Gable plays a handsome con man: Eddie, who makes the acquaintance of tough-talking young blonde Ruby(Jean Harlow) when he ducks into her apartment to escape a policeman and accuser chasing him for supposedly selling the accuser a worthless diamond ring for $30.(Actually, the accuser is the con man, in this case). Miss Ruby was very careless in leaving her door unlocked while taking a bath. She was also unwisely trusting when Gable appeared at her bathroom door, and told her that he was innocent, and needed protection from a cop. Luckily, Gable turned out to be trustworthy, and put on a successful disappearance act with soap suds, as he replaced Ruby in the bathtub, in the funniest scene in the film. While, he's drying off and changing into a bathrobe, she hocks a $10 bill from his wallet, which he soon notices, but forgives her for. From her talk, she comes across as a hard-bitten floozy, but seems to have a soft spot for Gable. Later, while she's having dinner with a gentleman admirer((Stewart Erwin, as Al Simpson), she tries to exploit his sense of generosity by claiming that she lost her pocketbook, with her rent money. Unfortunately, the custodian(Louise Beavers) blows her cover. But, Al is willing to pay her rent anyway. Yep, just like Gable, she's a regular con artist. She doesn't have any visible regular job, so I suspect she exploits her sexy body(which includes quite a pronounced wiggle, at times) to gather financial favors from men. However, it's soon evident that Gable is special to her. She'd like to keep him. Can these 2 parasites be turned into useful, honest, people?
Eventually, Gable makes her accompany him to get a marriage license. But, they don't have a chance to cap this with a marriage ceremony until after Rose has been committed to a woman's reformatory, not for theft, but for being an accessory to an accidental manslaughter committed by Gable, who somehow escaped the mob of onlookers. As a fugitive, he committed grave risk of capture in visiting the reformatory, after being told by his ex-girlfriend, Gypsy, that apparently Ruby was pregnant with his child.(It's incredulous that Gypsy would help Gable and Ruby, after having several fights with Ruby). Gable wants to somehow have a marriage ceremony before his child is born. It just so happened that the minister father of the African American inmate Lily Mae is there visiting her, Ruby's roommates scurry around trying to arrange a meeting of Ruby and Gable with the minister. The ceremony is just finished when police break in. Gable is arrested for manslaughter, and spends 3-4 years in prison, judging by the size of his boy when Ruby meets him when he is released. They seem like they are now ready to go straight. No idea how she survived while Gable was in prison, but I know a possibility.
Remember Ruby's friend Al Simpson, who she tried to con out of her rent money? He was a very, very, unusual dude! He was willing to do almost anything for Ruby, even after she married Gable. One time, he visited her at the reformatory. She didn't want to see him, and acted very nasty toward him. Nonetheless, I can see him supporting Ruby and her boy while Gable was in prison. Just a guess. Ruby tells Gable that Al has a legitimate job waiting for him. Now, that's a true friend! Or, the old Gable would have called him a sucker.
Incidentally, the title comes from a song on a record that Gable played for Ruby. Later, in the reformatory, Ruby talked/sang it, while she played it on the piano.
Eventually, Gable makes her accompany him to get a marriage license. But, they don't have a chance to cap this with a marriage ceremony until after Rose has been committed to a woman's reformatory, not for theft, but for being an accessory to an accidental manslaughter committed by Gable, who somehow escaped the mob of onlookers. As a fugitive, he committed grave risk of capture in visiting the reformatory, after being told by his ex-girlfriend, Gypsy, that apparently Ruby was pregnant with his child.(It's incredulous that Gypsy would help Gable and Ruby, after having several fights with Ruby). Gable wants to somehow have a marriage ceremony before his child is born. It just so happened that the minister father of the African American inmate Lily Mae is there visiting her, Ruby's roommates scurry around trying to arrange a meeting of Ruby and Gable with the minister. The ceremony is just finished when police break in. Gable is arrested for manslaughter, and spends 3-4 years in prison, judging by the size of his boy when Ruby meets him when he is released. They seem like they are now ready to go straight. No idea how she survived while Gable was in prison, but I know a possibility.
Remember Ruby's friend Al Simpson, who she tried to con out of her rent money? He was a very, very, unusual dude! He was willing to do almost anything for Ruby, even after she married Gable. One time, he visited her at the reformatory. She didn't want to see him, and acted very nasty toward him. Nonetheless, I can see him supporting Ruby and her boy while Gable was in prison. Just a guess. Ruby tells Gable that Al has a legitimate job waiting for him. Now, that's a true friend! Or, the old Gable would have called him a sucker.
Incidentally, the title comes from a song on a record that Gable played for Ruby. Later, in the reformatory, Ruby talked/sang it, while she played it on the piano.