced in what seems more like a particularly strict boarding house or maybe a loose-limbed convent. She has four roommates, whose characters are nicely limned in.
It's the depths of the Great Depression, see, and one of them is a communist who launches into ideological tirades against their damned sewing machines. Another was Harlow's rival for Gable on the outside. A third functions as a lumpy observer. The fourth is a sympathetic and helpful young black girl, Lilly Mae, without a hint of political correctness but also without screen credit. She's the most likable person in the movie, played by Theresa Harris, who was the affable waitress in "Cat People" and a maid in "I Walked With A Zombie".
Harlow shortly turns out to be pregnant and when Gable learns of her predicament he's stricken with guilt. Gable manages to wangle a marriage while visiting Harlow in the reformatory and is arrested for his crime. Last shot, Gable and Harlow are released, happy to be with their little kid, kissing on the public street. The end.
It's not bad actually. Gable is unbelievable while sobbing with guilt, but other than that the characters are pretty well drawn and the story involving. Harlow's performance is unusually subtle, for Harlow.
Jean Harlow is a tough urban babe, seduced by the reckless and cocky Clark Gable. A mix-up puts Harlow in a reformatory, convicted of having something to do with a crime of which Gable was the sole author. Most of the movie takes place within the confines of the reformatory. It's not nearly as depressing a milieu as those we see in period movies about men in the penitentiary. Harlow is ensconced in what seems more like a particularly strict boarding house or maybe a loose-limbed convent. She has four roommates, whose characters are nicely limned in.
It's the depths of the Great Depression, see, and one of them is a communist who launches into ideological tirades against their damned sewing machines. Another was Harlow's rival for Gable on the outside. A third functions as a lumpy observer. The fourth is a sympathetic and helpful young black girl, Lilly Mae, without a hint of political correctness but also without screen credit. She's the most likable person in the movie, played by Theresa Harris, who was the affable waitress in "Cat People" and a maid in "I Walked With A Zombie".
Harlow shortly turns out to be pregnant and when Gable learns of her predicament he's stricken with guilt. Gable manages to wangle a marriage while visiting Harlow in the reformatory and is arrested for his crime. Last shot, Gable and Harlow are released, happy to be with their little kid, kissing on the public street. The end.
It's not bad actually. Gable is unbelievable while sobbing with guilt, but other than that the characters are pretty well drawn and the story involving. Harlow's performance is unusually subtle, for Harlow.
Good cast as not-so-good characters
morrisonhimself20 April 2009
One of the great mysteries of life, suffered from daily, is why nice girls so often are more interested in the jerks and heels than in the nice guys.
Worse, when the nice guys even want to marry those girls, the girls STILL prefer the jerks and heels, even after the jerks and heels have shown their contempt, have shown they're just interested in using the girls.
Stu Erwin is the nice guy, who continues to be nice after being lied to and cheated and even after losing the girl completely.
Clark Gable is the jerk, and he is perfect in the role, rather a sad note to his fans.
Jean Harlow comes across as a more slender Mae West, even sounding like La West in some of her cynical throwaway lines.
Somewhat puzzling is that so many of the other characters, intended to be bad guys -- I mean, heck, they're locked up, so they must be -- are so obviously nice people.
In fact, there are lots of nice people here, people who, in a lesser film or story, would be snarling and back-stabbing but here go out of their way to help someone else.
So, maybe the story is rather clichéd, at least by modern standards, but ultimately the viewer will be glad to have watched.
The biggest complaint I have is that so many really good actors are not given credit. Once again, we can say a fervent "Thank You" to IMDb.com.
Worse, when the nice guys even want to marry those girls, the girls STILL prefer the jerks and heels, even after the jerks and heels have shown their contempt, have shown they're just interested in using the girls.
Stu Erwin is the nice guy, who continues to be nice after being lied to and cheated and even after losing the girl completely.
Clark Gable is the jerk, and he is perfect in the role, rather a sad note to his fans.
Jean Harlow comes across as a more slender Mae West, even sounding like La West in some of her cynical throwaway lines.
Somewhat puzzling is that so many of the other characters, intended to be bad guys -- I mean, heck, they're locked up, so they must be -- are so obviously nice people.
In fact, there are lots of nice people here, people who, in a lesser film or story, would be snarling and back-stabbing but here go out of their way to help someone else.
So, maybe the story is rather clichéd, at least by modern standards, but ultimately the viewer will be glad to have watched.
