Abenteuer in China

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.

When I saw the first time this movie I was a teenager and now after 15 years I have the same feelings, it's a masterpiece, really a great movie of the '30s. Yes I'm a fan of Clark Gable and Myrna Loy. Everybody can enjoy the speech the timing, the screenplay. Gable at his best, don't forget that in '38 Gable and Loy were nominated King and Queen of Hollywood. Why?

Just watch the movie and immediately realized!Let's have a lot of fun and malencony of a period that will never come back again.

Walter Connoly was a great actor and his part of journalist was remarkable.

Really a must to see for all of you who like the golden period of Hollywood and the movies of his king and queen.

I first saw this movie when I was in my 20's, and thought it was incredibly funny, exciting, and totally out of the realm of believability. But in addition to all that, it was the magic between the characters that made it so much fun. Gable and Loy, A list stars who could carry any picture on their own, seemed to let their status go by the wayside as they just jelled on screen. Walter Pigeon was great as always, and every great character actor in the world was on board somewhere, it seemed, during it's 86 minutes or so... I loved it then, still do, and watch it once a year just because it makes me feel so good.

The kings and queens of comedy are here in this 1930s comedy-exotic-travel-adventure. Walter Connelly is the newspaper boss who has sent on-scene action reporter Hunter (Clark Gable) overseas to China to get the latest, hot, south seas action caught on film. Hunter's nemesis is Bill Dennis (Walter Pidgeon), and every scene is a competition to see who can top who, or who can put one over on the other. If Clark Gable is present, then Myrna Loy must be in here too, and she is... as Alma Harding. A fun, fast paced good-natured contest between the two reporters. Alma's brother is missing, and she talks Hunter (Gable) into helping to find him. Did you spot Marjorie Main as the secretary in the newsroom? She was only 48 in this one... she would go on to be nominated for Ma Kettle ten years later! Gable had recently gotten HIS Oscar for It Happened One Night. Myrna Loy received an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement. Even Walter Pidgeon was nominated for TWO Oscars in the 1940s. What a cast of pros! Obviously, they never left the back lot of Hollywood, but for the general public who had never traveled very far, this would have been very exciting and exotic. Of course, Hunter gets caught up in his own web of deception, but he must figure out how to win back the lady, as well as his job. This is a fun, exciting story, and worth every minute. Shown on TCM now & then. Directed by Jack Conway, MGM bigshot who made TONS of stuff with Gable and Loy. Catch this one when you can! You won't be sorry.

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.