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Tarfumes.com - Honky Tonk
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List Price: $19.98
Our Price: $42.95
Availability: N/A
Manufacturer: MGM (Warner)
Starring: Clark Gable, Lana Turner, Frank Morgan, Claire Trevor, Marjorie Main
Directed By: Jack Conway
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786302241181
Format: Black & White
ISBN: 6302241189
Label: MGM (Warner)
Manufacturer: MGM (Warner)
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: MGM (Warner)
Release Date: 1994-06-30
Running Time: 105
Studio: MGM (Warner)
Theatrical Release Date: 1941-10-01
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Jederiah Johnson
Comment: Honky Tonk is the story of Candy Johnson (Clark Gable), a swindler with plenty of charm. It is this quality that makes him so much money, but his line of work has him constantly moving from town to town. He vows to stop this by setting up stakes in a new town which he plans to take by storm. His intentions seem good when he starts his own saloon to get away from the corruption of the sherriff. He takes the town drunk, also the judge (Frank Morgan), under his wing and makes eyes at the judge's daughter (Lana Turner). His plot is completely successful, but at the expense of the people around him.
Turner and Gable work well together, but this is Gable's film all the way. He uses his trademark personality masterfully in this role. All of his charm is believable and it is no wonder people do what he wants. His appeal with women is undeniable here, which is the main reason this movie is worth watching. The story is somewhat thin; it is mainly a showcase for its stars.
Customer Rating:
Summary: "Have you any idea what a gal like you can do to a gent like me?"
Comment: Like a previous reviewer, I can safely say that the plot in this 1941 classic really isn't that important. The movie earns a 5-star rating for one thing and one thing alone: the amazing chemistry between Clark Gable and luscious 20-year-old Lana Turner in their first of four movies made together. "Honky Tonk" was a huge hit for MGM , thanks in part to their sensational ad/publicity campaign which included the oddly prophetic tag-line "Clark Gable kisses Lana Turner in Honky Tonk-and it's screen history." Also, Life's magazine with the Gable/Turner cover was one of it's top-selling issues of 1941.
Here's the plot for those who care: Clark Gable stars as "Candy" Johnson, a charming, smooth-talking con-artist who arrives in the gold-mining town of Yellow Creek looking for easy money. He meets Elizabeth Cotton (Lana Turner) and is instantly attracted to her, but she sees through his tricks and is reluctant to trust him. However, Candy discovers that Elizabeth's dad (Frank Morgan) is a corrupt judge and so they join forces. Candy builds a gambling house and a church(!), and becomes a respected leader in the community. He also wins Elizabeth's trust and love, although to avoid his sly tricks to get her into bed she gets him drunk and marries him. His former girlfriend "Gold Dust" Nelson (Claire Trevor) had tried to drive Elizabeth away, but in both the beauty and intelligence department she was simply outclassed by Elizabeth!
Elizabeth and Candy are very happy and Candy becomes very wealthy from his illegal schemes, and eventually it becomes too much for Elizabeth's father to take. When he's about to inform the town council about Candy's criminal activities, he's shot and killed by one of Candy's partners (who was acting without orders). Meanwhile, Elizabeth has becomes pregnant but loses her child after falling from her carriage. With his wife in a weak condition and the townspeople ready to lynch him, he finally realizes the error of his ways and decides to leave town. Elizabeth, though, won't let Candy's guilt destoy their once happy marriage, but it may be too late to save their relationship...
"Honky Tonk" is a very entertaining romance, and the supporting cast (Claire Trevor, Frank Morgan, Marjorie Main, Albert Dekker, and Chill Wills) adds a lot. It's no surprise that Clark Gable's wife, Carole Lombard, was suspicious and jealous during the filming of "Honky Tonk". The eleven steamy kisses between Lana Turner and Clark Gable in the movie offered a more than suggestive hint that the two might've been having a romantic relationship off-screen, although in her autobiography Turner denied this rumor. Although the main attraction of the film was of course Lana and Clark, I really enjoyed watching Claire Trevor play another "discarded girlfriend" role. I hope that MGM will release this and the other three Gable/Turner movies ("Somewhere I'll Find You", "Homecoming", and "Betrayed") on dvd. They just don't make 'em like this anymore!
Customer Rating:
Summary: GABLE AND TURNER
Comment: Never mind the story of HONKY TONK. It's strictly synthetic. Its gold miners and saloon toughs, its shady ladies and bad men are there only to provide a colourful Wild West background for more fundamental business. And that business is a series of sizzling bedroom scenes in which, in a variety of dress and undress, Clark Gable and Lana Turner make love. For Gable, this meant another Rhett Butlerish role - a sardonic, hell-raising rogue that kept him an irresistable box-office magnet. As for 20-year-old Lana, she graduated from sweaters to nightgowns; this was her best feature in her meteoric four-year climb to success. This Pandro S. Berman production from 1941 has Clark in top form as Candy Johnson; his charm in this should still make female hearts flutter; Lana Turner was graced with immense sex-appeal; here she proved she could act as well. Despite a certain lack of speed (it tends to ramble on and go nowhere) its sexy and lusty with good direction by Jack Conway. Gable is a heel and Turner is the beautiful daughter of corrupt judge Morgan in this western soap which is routine and predictable. Turner and Gable make an attractive team (they kiss 11 times in the movie!) Gable did a screen test with Turner when she was an amateur in 1938, he remembered she was awful & spoke her lines with "no feeling". By 1941, although still a starlet, she had learned a few lessons in the acting department. (Never a great actress, Turner nevertheless knew the tricks of the trade). Candy Johnson was a good role for Gable, even though the story inconsistencies at times make him look a greater sucker that the mobs he trims. Tough Claire Trevor does well in her difficult role as the dancehall girl and Marjorie Main is nigh hilarious as the lusty old widow; Turner never falters in her presentation of Lucy Cotton. Carole Lombard Gable was intensely jealous of Turner and made frequent visits on the set; tragically, she died the following year.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Very dumb, but the cast compensates
Comment: Potentially interesting plot of a gambler meeting an attractive young lady with both of them having his and her problems is absolute garbage on screen; not to mention it being boring, predictable, and so very unmemorable. Almost nothing is worth seeing here except for the teaming of Gable and Turner.
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