TOO HOT TO HANDLE

US, 1938,107 minutes, Black and white.
Clark Gable, Myrna Loy, Walter Pidgeon, Walter Connolly, Marjorie Main, Leo Carillo.
Directed by Jack Conway.

An enjoyable action comedy of the late thirties. Its screenplay and dialogue are in the tradition of the thirties' rapid fire screwball comedy, a battle of the sexes. The action focuses on newsreel cameramen in China, the United States, Brazil. There is a clash between the men from rival companies. Clark Gable is his typical adventurous self in a quite debonair role. Walter Pidgeon, in a rather exuberant performance, tries to match him. Myrna Loy flies in as an unlikely aviatrix. Together they form quite an enjoyable team. There is plenty of action - some of it suggested that the screenplay seems rather like a serial, intermittent climaxes and then on again. There is humorous support from Walter Connolly. Marjorie Main appears as a stenographer in an engagingly quiet role. The direction is by Jack Conway who made A Tale of Two Cities Cities shortly before and who was a regular director at MGM for example, Honky Tonk, Dragon Seed.

1. The perennial appeal of this kind of action comedy? Its impact in the thirties? Timeless aspects? What aspects have dated?

2. MGM production values? Black and white photography, sets? The use of the studios - especially rear projection for action sequences? The contribution of the stars and their team work and blending together? A spirited comedy romance adventure?

3. The screwball comedies of the thirties - rapid fire dialogue, humour, one-upmanship, wisecracks? The battle of the sexes? Romance and clash? The roles of men and women? How up to date the insights into this interplay?

4. The picture of men in action? Clark Gable as the tough engaging hero? Wisecracks, smart talking, action adventure, the manipulation of the truth, his way with women? Faking the newsreel material, involved in action? Walter Pidgeon and the imitation of this style? Men at work overseas, at home in the U.S., doing their job, earning their reputation, preoccupation with money, an innate sense for adventure?

5. The presentation of women - wives and divorces, stenographers and devotion, the heroine and her pluck, the title as applied to her? Romantic heroine? Comic wisecracks?

6. The picture of the newsreel bosses, their rivalry, one-upmanship, pressures? The hearts of gold, hard tactics? The clashes in their office, orders to overseas? The showdown about the fake newsreel?

7. Clark Gable as Chris - his work in China, causing the dropping of bombs and the shooting, faking the photos of the planes, involved in the accident with Alma? Telling lies, double-dealing? The humiliation of the exposure of the newsreel? His falling in love with Alma? Luring her back to the United States for him? Arranging for her to go to Brazil? His participation in the Amazon trek, discovering her brother? His involvement in the photographing of the exploding ship, the ending with the gangsters? A tough genial American type?

8. Bill and the same ingredients? The counter-balance to Chris? Their banding together especially to help Alma and the rescue of her brother?

9. Alma as an attractive heroine? Her past with her brother, her goals, flying? Her participation in the take drug delivery? Her being used by Chris and Bill? Love for Chris and going back to New York, her job? The flying over the exploding ship, the emotion in doing the newsreel commentary? The exposure? Her going to Brazil, her intrepid attitudes, being rewarded?

10. Hollywood versions of China, Brazil in the thirties? International flavour? The sequence of the exploding ship and the taking of newsreel pictures? A glimpse into the history of newsreels?

11. The perennial appeal in universal values in the presentation of roles and men and women, adventure, romance? The happy ending?