Riffraff (1936 film)
Encyclopedia
Riffraff is a 1936
1936 in film
The year 1936 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 29 - Fritz Lang's first Hollywood film Fury, starring Spencer Tracy and Bruce Cabot, is released.*November 6 - first Porky Pig animated cartoon...

 film starring Jean Harlow
Jean Harlow
Jean Harlow was an American film actress and sex symbol of the 1930s. Known as the "Blonde Bombshell" and the "Platinum Blonde" , Harlow was ranked as one of the greatest movie stars of all time by the American Film Institute...

 and Spencer Tracy
Spencer Tracy
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...

. The movie was written by Frances Marion
Frances Marion
Frances Marion was an American journalist, author, and screenwriter often cited as the most renowned female screenwriter of the twentieth century alongside June Mathis and Anita Loos.-Career:...

, Anita Loos
Anita Loos
Anita Loos was an American screenwriter, playwright and author.-Early life:Born Corinne Anita Loos in Sisson, California , where her father, R. Beers Loos, had opened a tabloid newspaper for which her mother, Minerva "Minnie" Smith did most of the work of a newspaper publisher...

, and H. W. Hannaford, and directed by J. Walter Ruben
J. Walter Ruben
Jacob Walter Ruben was an American screenwriter, film director and producer. He wrote for 35 films between 1926 and 1942...

.

Plot

Spencer Tracy plays a rough and tough fisherman ("Dutch" Mueller), who leads in a strike with his fellow Fishery workers against the "fat-cat" owners of a Tuna cannery. The love interest Hattie (Jean Harlow), is also a Tuna cannery worker.
Her character has a tough exterior with her "bombshell" good looks.

Jimmie (Mickey Rooney) plays a teenager, who is the Uncle of the two youngest children. They all live with; "Pops" (Roger Imhof), Hattie and his Aunt Lil (Una Merkel) together in the same small, apartment-like "shack" on the wharf.
Aunt 'Lil runs the home.

The thuggish cannery owner, Nick Lewis (Joseph Calliea), is also trying to romance Hattie with his money & gifts. He has wealth, Dutch does not. Hattie falls for Dutch in the end but this antagonism creates many struggles throughout the film.
Pete (William Newell) is a family friend along with many colorful characters in the movie.

The movie explores some cutting edge sub-themes that were socially current at the time of its release in 1936 release. Some scenes involve a woman having a baby while in prison, a hobo camp deep in the woods showing vagabonds, as well as worker strike scenes on the docks in the story.

Cast

  • Jean Harlow
    Jean Harlow
    Jean Harlow was an American film actress and sex symbol of the 1930s. Known as the "Blonde Bombshell" and the "Platinum Blonde" , Harlow was ranked as one of the greatest movie stars of all time by the American Film Institute...

     as Harriet "Hattie"/"Hat" Tuttle
  • Spencer Tracy
    Spencer Tracy
    Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...

     as Rudolph "Dutch" Muller
  • Una Merkel
    Una Merkel
    Una Merkel was an American Tony Award-winning stage and film actress.-Life and career:Una Merkel was born in Covington, Kentucky, and grew up in Philadelphia and New York City. She bore a resemblance to actress Lillian Gish and began her career as a stand-in for Gish, most notably in the 1928...

     as Lil Bundt
  • Joseph Calleia
    Joseph Calleia
    Joseph Calleia was a Maltese born American singer, composer, screenwriter and actor, both on Broadway and in film...

     as Nick Lewis
  • Victor Kilian
    Victor Kilian
    Victor Arthur Kilian was an American actor who was blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studio bosses in the 1950s....

     as "Flytrap"
  • Mickey Rooney
    Mickey Rooney
    Mickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. He has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...

     as Jimmy Thurger
  • J. Farrell MacDonald
    J. Farrell MacDonald
    Joseph Farrell MacDonald was an American character actor and director. He played supporting roles and occasional leads. MacDonald, who was sometimes billed as "John Farrell Macdonald", "J.F...

     as "Brains" McCall
  • Roger Imhof
    Roger Imhof
    Roger Imhof was a film actor, vaudeville, burlesque and circus performer, sketch writer, and songwriter.-Career:...

     as "Pops" Thurger
  • Juanita Quigley
    Juanita Quigley
    Juanita Quigley is a former child actress in American motion pictures of the 1930s and 1940s.-Career:Juanita Quigley was billed as Baby Jane in several early roles. She first attracted major attention as Claudette Colbert's three-year-old daughter in Imitation of Life...

     as Rosie Bundt
  • Paul Hurst
    Paul Hurst (actor)
    Paul Causey Hurst was an American film actor and director.-Career:Born in Traver, California, and raised on a ranch, he appeared in hundreds of films during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. However, he got his start painting scenery as part of the backstage crew during the silent movie era...

     as Red Belcher
  • Vince Barnett
    Vince Barnett
    Vince Barnett was an American film actor. He appeared on stage originally before appearing in over 180 films between 1930 and 1975....

     as "Lew", a fisherman
  • Dorothy Appleby
    Dorothy Appleby
    Dorothy Appleby was an American film actress. She appeared in over 50 films between 1931 and 1943.-Career:...

     as Gertie, a waitress
  • Judith Wood as Mabel, a waitress
  • Arthur Housman
    Arthur Housman
    Arthur Housman was an American actor in films during the Golden Age of Hollywood.-Career:Initially as a leading man, Housman later became known as Hollywood's most familiar comic drunkard in films of the 1930s, usually playing cameo parts in features but with better opportunities in short films...

     as Ratsy and Bugsy
  • Wade Boteler
    Wade Boteler
    Wade Boteler was an American film actor. He appeared in over 430 films between 1919 and 1943.He was born in Santa Ana, California, and died in Hollywood, California from a heart attack.-Selected filmography:...

     as Detective Bert Scanlon
  • Helene Costello
    Helene Costello
    Helene Costello was an American motion picture actress, most notably of the silent film era.Lou Costello took his professional name from the actress.- Biography :...

     as Maizie
  • Rafaela Ottiano
    Rafaela Ottiano
    Rafaela Ottiano was an Italian-born American stage and film actress.-Early life:Born in Venice, Italy, she emigrated with her parents to the United States, and was processed at Ellis Island in 1910.-Career:...

    as Matron
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