Back home

Riffraff

15 votes

Producing House

Fisherman Dutch marries cannery worker Hattie. After he is kicked out of his union and fired from his job he leaves Hattie who steals money for him and goes to jail. He gets a new job, foils a plot to dynamite the ship, and promises to wait for Hattie.

movie

Status: Released

Released Date: 1936-01-03

Runtime: 94 mins

Director: J. Walter Ruben

Spoken language: English

Genres: Crime, Drama

Original title: Riffraff

Production Companies: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Production Countries: United States of America

Reviews

t

talisencrw
Though this is incredibly dated, it's also a very sincere and bizarre cross between a rags-to-riches drama and social commentary on unfair work practices/rights of workers/unions. And just so fans could see sexpot starlet Jean Harlow (the film's from Warner Archives' 7-film boxed set put out for the recent 100th anniversary of her birth in 1911) in as many costumes and gowns as possible, they have her married and involved in romances not simply with strait-laced activist Spencer Tracy but also their rich, slimy boss, tuna cannery owner Joseph Galleia (most famous in 'Touch of Evil' and 'Gilda'). Women loved her because she was lippy, brazen, glamourous, loyal and had a heart of gold, and men loved her because...she was Jean Harlow. This also sports an early appearance by Mickey Rooney in comic relief as her 15-year-old punk nephew; hard to belief he had already spent 10 years by that time on the silver screen! Not the worst film you would ever see, and her charisma with both starring actors is extraordinary. If you're a fan of either Harlow or 30's drama, don't miss it for the world.
2016-08-23

Recommendations

Cannery Row
2.9

Cannery Row

1982-02-12

Doc, who has just moved to Cannery Row, realizes that the only entertainment is the brothel. There h

Clash by Night
3.3

Clash by Night

1952-05-30

An embittered woman seeks escape in marriage, only to fall for her husband’s best friend.

Edge of Darkness
3.1

Edge of Darkness

1943-04-09

The film pivots around the local Norwegian doctor and his family. The doctor's wife (Ruth Gordon) wa

Tarnished
2.9

Tarnished

1950-02-28

Bud Dolliver, a former WWII hero, and an ex-convict, returns to his home town in an effort to make a

Double Trouble
0

Double Trouble

1941-11-21

Harry Langdon and Charley Rogers star in this 1941 Monogram comedy, about two bumbling brothers who

Mr. Boggs Steps Out
2.5

Mr. Boggs Steps Out

1938-02-18

A dull statistician changes his life after winning a pile of money after successfully determining th

An Aleutian Adventure
3.5

An Aleutian Adventure

2025-07-07

A once-lost silent documentary from the late 1920s, “P. E. Harris & Company: An Aleutian Adventure”

Secret Beyond the Door
3.3

Secret Beyond the Door

1947-12-24

After a whirlwind romance in Mexico, a beautiful heiress marries a man she barely knows with hardly

Apollo 13
3.7

Apollo 13

1995-06-30

The true story of technical troubles that scuttle the Apollo 13 lunar mission in 1970, risking the l

Strange Things in Western Hunan
0.8

Strange Things in Western Hunan

2024-02-28

After the person left, according to local customs in Fengmen Village, they needed to be buried at ni

Under a Piaya Moon
0

Under a Piaya Moon

2024-03-15

In 1980s Bacolod City, a young man aspires to continue the family legacy by winning an inter-city pa

Bully
3

Bully

2013-06-19

When a video of Toby being brutally humiliated at school appears on the Internet, Toby's high school

Alex: The Life of a Child
3.5

Alex: The Life of a Child

1986-04-23

Based on true events, 'Alex: The Life of a Child' follows former 'Sports Illustrated' writer Frank D

Piece of land
2.5

Piece of land

2000-09-09

Ten short unrelated stories that move chronologically through Slovakia's twentieth-century history a

Danny Boy
2.6

Danny Boy

1941-08-25

A remake of Oswald Mitchell's own 1934 production, a story of Jayne Kaye (Ann Todd), a successful si