The biggest complaint I have is that so many really good actors are not given credit. Once again, we can say a fervent "Thank You" to IMDb.com.
not very good
kyle_furr31 March 2004
The first scene is pretty good when Clark Gable tries to con a guy out of 50 bucks but the movie just goes downhill from there. The guy Gable tried to con finds he's a fake and chases after him with a cop. Gable runs into an apartment building and hides in Jean Harlow's apartment. Harlow agrees to hide him out even though she doesn't know who he is. He leaves and she wants to see him again so she's always hanging out at his restaurant. They meet again and begin going out but Gable is arrested in a con gone bad and pretty soon Harlow gets arrested too. Right before Gable was arrested they were about to be married. Both Gable and Harlow are pretty good and they worked several times together.
Harlow and Gable at their best.
mountainkath19 January 2009
Warning: Spoilers
Jean Harlow and Clark Gable were a great on screen team and this may be their best movie together.
Yes, Hold Your Man can be cheesy and predictable, but that's not what I love about the movie. I love seeing Harlow and Gable together and in this film they are simply wonderful. It is obvious that they really enjoyed working together and that is part of what makes this such a wonderful film.
The witty dialogue, great script and attention to detail are the other things that make this such a good movie. I loved this movie the first time I saw it and on each subsequent viewing I always notice at least one new detail. To me, that is a mark of a great film.
The dialogue and script are better than most movies from this time period (early 30's). I adore classic movies, but I admit that most of them are just average and at times don't hold my interest. Hold Your Man is one of the exceptions.
This has a lot to do with the fact that Hold Your Man is a 'pre-code' movie. (The Hays code was not enforced until a year after Hold Your Man.) This movie could not have been made under the code. Well, it could have been made, but it would have been an entirely different story. Thank goodness the code was not enforced until 1934. Otherwise, we would have missed out on this gem.
Yes, Hold Your Man can be cheesy and predictable, but that's not what I love about the movie. I love seeing Harlow and Gable together and in this film they are simply wonderful. It is obvious that they really enjoyed working together and that is part of what makes this such a wonderful film.
The witty dialogue, great script and attention to detail are the other things that make this such a good movie. I loved this movie the first time I saw it and on each subsequent viewing I always notice at least one new detail. To me, that is a mark of a great film.
The dialogue and script are better than most movies from this time period (early 30's). I adore classic movies, but I admit that most of them are just average and at times don't hold my interest. Hold Your Man is one of the exceptions.
This has a lot to do with the fact that Hold Your Man is a 'pre-code' movie. (The Hays code was not enforced until a year after Hold Your Man.) This movie could not have been made under the code. Well, it could have been made, but it would have been an entirely different story. Thank goodness the code was not enforced until 1934. Otherwise, we would have missed out on this gem.
An unexpected tough romance from Sam Wood, well performed by Clark Gable and Jean Harlow.
SAMTHEBESTEST1 August 2023
Hold Your Man (1933) :
Brief Review -
An unexpected tough romance from Sam Wood, well performed by Clark Gable and Jean Harlow. I am well acquainted with Sam Wood's works, but most of them have been comedies or entertaining films. Barring those Marx Bros comedies, his sports drama The Pride of the Yankees was an entertaining affair too. Hold Your Man came much before talkie cinema evolved. Maybe he was taking a premature step at the time and trying to deal with tough things without any aggressive vision. Hold Your Man is simply divided into two categories. The first half is a rom-com, while the latter half is a serious romantic drama. The film tells the story of a small-time conman who is all in for easy jobs. He meets a dame, and they fall in love. Just when he thinks of giving a name to their relationship, a calamity sets them apart. The woman is sent to jail, and the man is being chased outside by the cops. Before she could get over the fact that she had to live 2 years in sorrow, she learned about her pregnancy. Now, will these get together? If yes, then how? Catch all the drama in the last 15 minutes. This may be a film with a title about a man, but let me tell you, a woman, aka Jean Harlow, has the best part. She is superb as Ruby. It's a character that doesn't have much sense, and all it knows is love. Jean is so attractive that any man can fall in love with her and never forget her. Gable and Harlow worked in a few films around that period, and people loved them together. Gable is a conman, but not a hateful fella. He is charming and a man with little sense, and we get to know that sensible side in the last 15 minutes. I should say that Sam Wood has made a wooden love story because it's that tough. There is less comedy, less thrill, and less drama, but somehow small small amount of these elements make a good one-time watch. The baby steps in a rom-com turning into a sad drama.
RATING - 6/10*
By - #samthebestest.
