From Warner Bros. comes Hollywood Icon Clark Gable and screen legend Jean Harlow in the drama China Seas.
Hard-nosed, hard drinking Captain Gaskell (Clark Gable) is skipper of the ship China Seas. She’s sailing from Hong Kong to Singapore carrying a cargo of gold and a group of assorted passengers.
They include his former girlfriend Dolly “China Doll” Portland (Jean Harlow), mysterious businessman Jamesy MacArdle (Wallace Beery), and drunken writer Charlie McCaleb (Robert Benchley, as comic relief). Jealousy abounds when a flame from Gaskell’s past shows up in the form of widowed Englishwoman
Widowed meaning now newly available for the good Captain’s affections, this does not set well with our China Doll who still holds a flame for the Captain. If that wasn’t enough, Gaskell has to take on a new third mate since the current holder of the position is wounded in a bar fight. He’s saddled with Mr. Davids (Lewis Stone), the lone surviving white man from a pirate raid on another freighter.
The crew looks down upon Mr. Davids suspecting that he had something to do with the raid on the other ship. To make matters even worse, all of the goings on take place under the watchful eye of the ship’s owner Sir Guy Wilmerding (C. Aubrey Smith). So now not only does Gaskell have to deal with the female rivalry, but the potential attack from pirates since it’s well know that the China Seas is carrying a shipment of gold.
Gable and Harlow
I found China Seas a dated but enjoyable movie. Gable and Harlow play well off of each other and their rows are the highlight of the show. They love to hate one another, insert a rival for Gable’s attentions and watch the fireworks fly.
I’m not sure what modern audiences will think of the movie since political incorrect phrases such as “coolies” abound. In a somewhat shocking scene for 1935 audiences, a steamroller that’s lashed to the deck breaks free in rough weather and rolls around the deck and squishes some poor steerage passengers. We see them flattened out (in 1935 bloodless fashion), but I’m sure audiences of the time might’ve cringed imagining getting rolled over by the monstrous steamroller.
There’s also a scene when Gable gets tortured when he won’t reveal where the gold is that might’ve also left ‘em squirming (again in 1935 bloodless fashion). I’ll not tell who Gable ends up with but I bet you can figure it out (it ain’t Beery). Keep your eye out for Hattie McDaniel as Dolly’s maid.
China Seas is presented in fullscreen as it was originally shown. Special features include an 8 minute TravelTalks newsreel called “Cherry Blossom time in Japan.” It covers the time in Japan when the cherry trees blossom, of course. The narrator has a funny way of referring to Japan as Jaa-pan. Next is an 18 minute musical short called “A Girl’s Best Years.”
It concerns a playboy who’s being sued for breach of promise since he promised to marry a girl and didn’t pull through. This is not the first time he’s lost such a case and hires a lady newspaper reporter to keep him out of trouble, which she does rather comically. The final extra is the theatrical trailer for China Seas.
Tell them where the gold is
Frankly, I enjoyed China Seas and thought that Gable and Harlow were the cat’s pajamas. Definitely check this one out to see them working together. They teamed for a total of six films her tragic death in 1937. These films would be the ones that would leave Harlow’s mark on the film world.
China Seas is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information. The film is also part of The Clark Gable Signature Collection DVD set now available at Amazon . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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