Excellent but underrated film

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

It is funny, sexy, exciting, and every bit as resonant today as 1935- really saying something for a post-Code picture.It's MGM of the period all the way. Bang bang bang, nonstop action, mile-a-minute dialogue. Basically a shameless retread of Red Dust, I actually like it a lot better than Red Dust. It's also got a dash of Shanghai Express, which is fine. Maybe it's the fact that I'm drawn to "souls at sea"" pictures and ensemble films about disparate groups thrown together by fate, their bizarre stories intertwining.And what an ensemble this film boasts: There's Harlow, who by now could act, working her sex-clown routine with total confidence- fierceness to the Nth degree. Acing scene after scene, playing off Gable and Wallace Beery and Hattie MacDaniel (who has a rare good role, although not as substantial as it could be) just wonderfully. She should have gotten a Best Actress nomination for this. Then there's Gable as Gable. Roz Russell is stuck playing one of the dour, humorless Brits MGM frequently cast her as in the thirties (see also Night Must Fall and The Citadel ). Donald Meek and Lewis Stone and Robert Benchley and plenty of others, all making the most out of their bits.The stories are tight, every character compelling, and great dialogue all wonderfully pieced together. I don't often agree with Leonard Maltin or find his assessments of films too astute, but he is completely correct when he calls China Seas "impossible to dislike."China Seas, a minor title in the classic film library, is the film to show to win people over to the "Black and White" side and show them how exciting and entertaining a classic movie can be.

I hardly knew what to expect when I played this offering from a nifty 4-disc set of Harlow films from Turner-Classic.In this one, Cable, a naval commander, has tired of his skullery-maid-like former consort (Harlow), discarding her for a high-class prospect (Ros Russell). Harlow doesn't like it, and teams up with a crooked officer, Wallace Beery, who has cut a deal with some villainous pirates. This role required Harlow to be a semi-trashy blond bombshell, which fits her platinum blond persona (but she could do characters of a higher class, when required -- see 'Wife and Secretary' with Gable and Myrna Loy)** Spoilers below **Remember, though: the Hayes production code was now being enforced, which meant that Beery and Harlow could not profit from their crime.So, the good guys win, in the end, but Gable says he will stick with his pretty former-consort Harlow--even marry her--but first she must face the justice system for her role in an attempted theft. I doubt the original story ended that way, but the Code demanded that villains NOT prosper from their nefarious deeds - so, Harlow will face prison for 3 to 5, I guess. If made in 1932, that film would have ended with Gable suppressing the role Harlow played, and marrying her the same day, in a local church!Contrast this to 'Dinner at 8' made only a few years earlier with Harlow and Wallace Beery. Two (at least) of the female major players are guilty of indiscretions, but escape unscathed.China seas was a pleasant surprise, and featured a brutal storm at sea, done with tons of water and wind machines (no FX in those days)..Recommended. 8/10

Jean Harlow steals the film as a fast talking, brassy blond up to no good with being in cahoots with Wallace Beery, the latter bringing pirates on board to lift a case of gold from the ship.As if this isn't enough, the passengers had to endure a major typhoon knocking everything around and causing near mayhem.Clark Gable is the captain of the ship. With a gruff exterior, but a kindness only made by him, he is endearing here. Rosalind Russell, a widow, is on board with her wonderful English accent to woo Gable.The scenes with the typhoon raging are marvelously staged and Beery is his usual no nonsense character wonderfully matched by Harlow's fast way of living.

I'm only joking, of course, but what's with Clark Gable's diction in this film. Every time he takes on his official role as captain, he doesn't talk, he barks...a lot. Gable is a favorite of mine, but by the end of this film I wanted to cut his tongue out! And that's not the only negative here, in my view.Some of our reviewers here are raving about the casting. I'm not. And we'll start with Jean Harlow. I have to say that I've never understood the attraction, other than her looks. And after watching her in this film...I still don't. To be honest, her character is too foolish to be believable, and it's amazing no one noticed that, even back in 1935. I feel the same about Wallace Beery.I was pleased to see Lewis Stone here as a somewhat down and out third officer. It's a different kind of role for him -- as a coward who ultimately redeems himself; he does well with it.Rosalind Russell is interesting as the surprise love interest. C. Aubrey Smith is enchanting as ever as the owner of the shipping line. Robert Benchley can be pretty amusing and clever; he's not here...he just plays a perpetual drunk. Interestingly, Hattie McDaniel -- a Gable favorite, and soon to be Mammy in GWTW, is here, but received no screen credit...and, as usual, plays a maid.In terms of the plot, this film reminds me of the structure a lot of the more modern disaster films take. A couple of big name stars at the top of the billing, and then a series of subplots where we learn a little bit about each supporting character. The longer you watch the film, the more you realize that the story lines are more complex than you typically found in films from 1935...and that's what makes this film fairly satisfying. And, for 1935, the special effects (primarily the typhoon) are darned good! Recommended, with reservations.