HOLD YOUR MAN starts out as a brisk romantic comedy about a con man and a smart-talking dame (CLARK GABLE and JEAN HARLOW), and appears to be a perfect vehicle for the two stars. She aids him when he's fleeing from the police and they gradually form an intimate relationship. She comes back at him with lots of sassy remarks any time they play the flirting game and the film is entertaining, breezy and funny, full of racy situations that got by in the pre-code era.
Then--wham--the tone changes when she's picked up after a scam goes wrong and Gable escapes. She's sentenced to two years in a women's reformatory and therein the plot gets stuck in a bundle of clichés as she interacts with other "roommates" and the film loses all the charm of the earlier scenes and settles for becoming a sob story--especially when she finds out she's pregnant and has no idea whether she'll ever see Gable again. As the only honest person in the whole story, Stu Erwin does a nice job in a thankless role. Gary Owen is amusing as Gable's fellow grifter.
Fortunately, the two stars have enough chemistry together to make it all very watchable, but the disappointing mid-section and predictable ending weakens it considerably from an entertainment standpoint.
Then--wham--the tone changes when she's picked up after a scam goes wrong and Gable escapes. She's sentenced to two years in a women's reformatory and therein the plot gets stuck in a bundle of clichés as she interacts with other "roommates" and the film loses all the charm of the earlier scenes and settles for becoming a sob story--especially when she finds out she's pregnant and has no idea whether she'll ever see Gable again. As the only honest person in the whole story, Stu Erwin does a nice job in a thankless role. Gary Owen is amusing as Gable's fellow grifter.
Fortunately, the two stars have enough chemistry together to make it all very watchable, but the disappointing mid-section and predictable ending weakens it considerably from an entertainment standpoint.