Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Dirtylogy It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

DKosty123 With the really A-List cast, you want this movie to be better than it is. Yet is it better than you expect. Why is that? The cast as there is no doubt here about Gable in this one.Based on a play, this movie sold a lot of tickets in New York when it was released because of the time and generation it was released in, plus New York was the biggest market then. For the greatest generation, Horse Racing and Saratoga were magic. Every August, the old tradition still goes on today. But then, Saratoga was a pilgrimage every August for folks who loved racing.The old track there and the August meetings were a magic atmosphere. Ironically, Hollywood already had the tradition of filming in other places and creating their own world. Most of this film was not done in Saratoga. What was being sold was the most magical track to racing fans then, and this cast.Even though Harlow died during filming, having Clark Gable as a nice bookie at the old Saratoga Raceway sold a lot of tickets in the 1930's. Harlow's untimely death added to the box office too, sadly.

kirksworks This was the sixth film Jean Harlow made with Clark Gable. She died before completing her scenes. It's a curiosity more than anything, but not a bad film at all. In fact, there are many of entertaining scenes between her and Gable. One of them may be the most iconic scene they ever had together. It has to do with a cigar. I won't say more. The film was directed by Jack Conway, a very under appreciated director. Among his films are "Tarzan and His Mate," " A Tale of Two Cities," "Red-Headed Woman" (one of Harlow's best), "Libeled Lady" (another good Harlow performance) and "Crossroads" (with Hedy Lamarr) - all quite good films. He sure knew how to direct Harlow.The basic plot is about a family that raises race horses. Of course gambling plays a big part as well. Gable is a bookie, not a noble profession. His character is a bit dodgy. Walter Pidgeon, sans mustache, plays Gable's competition for Harlow. He doesn't have a lot of scenes, but he's suitably debonair where he appears. Gable is joined by Hattie McDaniel, both of them pre "Gone With the Wind." She even sings and is quite funny to watch. There is a long train scene (I love scenes on trains), and this is a highlight of the film. There is a wonderful sequence between Frank Morgan (the wizard of Oz), and Margaret Hamilton (wicked witch of the west), 2 years before "Oz" was made. A great cast. The last 20 min. of the film was where Harlow's stand-in was used, since Jean had died. Three women apparently were used to create the illusion. But it was rather obvious. Suddenly, Harlow's character pretty much disappears and we see her from the side or back or with a hat covering her face. Since films are shot out of order I thought there'd be more of Harlow intermixed, but in the last 20 min. there are really only two scenes with the real Harlow, which are connected with shots of the stand in. Harlow had such a distinctive walk, the stand in couldn't possibly have matched. Luckily, for the most part, the studio didn't try. Mainly what the studio did was rewrite so scenes that were originally to have Harlow were done without her, with other characters saying where she was or talking about her. Up to this point I'd say the movie was quite good, and the lead up to a final horse race was well set up. The outcome of the race would determine the love between Harlow and Gable, and so not to be able to see her expression as the race was underway, was a major drawback. We see the stand in with binoculars over her face throughout the sequence. It lessened what impact the film's climax could have had. Harlow was very sick when she made this film, but aside from a couple of scenes where she looked heavier than usual, she was still beautiful. What is really strange is that in the film Harlow plays a character who is often sick. It's rather creepy watching those scenes, knowing that she really was sick, dying, in fact. It almost seems like the studio knew something we didn't know, but more than likely, if it wasn't coincidence, the studio knew Harlow wasn't feeling well, so put her in scenes where she could perform lying down. Who knows? What is also unsettling to watch is understanding that Gable and the rest of the cast had to perform the rest of the film without their beloved star. And she was beloved. Everyone (except Joan Crawford), loved Harlow. It's pretty obvious in the film when the real Harlow had died, and yet we watch the cast perform like real troopers without her. Harlow was 26 when she died, but she left a substantial number of good films. Quite a legacy, really. She had appeared in bit parts in a number of silent films, two with Laurel and Hardy, before being discovered by Howard Hughes, who cast her in "Hell's Angels." That film is remembered more for its aerial footage than for Harlow, but it has Harlow's only color sequence, in 2-strip Technicolor. The young Clark Gable was really a lot of fun to watch. In "Night Nurse," a Pre Code film years before "Saratoga," Gable plays a truly hateful, bad guy. Very unusual to see him in a role like that. He was chilling. Too bad he didn't do more films that that. He was really good at it. Gable acted alongside Jean Harlow in the 30s, was paired with Hedy Lamarr in the 40s, and made it all the way to the sixties, finally being paired with Marilyn Monroe in his last film. I wonder if Marilyn, a big fan of Harlow, felt as though she'd come full circle, to be playing opposite Harlow's co-star of the 30s? Did she pump Gable with questions about Harlow? I don't know if anyone but Gable and Monroe know the answer to that. "Saratoga" is definitely worth a look, but it's not a great film. Even if Harlow had lived to finish it, I don't think it would be considered one of her best. The horse race sequence and the ending would have been much better, but wouldn't have sent it over the top into greatness. What is interesting about this film in relation to the rest of her work is that it's the only film she made that hints at what she would have been like in the 1940s. One of the great losses of Hollywood is that Harlow never made it to the 3-strip Technicolor era. She will forever remain the platinum girl of the platinum screen.