An unexpected tough romance from Sam Wood, well performed by Clark Gable and Jean Harlow. I am well acquainted with Sam Wood's works, but most of them have been comedies or entertaining films. Barring those Marx Bros comedies, his sports drama The Pride of the Yankees was an entertaining affair too. Hold Your Man came much before talkie cinema evolved. Maybe he was taking a premature step at the time and trying to deal with tough things without any aggressive vision. Hold Your Man is simply divided into two categories. The first half is a rom-com, while the latter half is a serious romantic drama. The film tells the story of a small-time conman who is all in for easy jobs. He meets a dame, and they fall in love. Just when he thinks of giving a name to their relationship, a calamity sets them apart. The woman is sent to jail, and the man is being chased outside by the cops. Before she could get over the fact that she had to live 2 years in sorrow, she learned about her pregnancy. Now, will these get together? If yes, then how? Catch all the drama in the last 15 minutes. This may be a film with a title about a man, but let me tell you, a woman, aka Jean Harlow, has the best part. She is superb as Ruby. It's a character that doesn't have much sense, and all it knows is love. Jean is so attractive that any man can fall in love with her and never forget her. Gable and Harlow worked in a few films around that period, and people loved them together. Gable is a conman, but not a hateful fella. He is charming and a man with little sense, and we get to know that sensible side in the last 15 minutes. I should say that Sam Wood has made a wooden love story because it's that tough. There is less comedy, less thrill, and less drama, but somehow small small amount of these elements make a good one-time watch. The baby steps in a rom-com turning into a sad drama.
RATING - 6/10*
By - #samthebestest.
a rotten movie that surprisingly hasn't been noticed for the stinker it is.
planktonrules9 June 2005
This is one of the very worst films Clark Gable made. Only PARNELL was obviously worse. It is just so painfully clichéd and the dialog is so lousy that it is something neither Gable nor Jean Harlow should have been proud of making.
Gable is a heel whose illegal activities result in his girl going' to the slammer (like the gangster talk?). She holds out hope that he'll do the right thing but he just leaves her there--unknown to either of them, gosh, that she's "in the family way". Eventually, the rogue returns to do the right thing and somehow they tie this all together into a happy ending! They seemed to have forgotten about Gable's needing to take the rap and spend several years in the hoosegow. Leonard Maltin says "the stars are at their best here". By what standard? Best at producing unintended chuckles? Gimme a break!
PS--after saying this, my wife thinks Leonard Maltin is going to find me and kick my butt. Hmmm. However, despite my comment, I think Mr. Maltin is the finest reviewer and human being on the planet (I hope that appeased him).
UPDATE--2/2/08. Because I disliked this film so much the first time (especially the ridiculous ending), I decided to watch it once again. After all, sometimes when I watch a film again I like it much more and realize that I was a bit too harsh. While that has been the case with several films in recent months, I still disliked this film--even the second time. Most of it was not because of the first half of the film. In the first half, Harlow's character was amazingly stupid but at least it was believable. But when she was sent to prison, it was all clichés until the final ridiculous marriage scene occurred. The bottom line is that this sequence is embarrassingly dumb--it just makes no sense at all and is akin to turning the movie into some wacky fairy tale instead of a love story about two cons. I stand by my original review (despite all the "NOT HELPFULS") and think that aside from PARNELL and possibly POLLY AT THE CIRCUS, it might just be the worst Gable film.
Gable is a heel whose illegal activities result in his girl going' to the slammer (like the gangster talk?). She holds out hope that he'll do the right thing but he just leaves her there--unknown to either of them, gosh, that she's "in the family way". Eventually, the rogue returns to do the right thing and somehow they tie this all together into a happy ending! They seemed to have forgotten about Gable's needing to take the rap and spend several years in the hoosegow. Leonard Maltin says "the stars are at their best here". By what standard? Best at producing unintended chuckles? Gimme a break!
PS--after saying this, my wife thinks Leonard Maltin is going to find me and kick my butt. Hmmm. However, despite my comment, I think Mr. Maltin is the finest reviewer and human being on the planet (I hope that appeased him).
UPDATE--2/2/08. Because I disliked this film so much the first time (especially the ridiculous ending), I decided to watch it once again. After all, sometimes when I watch a film again I like it much more and realize that I was a bit too harsh. While that has been the case with several films in recent months, I still disliked this film--even the second time. Most of it was not because of the first half of the film. In the first half, Harlow's character was amazingly stupid but at least it was believable. But when she was sent to prison, it was all clichés until the final ridiculous marriage scene occurred. The bottom line is that this sequence is embarrassingly dumb--it just makes no sense at all and is akin to turning the movie into some wacky fairy tale instead of a love story about two cons. I stand by my original review (despite all the "NOT HELPFULS") and think that aside from PARNELL and possibly POLLY AT THE CIRCUS, it might just be the worst Gable film.
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