Red Dust



The steamy pre-Production Code melodrama Red Dust stars virile, tough guy Clark Gable as a Far East plantation owner who proves no match for Jean Harlow's saucy incandescence. Her earthy, breathless dialogue ("You can check the wings and halo at the desk") serves to turn up the heat.

The movie's well-remembered humor, star chemistry and atmosphere owe much to underrated director Victor Fleming, who managed to inspire a superior performance from Harlow, who was coping with the suicide of her husband during the filming of Red Dust.

Red Dust was added to the National Film Registry in 2006.