China Seas

An implausible but enjoyable tale of sexual rivalry and modern-day piracy aboard a ship en route to Hong Kong, this reunites Gable and Harlow, so effective together in the earlier Red Dust. The script by James Kevin McGuinness and Jules Furthman (who wrote such exotic masterpieces as Morocco and Only Angels Have Wings) is tailor-made for its stars, providing Gable with some suitably gruff heroics as the ship's captain, and plenty of snappy innuendo with the remarkable Harlow. It's a typical MGM production - glossy, romantic and far removed from reality - but Garnett keeps the pace going well enough to suspend disbelief.