Hold Your Man (1933) [VHS]

Hold Your Man (1933) [VHS]
by Sam Wood

Hold Your Man (1933) [VHS]

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Product details

Actor: Clark Gable, Dorothy Burgess, Jean Harlow, Muriel Kirkland, Stuart Erwin
Director: Sam Wood
Cinematographer: Harold Rosson
Producer: Sam Wood
Editor: Frank Sullivan
Producer: Bernard H. Hyman
Writer: Anita Loos
Writer: Howard Emmett Rogers
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog
Format: Black & White, NTSC
Running Time: 87 minutes
Release Date: 1998-09-01
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Publisher: MGM (Warner)
Studio: MGM (Warner)

VHS Movie Reviews of Hold Your Man (1933) [VHS]

Movie Review: great acting in this pre-Code film
Summary: 5 Stars

Hold Your Man is an excellent pre-code movie with lots of action, suspense, drama and even a little touch of comedy to keep things really interesting. The plot moves along at a very good pace and I was never bored--not even for a minute. The choreography works best in crowd scenes and the scenes in the ladies reformatory; and the cinematography left nothing to be desired. In addition, the acting was very convincing--but, then again, when you've got a cast featuring Clark Gable and Jean Harlow, how can you really go wrong?

When the action starts, we quickly meet a small time crook Eddie Hall (Clark Gable) who cons guys on the street with phony wallets and phony ring scams, too. Eddie works with his sidekick Slim (Garry Owen); and together they do a pretty good "business." One day, however, a phony ring scam gets the cops after Eddie really fast. In order to escape the police, Eddie runs into an apartment building and he enters the apartment of Ruby Adams (Jean Harlow)--right when Rudy's taking a bath!

It isn't long before the romantic sparks fly between Eddie and Ruby; despite the fact that Gypsy Angecon (Dorothy Burgess) wants Eddie and Al Simpson (Stuart Erwin) wants to marry Ruby. The snappy, racy dialogue between Ruby and Eddie adds even more spice to the plot. As time goes by, Ruby and Eddie only grow more romantically involved. Trouble starts, though, when Eddie comes back to his apartment one day to find another man trying to be intimate with Ruby; that's when Eddie punches him and accidentally kills him! Ruby and Eddie don't realize that the guy is dead, so they simply go ahead and get their marriage license--but when they return to the building where Eddie lives, a huge crowd has gathered because of the violence. Eddie thinks quickly and runs away; but Ruby stays there just a minute too long and she is recognized by someone from the apartment building. Unfortunately, Ruby gets slapped with a two year sentence in a women's reformatory institution.

Ruby certainly meets a cast of characters while she in the reformatory; but she never even gets word from Eddie. Ruby even comes up against Gypsy, who has also been sent to the same reformatory because of repeated public drunkenness and other inappropriate behavior in public. There certainly are sparks between Ruby and Gypsy! In addition, I agree with the reviewer who writes that it certainly is wonderful to see an African-American in this movie who doesn't portray a crude, embarrassing stereotype from that era--she's very much a human being just like the others.

What happens now? The plot could go anywhere from here. Does Eddie ever contact or try to see Ruby? What about Al, the wealthy guy who's willing to marry Ruby and get her out of the reformatory much, much sooner if they marry--will Al talk Ruby into marrying him and forgetting Eddie? And will Eddie even bother to be true to Ruby, or is he in prison himself for the accidental murder? Watch and find out!

Hold Your Man in an excellent film with so much snappy dialogue it stands out as one of the best pre-code movies I've ever seen. I highly recommend this film for fans of the actors in this movie; and people who enjoy those wonderful pre-code movies will not be disappointed.

Movie Review: One of the best!
Summary: 5 Stars

Being 27, I am a young classic film fan but certainly appreciate (and prefer) the innocence and humor of days long passed. Of all the Gable/Harlow films, this one is my favorite- closely followed by Red Dust. Harlow can break your heart in an instant and who can help but fall in love with Clark Gable over and over again? Everyone should see this film!

Movie Review: 50 out of the 87 minutes are entertaining
Summary: 3 Stars

"Hold Your Man" is significant as Harlow's transitional film from the pre-code days. She is significantly de-tuned physically 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.

Movie Review: Pre-code sizzler; VHS transfer quality very poor
Summary: 4 Stars

"Hold Your Man" is a good example of what the Hays Production Code did to Hollywood films. Almost overnight films went from being racy and funny and risque (but never vulgar, unlike many of today's films) to squeaky-clean fare, where violence was kept to a minimum and sex, especially among women, was practically non-existant. 'Hold Your Man' is a good example of a pre-Code film. Harlow is white-hot, Gable is irresistable, the dialogue is packed with innuendo and many characters and ideas pop up in the film that would not be seen again (or at least portrayed fairly) in American film for decades: A fully-rounded, three-dimensional black character; a socialist; marital abandonment and unwanted pregnancy.

Now on to the VHS transfer itself: it is just a pitiful state. The audio hisses and the volume must be turned up high to properly hear the dialogue; the film looks dark and dusty and scratched. It is a stark contrast to the bright, clean look of the DVD version of "Dinner At Eight", also starring Harlow, released about a year ago.

After "Hold Your Man", Jean Harlow would become perhaps the biggest female star, certainly the biggest female star at MGM, of the 1930s. Her popularity was enormous; some have credited Harlow's films with keeping MGM in the black (in fact, the only studio to regularly show a profit) in the dark days of the Depression. The Harlow/Gable combo was a box-office goldmine; they were paired several times throughout the 30s in other mega-hits including "Red Dust" (not yet on DVD); "China Seas" (not yet on DVD); "Wife vs. Secretary" (not yet on DVD); and finally "Saratoga", during production of which Harlow would collapse and suddenly die, of what was revealed to be kidney failure. "Saratoga" is not on DVD.

Why the dearth of Harlow DVDs? I urge the readers of this review to write Warner Bros (who now issues the DVDs she appears in) to ask if they have any plans on releasing more of Harlow's excellent catalog of film on DVD.

Movie Review: Gable And Harlow Rock!!!
Summary: 5 Stars

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!!!

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Summary of Hold Your Man (1933) [VHS]

Until it gets all sappy at the end, this is a crackerjack melodrama written by Anita Loos (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) and starring Clark Gable as Eddie, another colorful addition to his rogue's gallery. Eddie's a Depression-era hustler. When his latest scam goes awry, he hightails it into a nearby building and into the apartment of Ruby (legendary platinum blonde bombshell Jean Harlow, who teamed memorably with Gable in Red Dust and China Seas). She's a "swell kid" who shields his presence. Ruby's been around. "I got two rules," she states. "Keep away from couches and stay on your feet." Rules were made to be broken. Jail time and a false murder rap for poor Ruby threaten to keep the couple apart until the happy fade-out. Before his character's rehabilitation, Gable sparks the movie with his twinkly-eyed bravado. "I like your nerve," Ruby tells him. "That ain't all you're gonna like," he promises. --Donald Liebenson

Classic Comedies Video

Genres > Comedy
Drama > By Theme > Miscarriage of Justice
Classics
Love & Romance > Love Story
Romance
Mystery & Suspense > Crime > Con Artists

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