Gable is Alan Gaskell, a roguish captain of a ship that sails between Hong Kong and Shanghai. It’s established pretty early on that he’s been having some adult fun ashore with a Shanghai harlot, Dolly, who goes by the name China Doll (Harlow). So imagine his surprise when setting his ship off to sea that she is on board as a passenger! She confesses she is madly in love with him; he is weary of her and rejects her advances. She is green with jealousy upon the arrival onboard of Sybil,(Russell), a distinguished former paramour of Alan’s from England. Lily sets out to win her man back but ends up embarrassing herself in front of him and the lady by telling of Alan’s seedy behavior. Rejected by him once again, she decides to get even and is persuaded to be in cahoots with Jamesy (Beery), a crooked first mate who is collaborating with Malaysian pirates to loot the ship. She steals the keys to the armory cabinet from Alan’s stateroom and passes them on to Jamesy. Pirates overrun the ship and torture Alan so he’ll reveal where the gold is hidden. When Alan won’t give in, they assume there is no gold and give up, but not after a courageous officer blows them up with grenades. Alan, aware that the pirates were helped from someone on the inside, interrogates Jamesy and China Doll. They confess and Jamesy commits suicide. Once they dock in Hong Kong, China Doll is led off the boat by the authorities to be tried for conspiracy. Gable admits his love for her and tells her he’ll stand by her during the trial and marry her.

Reviews

Silver Screen, November 1935

Good. When that grand he-man, Clark Gable, sails the China seas he's terrific! Don't miss him, girls. Especially with Jean Harlow and Rosalind Russell to worry him on his way. Men will like this rip-roaring drama of the sea also.

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Quote-able Gable

“Hello kid, what are you doing out in broad daylight?” first line

“You don’t like my behavior ashore or aboard ship, you can get a new boy! In fact I wish you would!”

“It’s bad enough to have a ship that looks like this and a captain that looks like me without having a cheap officer that looks like you!”

“How many hours do we have to spend saying good-bye before it takes?”

“You and I are friends. We’ve had a lot of fun together and as far as I’m concerned you’re a number one girl in the archipelago. But I don’t remember making any vows to you nor do I recall asking for any.”

“As a man said when they were about to hang him: this will be a lesson to me.”

“You saved me a lot of trouble. You painted the whole dirty story for her with a nice truthful brush! Thanks!”

“Someday you’ll say something nice and never forgive yourself.”

“Let’s quit good friends instead of like a couple of cab drivers after a drunken brawl.”

“You’ve always got a good reason for anything you do. In fact I don’t know anybody who can think of more remarkable good reasons than you can on short notice!”

“What a dirty little sneak you are!”

“In this madhouse there’s always a million things to do before you can do what you want!”

“Yes I love her--not the way I do you!”

“Change the hose and change your shoes, Mr. Kingston!” last line

Behind the Scenes

It was reportedly while Gable was filming China Seas that Loretta Young told him she was pregnant with his child. Additionally, Gable was receiving heat from studio head Louis B. Mayer about being seen in public romancing British actress Elizabeth Allan.

Gable and Beery did not get along during filming. During the scene where Beery hits Gable while he's passed out, Beery reportedly smacked Gable hard instead of faking it. Gable jumped out of the chair and threatened to break his neck and the crew had to separate them and continue filming the scene the next day after they had cooled off.

Gable volunteered to do his own stunts during the storm scene, including harnessing a loose steamroller.