July was Roz Russell month on TCM, so I have a boatload of her movies saved on my DVR. Last week I watched They Met in Bombay, which starred Clark Gable in the kind of role I think he does best: the guy whom the girl thinks she hates but is really falling in love with, and he knows it. From almost any other actor, I think I might find that "yeah, baby, you know you love me" attitude annoying, but Gable pulls it off with a sideways glance and crooked grin that I love. Sort of like this, except imagine him looking down at a dame. (Can't get the image to upload, so just a link for now.)
He and Roz are competing jewel thieves who end up escaping from the law together, falling in love, and going straight. Much like the Gable/Harlow movie Hold Your Man, the beginning starts out all snazzy wisecracks and ends up kind of mushy. Roz's doe eyes couldn't have gotten any more limpid or starry, and she did lose a lot of the pizzaz that I usually love her for. I thought some interest was added to the "Gable becomes a hero" part of the story by including Roz in his adventures as a fake Winnipeg Grenadier escaping from the Japanese army; usually the women get left at home during these kinds of escapades.
Included in the cast was one of my favorite character actors, Jessie Ralph, as the raucous and tipsy Duchess of Beltravers. She is a scream in these kind of "fiesty matron" parts; she plays another duchess in The Last of Mrs. Cheyney, which is another role of hers I like. My all time favorite, though, is Jessie as Aunt Katherine ("Nic-oh-las!") in After the Thin Man.
While this movie could easily fall into a "romantic caper" pigeonhole along with dozens of other movies, I would still recommend it.
On a totally unrelated note, IMDB has just informed me that they're remaking The Day The Earth Stood Still. (Keanu Reeves? Really?) Must they remake every classic movie just to jazz it up with CGI and rock music?
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