"RED DUST."

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 290, 7 December 1932, Page 5

" RED DUST."

A DRAMA FOR ADULTS. Jean Harlow, in whom such a wealth of interest at present centres, is a revelation in "Red Dust," which goes to the Majestic Theatre to-morrow. Here you have what may almost be termed a square-sided triangle of the tropics, lou think you know all these situations— young wife, young and most guileless husband, and an attractive, too attractive, plantation manager. It sounds familiar. It is familiar, except for the presence of the hard-boiled girl, Jean Harlow, and the fact that the manager is Clark Gable at his very best. This is the Gable who made fame so quickly. With Mary Astor, the lovejy, foolish wife, he is one man. With Jean Harlow, the girl who doesn't count, he is another. He and Jean have a delightful sense of fun, which lifts the talkie right away from the usual melodrama of the torrid zone. They are cheerful people who look life in the face, and snatch what they can from it. "Red Dust" has an entertainment value which must appeal to Majestic patrons next week. The producer has been exceedingly clever, and the man who choee Jean Harlow for this role proved that he could see her acting quality as something quite apart from her famous platinum blonde hair. Given an intensely difficult taek, Jean, through being perfectly natural, gains and captures the sympathy of the audience. Mary Astor is lovely and appealing, Clark Gable is dominating and intensely attractive, but Jean Harlow makes "Red Dust' 1 the picture it is.