RIFFRAFF (Ruben, 1936)

When a red-headed woman meets a red-headed man!

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer / Dir. J. Walter Ruben
89 or 94 mins.

Production: August 29, 1935 — October 1935
Release date: January 3, 1936
Release status: Available to watch free online and on DVD.

Cast: Jean Harlow (Hattie Tuttle Muller), Spencer Tracy (Dutch Muller), Una Merkel (Lil Tuttle), Joseph Calleia (Nick Lewis), Mickey Rooney (Jimmy Tuttle), Victor Kilian (Flytrap), J. Farrell McDonald (Brains McCall), Roger Imhof (Pops), Juanita Quigley (Rosie), Paul Hurst (Belcher), Vince Barnett (Lew), Dorothy Appleby (Gertie), Judith Wood (Mable), Helen Flint (Sadie), Lillian Harmer (Mrs. McCall), Bob Perry (Lefty), Helene Costello (Maisie)

Summary: Wisecracking waterfront cannery worker Hattie Tuttle (Jean Harlow) is in love with hotheaded Dutch (Spencer Tracy), whose ill-hatched plans to lead the local fisherman’s union get him into trouble with not only Hattie, but the union and the law. Meanwhile, tuna cannery boss Nick Lewis (Joseph Calleia) is vying for Hattie’s affections.

Trivia:

  • Harlow’s first filmic outing with her new hairdo, a shade termed ‘brownette’ just for her. More on that here. The change came late that August.

  • Despite being a total box office bomb, Riffraff had notably little effect on Harlow’s career, which instead found itself in renaissance after turning ‘brownette’.

  • According to AFI, China Seas director Tay Garnett was offered a crack at directing Riffraff and passed as it was “not his style”. This lines up with an apparent complaint made by Garnett to producer Irving Thalberg, who thought Harlow’s placement in Riffraff would ‘ruin’ her, the ‘most famous courtesan in the world’.

  • In October 1935, a slew of female extras (some sources say 40) were injured in an artificial rainstorm during production; bruises, blindness, and respiratory illnesses as serious as pneumonia were reported. MGM found itself at the mercy of the California State Industrial Welfare Committee, who ensured the injured women received due compensation.

  • Not Harlow and Tracy’s first time as costars; that honor belongs to 1931’s Goldie.


    Stills and ad art: