Hold Your Man (1933)

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.

Love conquers all. That includes reality as defined in this pre-Code tearjerker. I would sympathize with the moral if the end weren't exaggerated into such a pile of mush. As others point out, the first half is sprightly as Gable and Harlow work the shady side of life. But then Gable accidentally kills a guy, while Harlow gets nabbed for a con job. So it's off to the hoosegow for both. Actually Gable drops out, while we follow Harlow's jaunt in a military- type slammer for women. Babes behind bars it ain't. The girls get to wear shapeless smocks, presided over by a bunch of long black crows (Patterson, et al.). One thing this segment proves—women can march from here to there in lockstep as well as men. Some pre-Code highlights—Harlow in a gown unruffled by underwear; an actual socialist loudly denouncing the "system"; an unmarried Harlow with-child after an undisguised night with Gable; a peek-a-boo with Harlow in the bathtub. And though it's not pre-Code, the black minister and his inmate daughter rise above stereotype of the day. In fact, Theresa Harris is so winning as daughter Lillie Mae, she nearly steals the show. I can see why she had such a long career, even if mainly as menials.The movie's a good look at MGM's golden twosome in their prime. And if the material falters, the stars manage to shine. So fans should be happy, despite the soggy ending.

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?

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.