Red Dust

1932 - Dir.: Victor Fleming

Shown at The FeckenOdeon on 26th September, 2009

The most compelling reason for seeing this film is its cast - a set of MGM's most prized possessions: including Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Gene Raymond and Mary Astor. In their first major onscreen pairing, Harlow and Gable prove just how much fun lust can be. This red-blooded romance brings our stars together in the remote and steamy jungles of Africa, which allows them to be as wild and wanton as they wish.
"Red Dust" is a hot-blooded example of a lot of things that would soon be banned by the censors until the 1960s. Jean Harlow is a slut, Mary Astor an adulteress, Clark Gable a two-timing cad. No one suffers for the sins of the flesh, and nothing happens that is the least bit subtle or ambiguous. You are invited to create your own carnal images with each suggestive fade-out (go on - we dare you!).
The original play, by William Collison, closed after only eight performances on Broadway, but after this film the story was reused in 1939 as "Congo Maisie", and again in 1953 when it appeared as "Mogambo". Sadly Jean Harlow wasn’t so long lived. She died in 1937 - apparently poisoned by the platinum used to dye her hair.