the audience applauded

Excellent, smart action film.

A Brilliant Conflict

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

The opening scenes of this film reminded me a bit of how the much later "Airport" (1970) begins, where you learn a little about how the business works. In this case, the business is newsreels.This film was produced just a year before "Gone With The Wind", but what a difference with cinematography and general sophistication between the very 1930-ish "Too Hot To Handle" and the decades ahead of its time "GWTW". And, the aerial stunts Gable supposedly portrayed here just aren't believable.Nevertheless, it's an entertaining flick, despite its flaws. And one of the chief flaws is the likable scoundrel Clark Gable...and he was likable, but not lovable...so why exactly did Myrna Loy's character fall in love with him? Did women in the 1930s really have a total lack of good taste? Just when you think the film is preposterous, things begin to look up. Myrna Loy's brother is missing in South America, and our pals (Loy, Gable, and Walter Pidgeon) head for the Amazon where they encounter South American natives, all of whom happen to be African????? And what those African transplants fall for is just plain hokey; where in blazes does Gable's compadre get a movie projector in the middle of the jungle, let along the electricity to run it. Preposterous.The acting of Gable, Loy, and Pidgeon is all great. But the script is pathetically foolish. And speaking of acting -- kudos to character actor Walter Connolly, who turns in a heck of a performance as Gable's newsreel company boss.Perhaps if they had simply had Latinos playing the South American natives one could forgive the inconsistencies in this film. But this blunder is all too much.There's nothing wrong with this film...except 78 years of sophistication. Entertaining? Yes. Believable? No. NOT a flick for your DVD shelf!

The reviews on this board caused me to give this old one a look this time around, having skipped it before. I didn't like the venue - all that native stuff, etc. But were they ever right about this being a great movie, actually one of the best for the interaction of these stars. Clark Gable just had the quality that always provided interest. He seemed to go into overdrive when playing a hustler type. Same for Myrna Loy about being interesting particularly in comedy. I like Walter Pidgeon differently, appreciating him in his active roles like this one and also for his gentlemanly portrayals. Very durable and reliable stars working well together in this. And funny and wild and fast. They really cranked them out back then; and sometimes they really cranked it up!!! Do see.

Clark Gable is a newsreel photographer doing stories on the China-Japan war in Shanghai, Walter Pidgeon is his rival, and Myrna Loy an aviatrix in "Too Hot to Handle," a 1938 film from MGM. Gable and Pidgeon know each other well and besides stealing each other's film, they fake stories so they can scoop one another and satisfy their bosses. They were way ahead of their time there. The funniest scene is Gable staging an airplane dropping a bomb over the house of a family. It's a toy airplane. Hilarious! Loy plays Alma Harding, trying to break air travel records so she can get money for an expedition to the Amazon to find her brother, who is presumed dead. When Pidgeon fakes a delivery of serum by Alma, a childhood friend, it goes wrong when the plane catches on fire after crashing. Gable saves her life and gains her trust. Whether or not it's justified is another matter.Everyone is great in this movie, including Walter Connolly, who plays Gable's frustrated boss, Pidgeon, Loy and Gable. Gable is irresistible with that smile of his, and Loy is excellent as a determined woman who nevertheless succumbs to Gable's charms. Pidgeon plays a more boisterous part rather than his usual gentlemanly ones, and he comes off very well.This is a fast-talking film where the action moves along at a rapid pace. A great example of a '30s comedy, tinged with romance, that you won't want to miss.

I happen to be a big fan of old newsreels. From the dawn of sound films until around the mid-60s the newsreel was the source for visual news coverage. After that television and then cable television took over. I look at the educational channels when they have old 30s and 40s newsreels running.The cameramen played by Clark Gable and Walter Pidgeon are not too different from the print reporter characters that are a staple character in Hollywood films. These two have a friendly rivalry trying to scoop each other for news. The rivalry gets a little intense when aviatrix Alma Harding (Amelia Earhart) played by Myrna Loy gets ensnared in the rivalry and becomes the focus of their hormones.The writing is sparkling with zingers and the direction is crisp. The plot moves from one madcap situation to the next. Among the supporting cast I should single out Walter Connolly and Henry Kolker as the rival bosses of Gable and Pidgeon who are driven to their respective wits end by the antics of their cameramen.I defy anyone to watch this film and not split a gut laughing.