It took a long time, but I think I've finally seen the worst Spencer Tracy movie ever on screen. I'm betting Spence's family has put the breaks on restoring Goldie which looks as if it is in bad need. In a way it's a tribute to him as an actor that the same guy who could play Father Flanagan and Thomas Edison could wind up in a part that has him as an illiterate. Of course next to Warren Hymer, Tracy is practically a high school graduate.
Tracy and Hymer play a couple of sailors and Hymer keeps winding up dating girls who he finds in a lost black book and all of them have this telltale tattoo on their person. About 20% of the film through he finds fellow sailor Tracy and Hymer who swore he'd knock the tattooer's block off becomes his pal.
After these two illiterates have a couple more knockabout adventures Hymer meets Goldie who is played by Jean Harlow in what is probably her worst film. She's as good as her name, a gold digger and Tracy does his level best to educate Hymer on that fact. I leave it to your imagination as to how he does it.
Maybe had I seen a pristine restored print I might have liked Goldie better, but I doubt it. It's a very unfunny comedy and Tracy shows not a hint of the amazing talent he was. Ditto for Harlow though she is beautiful. In order to like Goldie it would help to be president of the Warren Hymer fan club.
Harlow would soon go to MGM and later on so would Tracy where they would make two more films together, Riff Raff which is better than Goldie, but along the same line and Libeled Lady one of the finest screen comedies ever done.
For confirmed fans of both Tracy and Harlow only.
Tracy and Hymer play a couple of sailors and Hymer keeps winding up dating girls who he finds in a lost black book and all of them have this telltale tattoo on their person. About 20% of the film through he finds fellow sailor Tracy and Hymer who swore he'd knock the tattooer's block off becomes his pal.
After these two illiterates have a couple more knockabout adventures Hymer meets Goldie who is played by Jean Harlow in what is probably her worst film. She's as good as her name, a gold digger and Tracy does his level best to educate Hymer on that fact. I leave it to your imagination as to how he does it.
Maybe had I seen a pristine restored print I might have liked Goldie better, but I doubt it. It's a very unfunny comedy and Tracy shows not a hint of the amazing talent he was. Ditto for Harlow though she is beautiful. In order to like Goldie it would help to be president of the Warren Hymer fan club.
Harlow would soon go to MGM and later on so would Tracy where they would make two more films together, Riff Raff which is better than Goldie, but along the same line and Libeled Lady one of the finest screen comedies ever done.
For confirmed fans of both Tracy and Harlow only.