Riffraff

In watching Riffraff again I'm struck with the burning question, what did Jean Harlow see in Spencer Tracy?

Both are working class people, he's a commercial fisherman she's his sweetheart who works in the cannery owned by Joseph Calleia. He's a blustering, pigheaded, egomanaical boorish lout of a human being, kind of lovable in his own crude way. But stack him up against Joseph Calleia, foreign accent and all, there ain't a contest. Calleia is the guy all the fishermen deal with as independent contractors with their catch. He's shrewd and clever, ruthless at times, but definitely not stupid.

Frankly if it were me in Harlow's place, there's no contest. Take up with Joseph Calleia and give Spence the old heave-ho. But if Jean did that there'd be no movie.

Tracy's taking a part that normally would have been given to Wallace Beery at MGM. Maybe before San Francisco that's how MGM executives saw Tracy, a B picture Beery. It's similar to some of the roles he played at Fox. But I can't recall another film where he played a guy so dumb.

In fact the film is an odd property for MGM. This thing should have been made at Warner Brothers with Cagney and O'Brien.

But Jean loves her man through thick and thin, even goes to jail to protect him. I can hear Fanny Brice singing in the background.

Riffraff doesn't belong at the top of the list of film credits for either Tracy or Harlow. Mickey Rooney as Harlow's younger brother, Joseph Calleia as the boss, and J. Farrell MacDonald as the wise and compassionate head of the fisherman's union have the best roles.

But you want to see Tracy and Harlow sparkle? Go buy or rent Libeled Lady.