China Seas (1935)

China Seas - 1935

Our next film is 1935's "China Seas", a movie about pirates, gold, romance, and heroics on a boat headed for Singapore.

The film's cast includes Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone, Rosalind Russell, Soo Yong, Hattie McDaniel, C. Aubrey Smith, Edward Brophy, and Willie Fung.

We begin our film in Hong Kong, where the ship Kin Lung is ready to head out to Singapore.

Captain Alan Gaskell is a no nonsense kind of a guy. He expects his crew to be at the top of their game.  When he catches one of his officers chewing tobacco, Gaskell gives him a dressing down.  "It's bad enough to have a ship that looks like this and a captain who looks like me without having a chief officer who looks like you!" he exclaims.

It's important that the crew be extra vigilant.  There's a large shipment of gold hidden aboard that must arrive safely in Singapore.  It's also rumored that a bunch of pirates are after it and could attack the ship.

Alan gets a surprise when an old girlfriend, fast-talking Dolly Portland, shows up.  She's making the journey to Singapore and is a passenger on the ship.

Also along for the ride, is Dolly's pal Jamesy MacArdle, who has designs on Dolly and would love for her to be his girl.  She, however, is holding out for Alan.

Another surprise for Alan comes in the form of widowed Mrs. Sybil Barclay, a well-bred old acquaintance of his from years ago.  Apparently, they had feelings for each other, and those feelings resurface when they meet again.

At dinner that evening, the first class lounge and dining room passengers are mingling elegantly.  Alan escorts Sybil, the only woman in the room he has eyes for.

As Sybil converses with Alan and his guests, Dolly is raging with jealousy.  She does everything she can to draw Alan's attention towards her.  Sadly, he responds with negative attention.

"The more violent the storm, the sooner it subsides," says fellow passenger Yu-Lan in reference to Dolly.  That remark infuriates Dolly, who retaliates with, "When I want you to sound off, Golden Bells, I'll pull your rope!"

Things move fast between Alan and Sybil.  Yu-Lan lets it slip in front of Dolly the next morning at a skeet shoot that they're engaged.  Dolly is naturally upset.

She confronts Alan later.  "All I can say is what's down inside of me.  And I don't care how long you've been carryin' the torch for her.  You can't quit me any more than I can quit you.  And you can kiss a stack of cookbooks on that!"  After her impassioned speech, Dolly runs from the room.

Dolly decides to let her hair down and have a little fun with Jamesy.  She throws caution to the wind and plays a drinking game with him.

Later on, she finds out that he's the leader of a deadly pirate gang intent on stealing the gold being hauled on the ship.  When she tries to get away, Jamesy is there threatening her.

A violent storm doesn't help the situation.  In all the chaos, Dolly finds a way to warn Alan, and he's able to stop the theft of the gold in time.  But it gets pretty dicey, as a roiling sea doesn't help make matters better.

Alan finds he loves Dolly more than he does Sybil.  He breaks things with her, and they part as friends.

After proposing to her and promising to meet up with her later, Dolly waves goodbye as Alan smiles at her from the deck of the ship.

Cast rundown:

   Clark Gable.................................Captain Alan Gaskell

   Jean Harlow................................Dolly Portland

   Wallace Beery..............................Jamesy MacArdle

   Lewis Stone.................................Tom Davids

   Rosalind Russell...........................Sybil Barclay

   Soo Yong.....................................Yu-Lan

   Hattie McDaniel............................Isabel McCarthy

   C. Aubrey Smith...........................Sir Guy Wilmerding

   Edward Brophy.............................Timmons

   Willie Fung...................................Cabin Boy

And that's it for China Seas.  Because of the popular pairing of Gable and Harlow, this was one of six films they made together.  It's certainly easy to see why they were popular.  They have a natural chemistry together, and their back and forth banter is great fun to watch.

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