China Seas (1935)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Tay Garnett

Writers:

Crosbie Garstin (book)
Jules Furthman (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

16 August 1935 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Adventure | Romance

Plot:

When earthy Dolly Portland is rejected by Captain Gaskell in favor of a socialite, she aids Jamesy McCardle, in league with Malay pirates, in his plot to seize his ship.

Plot Keywords:

Captain | Pirate | Ship | Singapore | Socialite

Cast

Clark Gable	...	Captain Alan Gaskell
Jean Harlow	...	Dolly 'China Doll' Portland
Wallace Beery	...	Jamesy MacArdle
Lewis Stone	...	Tom Davids, 3rd Officer
Rosalind Russell	...	Sybil Barclay
Dudley Digges	...	Mr. Dawson, 1st Officer
C. Aubrey Smith	...	Sir Guy Wilmerding
Robert Benchley	...	Charlie McCaleb
William Henry	...	Mr. Rockwell, Junior Officer
Liev De Maigret	...	Mrs. Olga Vollberg (as Live de Maigret)
Lilian Bond	...	Mrs. Timmons (as Lillian Bond)
Edward Brophy	...	Wilbur Timmons
Soo Yong	...	Yu-Lan
Carol Ann Beery	...	Carol Ann, Little Girl Saved From Crushing Piano by Alan
Akim Tamiroff	...	Paul Romanoff
Ivan Lebedeff	...	Ngah
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Harry C. Bradley	...	(scenes deleted)
Charles Coleman	...	(scenes deleted)
Edward McWade	...	(scenes deleted)
Daisy Belmore	...	Martha, Sybil's Maid (uncredited)
Barlowe Borland	...	Willett, Royal Canada Bank (uncredited)
Emily Fitzroy	...	Mrs. Higgins (uncredited)
Pat Flaherty	...	Second Officer Kingston (uncredited)
Willie Fung	...	Cabin Boy Ah Sing (uncredited)
Chester Gan	...	Rickshaw Boy (uncredited)
Tom Gubbins	...	Ship's Officer / Sergeant of the Guards (uncredited)
Forrester Harvey	...	Chief Steward Ted Gary (uncredited)
John Ince	...	Ship's Pilot (uncredited)
Charles Irwin	...	Bertie the Purser (uncredited)
Tetsu Komai	...	Malay Pirate (uncredited)
Eddie Lee	...	Sailor on Bridge (uncredited)
Hattie McDaniel	...	Isabel McCarthy, Dolly's Maid (uncredited)
Malcolm McGregor	...	Atkins, Dock Manager (uncredited)
Donald Meek	...	Passenger Playing Chess (uncredited)
Ferdinand Munier	...	Police Superintendent (uncredited)
Beatrice Roberts	...	Ship's Passenger (uncredited)
James Wang	...	Trapshooting Attendant (uncredited)
Bobby Watson	...	Man on Dock with McCaleb (uncredited)

Directed by
Tay Garnett

Writing credits
Crosbie Garstin		(book)
Jules Furthman		(screenplay) and
James Kevin McGuinness		(screenplay)
Paul Bern		contributor to story (uncredited) and
Paul Hervey Fox		contributor to dialogue (uncredited) and
Monckton Hoffe		early script writer (uncredited) and
John Lee Mahin		contributor to screenplay construction (uncredited) and
Maurice Revnes		early script writer (uncredited)

Produced by
Albert Lewin	....	associate producer
Irving Thalberg	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Herbert Stothart

Cinematography by
Ray June

Film Editing by
William LeVanway

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons

Costume Design by
Adrian		(gowns)

Production Management
Joe Cohn	....	production manager (uncredited)
Frank Messenger	....	unit manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Harold S. Bucquet	....	second unit director: mob scenes (uncredited)
James C. McKay	....	second unit director: night water scenes (uncredited)
Joseph M. Newman	....	assistant director (uncredited)
William A. Wellman	....	second unit director: pirate scenes (uncredited)

Art Department
James Curtis Havens	....	associate art director
David Townsend	....	associate art director
Edwin B. Willis	....	associate art director
Elmer Sheeley	....	assistant to art director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording director

Special Effects by
Warren Newcombe	....	special effects (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
James Basevi	....	miniatures (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Clyde De Vinna	....	director of photography: second unit (uncredited)
Ellsworth Fredericks	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Ray Ramsey	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Music Department
Paul Marquardt	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Charles Maxwell	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Leonid Raab	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Jack Virgil	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Chick Collins	....	double: Clark Gable (uncredited)
Loretta Rush	....	double: Jean Harlow (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (controlled by Loew's Inc.)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1935) (USA) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1993) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1994) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Loew's

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #899)

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Jean Harlow wore a wig for this film. She had cut her hair shorter and was letting her natural color grow in. But for the scene where her character Dolly is soaked, the wig could not be used because it would look fake. Thus for a few seconds Harlow's hair is shorter and a different color.

Quotes:

Captain Alan Gaskell: Now wait a minute, Dolly! You and I are friends. We've had a lot of fun together, and, as far as I'm concerned, you're #1 girl in the Archipelago, but I don't remember making any vows to you, nor do I recall your taking any.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Bhowani Junction (1956)

Soundtrack:

On the Road To Mandalay

On The High Seas Of Adventure With Gable, Harlow & Beery

British Hong Kong, mid 1930's. A freighter makes ready to lift anchor on its way to Singapore, carrying with it £250,000 in hidden gold. The passengers & crew are a colorful mix of often violent hatreds & animosities. Traveling into typhoon-swept, pirate-haunted waters, danger & death awaits all those who enter the CHINA SEAS.

While admittedly the plot is a little far-fetched, this was one of the great all-star features which MGM did so well during its heyday. The sets are lavish (especially the bustling docks) and except for the occasional use of a model, the ship scenes look realistic.

The cast is made-up of some of the Studio's best: Clark Gable as the captain - given to drink & homesick for England, he must choose between the two women he loves; Jean Harlow, the brassy blonde with too much past, passionate in defense of her man; Wallace Beery, gambler & exporter, bluff, hearty & treacherous; Rosalind Russell, the English society girl, cool & beautiful.

Rounding out the excellent supporting cast are Lewis Stone, as an old ship's officer accused of cowardice; Robert Benchley as a perpetually inebriated American novelist; Edward Brophy & Lillian Bond as American tourists who attract the notice of lustful Russian swindler Akim Tamiroff; and wonderful old Sir C. Aubrey Smith, as the founder of the shipping line.

Film mavens will spot uncredited performances by Willie Fung as a cabin boy; Donald Meek as a chess player; Emily Fitzroy as a gossipy passenger; and especially Hattie McDaniel, hilarious as Harlow's maid.

On a side note, one of the writers for this film was Paul Bern, an important MGM producer & Harlow's husband. His 1932 murder by his deranged common-law spouse, made to look like a suicide by MGM security to protect Harlow's career, would provide one of Hollywood with one of its most famous scandals.