RED DUST (1932)--- The jungle-set torrid one
said to have run at smokers back in the day, and a longest awaited of precode
signatures to be writ on DVD, Warner Archive the deliverer with best-ever
quality a result of what I understand was extensive patch-up.How spoiled we
are today ... a blurry TV transmission of Red Dust would once have been a
thrill, but no more. Now it's pristine off camera elements or nothing. My
question: Was Red Dust ever code-cut? The only reissue I'm specifically aware
of was in 1963 as part of a larger Metro bring-back of oldies, but there's a
still I found with a 1954 date. Could Red Dust have lost footage after 1932
circulation? What's here looks complete, as much so as a 16mm print among my
collecting first in 1973 ... that's how long RD has been a favorite.
Surely it's a best of Gable-Harlow teamings, ChinaSeas
a worthy second even as essentially a Dust remake. Red Dust seems also the best
Howard Hawks film he never directed, but always wished he had. Word is,HH was
not a little green over Victor Fleming's success here and tried to grab some
credit for RD's development. There's also John Gilbert done out of starring in
Gable's favor --- Red Dust might have revitalized Jack, but it wasn't to be
(GPS readers know how sympathetic I always was to his plight). From this, Gilbert's
plummet got steeper. Harlow husband Paul Bern took leave with a bullet during
production, Harlow back to finish Red Dust after brief mourning (she chose work
over stress of inactivity) --- a guessing game might be to spot before-and-aft,
but that gets nowhere thanks to pro work she tenders.
Mary Astorlived long and talked some about Red
Dust. Gene Raymond was venerable too --- did he share anecdotes? Dialogue is
tart and spat out by Red's cast. I always note how Gable pronounces
"room" as "rum." Thenthere's age-old debate between Roquefort
and Gorgonzola (as in cheese) --- I've tried neither, so which is better? Admirable
stretch of jungle was on Metro's backlot, and it rained much of the time. Hallowed
ground this would become for future Tarzans. Red Dust must have been a sloppy
shoot. Astor said she and Gable literally gave off steam when they kissed. Harlow gets the comedy, but it's really Astor what
supplies RD heat. They sure don't make them so spare as this anymore. In fact,
such had quit during Gable's own lifetime, as witness bloat of remake Mogambo
in 1953 (but still it's great too).
THE SHOW (1922)--- The whirlwind that was Larry
Semon made some of the fanciest comedies of his day, surpassing even Chaplin at
times for money spent and spectacular effect. Here was where he went CC one
better for staging a night at The Show, Semon adding a wild chase for a finish aboard
his era's time-honored runaway train. Were Semon comedies overloaded? Larry
would be first to say, well, duh. His whole idea was to givevalue for tickets
and then some. Few came out of a Semon show wishing he'd done more. Gagman and
directing assist Norman Taurog knew comedy like pianists know scales, and hit
few wrong notes over years majordomo'ing Semon, followed by work at developing
Lloyd Hamilton. From these to lush featuring at Metroand eventual helm of
Elvis and Dr. Goldfootis proof we've neglected this artist as grievously as
front-of-camera Larry, both deserving of lengthy profile if not whole books
(best Semon coverage derives from a Classic Images article by Richard M.
Roberts).
The Show tenders two Larrys, plus his dream's heroic
alter-ego that figures into aforementioned train rescue. Complicated enough?
Gags Semon staged involved the customary risk of necks, some so violent you
wonder if blood was drawn. Larry wore clown white and pants hitched up his
chest, love interest for him, at least here, being quite out of the question.
Was this the corner Semon boxed himself into? Comedians with feature hope
needed at least chance of getting the girl, something funny face Larry was hard
put aspiring to. Any approach to normalcy is thwarted by Semon's anything for a
laugh. Would Chaplin, Keaton, or Lloydassist their leading lady with makeup,
then eat her lipstick and powder puff? Even expectation of the unexpected
doesn't prepare us for a rooster that consumes nitro-glycerin, then explodes.
Semon's comedies were so well made, so energetic, as to be hard not to like, so
it's nice finding one, as here in Kino's DVD Oliver HardyCollection (he's the heavy), of such fine
quality.
Dan Mercer again expresses himself beautifully, this time on silent comedy and Larry Semon:
The readers will note that you ask whether Chaplin, Keaton, or Lloyd would have done as Larry Semon did, but do not add Harry Langdon to that group, so as to make a quartette.
And wisely so, given that the Langdon universe is decidedly an alternate even to the one in which Semon performed his antics.
For Larry, romance was always a gag away. For Harry, it was yet another banana peel no one ever stepped on.
It says something for their audiences, then and now, that Chaplin's first great popularity was won with wild anarchic violence, but kept when he began courting Edna Purviance, while Keaton's chilly existentialism was warmed by M-G-M's sentimentality until he melted away, more popular than ever. Lloyd always sought the girl, his glasses misted over with longing, but his success was a passing moment between street car arrivals.
If Semon was one of those trapped in a box of clown white, then Langdon is for the few who understand that any box is the work of the mime whose face we see in the bathroom mirror each morning.
There is at least once scene I know was cut from Red Dust. It's after Astor has first succumbed to Gable -- she returns to her room and lies down in a fairly explicit erotic daze. As she runs one hand up and down the bed beside her, she is clearly remembering the details of their lovemaking, and it's actually one of the hottest and most sexually explicit scenes in all of 30s cinema. But when I saw the movie at Film Forum a few years ago (billed as uncut) the scene was missing. Curious to know if it made it to Warner's new DVD version. It's a subtle cut and easy to miss, but I for one missed it a lot!
That's the first I've heard of such a scene, Eddie. Never once saw it myself on any print of "Red Dust." I wonder if it still exists anywhere. Thanks for sharing this.
I know I saw it more than once, during showings of the film in Los Angeles in the 80s. Probably it was cut from the negative but survives in some prints.
p.s. the perniciousness of Hays Office censorship, especially in the 30s, seems more and more outrageous and contemptible to me the older I get.
4 Comments:
Dan Mercer again expresses himself beautifully, this time on silent comedy and Larry Semon:
The readers will note that you ask whether Chaplin, Keaton, or Lloyd would have done as Larry Semon did, but do not add Harry Langdon to that group, so as to make a quartette.
And wisely so, given that the Langdon universe is decidedly an alternate even to the one in which Semon performed his antics.
For Larry, romance was always a gag away. For Harry, it was yet another banana peel no one ever stepped on.
It says something for their audiences, then and now, that Chaplin's first great popularity was won with wild anarchic violence, but kept when he began courting Edna Purviance, while Keaton's chilly existentialism was warmed by M-G-M's sentimentality until he melted away, more popular than ever. Lloyd always sought the girl, his glasses misted over with longing, but his success was a passing moment between street car arrivals.
If Semon was one of those trapped in a box of clown white, then Langdon is for the few who understand that any box is the work of the mime whose face we see in the bathroom mirror each morning.
Hey John:
There is at least once scene I know was cut from Red Dust. It's after Astor has first succumbed to Gable -- she returns to her room and lies down in a fairly explicit erotic daze. As she runs one hand up and down the bed beside her, she is clearly remembering the details of their lovemaking, and it's actually one of the hottest and most sexually explicit scenes in all of 30s cinema. But when I saw the movie at Film Forum a few years ago (billed as uncut) the scene was missing. Curious to know if it made it to Warner's new DVD version. It's a subtle cut and easy to miss, but I for one missed it a lot!
That's the first I've heard of such a scene, Eddie. Never once saw it myself on any print of "Red Dust." I wonder if it still exists anywhere. Thanks for sharing this.
I know I saw it more than once, during showings of the film in Los Angeles in the 80s. Probably it was cut from the negative but survives in some prints.
p.s. the perniciousness of Hays Office censorship, especially in the 30s, seems more and more outrageous and contemptible to me the older I get.
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