Saratoga (1937)
The first time I watched Saratoga, I didn’t know it was Jean Harlow’s last movie. I didn’t know she died before they were done filming and that a body double, voice impersonator, and clever camera angles were used to make it appear that Jean had been able to finish the movie. I couldn’t tell! I’ve seen it a few more times since then, and I always marvel at how they were able to maintain as much continuity as possible. Not only does Jean’s double avoid showing her face, but the other actors who were devastated had to suck up their feelings and pretend they were acting with The Baby for the rest of the movie. It must have been so difficult, and my heart goes out to them. Clark Gable was a dear friend of Jean’s, and Lionel Barrymore looked at her as one of his own daughters.
If it weren’t Jean Harlow’s last movie, and the last ten minutes weren’t cleverly filmed, this would be a regular, cute romantic comedy she made with Clark Gable, her six-time costar. In this one, you’ll get to see lots of exciting horseraces as well as exciting banter between the two pals. It’s obvious they love each other, but she’s tired of his gambling and smart-aleck nature, so she gets engaged to the prim and proper Walter Pidgeon. In one of my favorite scenes, she’s trying to hide Clark’s presence in her room when Pidge walks in. Clark is hiding under the couch, and Pidge spies his burning cigar on the coffee table. Jean calmly puts the cigar in her mouth, leans back and asks, “What is it, Hartley?” as if she smokes a cigar every day of her life. It’s hilarious.
There are other hilarious moments to the script, including Lionel Barrymore’s crotchety one-liners. It’s hard to picture him as the same actor Jean Harlow tried to hook into marriage in The Girl from Missouri, when he hobbles around in suspenders and sneers, “I’m going to the barn where it don’t smell,” to show his disdain for the people around him. Clark Gable’s catchphrase is to kiss different women and chuckle, “Honey, I love you,” and he flirts around with Jean, Una Merkel, and even Hattie McDaniel. Frank Morgan plays Una’s rich but clueless husband who made his fortune in women’s beauty products, and poor Margaret Hamilton plays a happy customer who makes the audience laugh at her expense.
Even though her health was failing, Jean gives her all in her last performance. They wrote in a scene where she was sick and coughing to work around her inability to stay on her feet, which is extremely sad, but it gives you a whole new admiration for her talent. I’m glad her last movie was also a good movie, because since it’s so sad to watch, you might as well be consoled by enjoying yourself as much as you can. It’s no wonder Saratoga was the biggest MGM box-office hit of 1937; audiences wanted a chance to say goodbye to The Baby, but they probably went back two or three times because it was a good movie.
Want to watch it? Click here to see it on ok.ru and thanks "Classic Movies Kristine Rose" for posting!
More Clark Gable movies here!
More Hattie McDaniel movies here!
More Frank Morgan movies here!
If it weren’t Jean Harlow’s last movie, and the last ten minutes weren’t cleverly filmed, this would be a regular, cute romantic comedy she made with Clark Gable, her six-time costar. In this one, you’ll get to see lots of exciting horseraces as well as exciting banter between the two pals. It’s obvious they love each other, but she’s tired of his gambling and smart-aleck nature, so she gets engaged to the prim and proper Walter Pidgeon. In one of my favorite scenes, she’s trying to hide Clark’s presence in her room when Pidge walks in. Clark is hiding under the couch, and Pidge spies his burning cigar on the coffee table. Jean calmly puts the cigar in her mouth, leans back and asks, “What is it, Hartley?” as if she smokes a cigar every day of her life. It’s hilarious.
There are other hilarious moments to the script, including Lionel Barrymore’s crotchety one-liners. It’s hard to picture him as the same actor Jean Harlow tried to hook into marriage in The Girl from Missouri, when he hobbles around in suspenders and sneers, “I’m going to the barn where it don’t smell,” to show his disdain for the people around him. Clark Gable’s catchphrase is to kiss different women and chuckle, “Honey, I love you,” and he flirts around with Jean, Una Merkel, and even Hattie McDaniel. Frank Morgan plays Una’s rich but clueless husband who made his fortune in women’s beauty products, and poor Margaret Hamilton plays a happy customer who makes the audience laugh at her expense.
Even though her health was failing, Jean gives her all in her last performance. They wrote in a scene where she was sick and coughing to work around her inability to stay on her feet, which is extremely sad, but it gives you a whole new admiration for her talent. I’m glad her last movie was also a good movie, because since it’s so sad to watch, you might as well be consoled by enjoying yourself as much as you can. It’s no wonder Saratoga was the biggest MGM box-office hit of 1937; audiences wanted a chance to say goodbye to The Baby, but they probably went back two or three times because it was a good movie.
Want to watch it? Click here to see it on ok.ru and thanks "Classic Movies Kristine Rose" for posting!
More Clark Gable movies here!
More Hattie McDaniel movies here!
More Frank Morgan movies here!