Riffraff
Charismatic tuna fisherman Dutch rises in union ranks but pride costs him job, marriage to cannery worker Hattie after failed strike. Despite deep love, they must overcome stubbornness.
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⭐ Featured Review
"How much you like "Riffraff" depends on whether you're a fan of Jean Harlow or Spencer Tracy. Fans of Jean Harlow will find a lot to like. For fans of Tracy, not so much. Harlow is cute and sexy in her playful innocent way, while Spencer Tracy is strident and overbearing as the union organizer of a fishing fleet. His onscreen persona was not yet solidified and here he strikes a discordant note with his dogmatic portrayal of Dutch Muller, a man who is never wrong. He marries dock denizen Harlow in a wedding that misfires - due mainly to Tracy's intransigence. It is not real..."
💡 Did You Know?
One news item noted that Riffraff (1935) was using 42 contract players, the largest ever used in an M-G-M picture.
On the night of October 30, 1935, the 40 female extras set, many of them elderly or in frail health, were filmed in a simulated rain sequence that included the use of a sprinkler rig, fire hoses and wind machines. Multiple extras sustained bruises, temporary blindness, and loss of consciousness, with many suffering from pneumonia as a result. The crew was found to be understaffed and lacking the necessary supplies to properly warm and dry the extras between takes.
A charge of negligence was brought against MGM by the California State Industrial Welfare Committee by Mrs. Mabel Kinney on behalf of the 40 female extras who were drenched in the prison rainstorm sequence. It contended that women who lost work because of illness after that sequence should be compensated. Each of the extras received an extra $15 (about $340 in 2024) as an initial compensation.
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📖 Synopsis
Charismatic tuna fisherman Dutch rises in union ranks but pride costs him job, marriage to cannery worker Hattie after failed strike. Despite deep love, they must overcome stubbornness.