Rhondaluvsclassics This movie is a real treat for classic movie lovers! The star-studded cast includes Jean Harlow, Clark Gable, Hattie McDaniel and Lionel Barrymore. It is especially interesting for all Gone With The Wind lovers to see Hattie McDaniel (Mammy) and Clark Gable (Rhett) work together two years prior to GWTW. Jean Harlow is absolutely beautiful and really shows her acting talent in this movie. It is bittersweet to watch though, considering this was Harlow's last film. The actress worked as long as she could until the physical pain of her illness became too much and she passed away at a very young age before filming completed. The stand-in scenes are very obvious, but fortunately doesn't take away from the magic that Ms. Harlow contributed and therefore set a tone for the movie.I love this movie, and highly recommend to anyone who wants a good storyline w/ wonderful star quality!!!

F Gwynplaine MacIntyre 'Saratoga' was one of Hollywood's biggest box-office hits of 1937, but an explanation is in order. The film was scheduled to star MGM's popular team of Clark Gable and Jean Harlow, but Harlow died suddenly (of uraemia, aged only 26) while 'Saratoga' was in production. Her fans demanded that MGM honour Harlow's memory by completing the movie; when it was released, hordes went to see 'Saratoga' and bid farewell to their platinum blonde. Ironically, this movie made far more money (on the strength of Harlow's death) than it would have been likely to earn had she lived to complete it.'Saratoga' is a comedy, yet a weird morbidity hovers over this film. Harlow's character's father is played by Jonathan Hale, who later committed suicide. Gable has a bizarre scene in a racehorses' cemetery, appropriately spooky. (Although the gravestones are too close together.) The scenes left unfilmed at Harlow's death were completed with three different actresses doubling for her: a body double, a face double, and a voice double dubbing her dialogue. The doubling is laughably inept, even by 1937 standards.Several film critics have claimed that we'll never know how great 'Saratoga' would have been had Harlow completed it. That's rubbish, that is. For the first two-thirds of the film -- with the possible exception of one shot in which she pushes her way through a crowd of punters, with her back to the camera -- it's clear that Harlow did all of her own scenes. By the two-thirds mark, 'Saratoga' has failed to register as a classic on the level of 'Red Dust' or 'Dinner at Eight'. There's nothing in the film's first five reels to indicate that this movie would have attained greatness if only Harlow had completed it. This is just one more Gable/Harlow comedy: an enjoyable one, but nowhere near so good as 'Red Dust' or even 'Bombshell'.I find it intriguing that all of Harlow's doubled sequences are in the last one-third of the movie, as this indicates that 'Saratoga' was shot roughly in sequence. Ironically, the last line that Harlow speaks on screen (two-thirds into this movie) is 'Good-bye'. From here to the last reel, her character is strangely taciturn, always holding field glasses or some other object in front of her face so that we can't get a good squizz at the unconvincing double (actress Mary Dees). Harlow's character appears to have been written out of some late scenes in which one might expect her to appear. But the very last shot of the movie reveals Harlow herself, with Gable and Una Merkel, reprising a song from earlier in the movie: 'The Horse with the Dreamy Eyes'. I wonder if this shot was repositioned from earlier in the film, in order to ensure that the movie would end with a close-up of the real Jean Harlow.I always find Una Merkel deeply annoying, and here she's worse than usual. She does a bump-and-grind routine, thrusting her pelvis towards us while glancing indignantly backwards over her shoulder, pretending that she's been shoved forward by someone standing behind her. Get some voice lessons, Merkel.Gable's character is identified as a 'bookie', which may surprise modern viewers in America. Gable is portraying what is known in Britain as a 'turf accountant'. These are independent bookmakers who lawfully take bets at a racetrack, without participating in the pari-mutuel pool. Such people no longer exist Stateside but were carefully vetted by racing commissions in the 1930s. One of the rules for their profession was that a bookie could not own shares in a racehorse. In 'Saratoga', deep-pockets Gable buys a thoroughbred as a gift for Lionel Barrymore, playing Harlow's grandfather. If a bookie had tried this in real life, there would have been legitimate protests of a conflict of interest.Gable is his usual sly rogue here, with an amusing running gag in which he keeps telling various men and women: 'I love ya.' The payoff is clever. These shots were edited into a very funny montage in 'That's Entertainment, Part Two'. 'Saratoga' benefits from MGM's usual high production standards, and an excellent supporting cast ... including Charley Foy, Margaret Hamilton, Hattie McDaniel, Frank Morgan (less annoying than usual) and MGM's stalwart character actor Cliff Edwards. I enjoyed 'Saratoga' and I'll rate it 7 out of 10 ... but it's hardly a classic, and I'm confident that it would not have been one even if Harlow had completed it.