User reviews

Jean Harlow and Clark Gable teamed up for the last time in this light film, "Saratoga," about a young woman, her wealthy fiancée (Walter Pidgeon), and the horse breeding farm deeded to a bookie (Gable) to pay off a gambling debt. Harlow wants to handicap horses and lay bets to pay off the marker, and Gable wants to take her boyfriend on a long ride to poverty by taking his bets.

I can't imagine how disheartening it was for the actors, director, and crew to have to finish the film after Jean Harlow's untimely death. Unfortunately, the film for viewers soon becomes how they camouflaged the fact that her stand-in and a vocal imitator completed the picture. Most disconcerting is a large party scene, where the internal sections feature the stand-in, and the external ones on the terrace are with Harlow. All of the race track scenes were obviously done last, with the stand-in hiding her face with binoculars. And there is one scene where she is completely covered with a picture hat. The character's only appearances at the end of the film are at the race track and, back turned, in the race track office. The ending shot is actually from an earlier scene, or it was done at the same time the earlier scene was filmed.

Despite being ill during the production, Harlow is wonderful in her final role and she and Gable have excellent chemistry. She truly was one of the great screen presences, just delightful in every way. Walter Pidgeon is young and handsome, and despite having to say "I love ya" dozens of times, Gable is likable, relaxed, and handsome. It just all seems very disjointed. And very sad.

Yes, the film is not great. The scenes when Jean doesn't appear or her double appears make the film lackluster and dull in those spots. However, the film gives glimpses of the "Forties" flavor and what great things Miss Harlow could have done had she only lived. Hattie McDaniel's singing in the club car is great (as far as the racist times would allow for that talented woman) and the scene where Miss Harlow smokes Gable's cigar while he hides under the sofa as Pigeon (as her fiancé) unexpectedly arrives at her room to speak to her is a fine bit and a few other moments in the film where Miss Harlow appear simply make the viewer all too aware of the great loss of the great comedic talent and the delicate beauty of the remarkable Jean Harlow. It would have been better to have her last film an excellent comedy (in the vein of "Topper" for which she was slated), but this film without her in it would have been totally forgettable- so it stands as a fair tribute to a great star.

Taken as a diverting bit of fluff, "Saratoga" is a pleasant film not worthy of the talents of its cast but easy on the eyes. The plot is in the screwball vein but lacking the manic intensity of the genre; it revolves around a bookie trying to save a horse farm by luring a rich "chump" to lose racing bets & finance the endeavor. Clark Gable, looking alarmingly thin, is the bookie and he delivers his standard performance. Scenery-chewing Lionel Barrymore and blustering Frank Morgan are on hand playing characters they perfected during their careers. Also on board are Una Merkel, Walter Pidgeon, and in a bit role Dennis O'Keefe. Unfortunately all of this is secondary to the only reason this film merits attention: it is the final film of legendary Jean Harlow.

The tragedy of Miss Harlow has been well documented. She was literally dying while shooting this movie and it is a difficult film to sit through knowing this. In the final 20-25 minutes her character is clearly played by a double hidden behind binoculars, a large hat, or shot from behind. Nobody wanted to finish the movie after Miss Harlow passed away but there was such an outcry from her fans that the picture was completed by a heavy- hearted studio. Ironically it was her biggest hit film largely because everyone wanted to get a final glimpse of her. Her performance is not one of her best; she is lacking her usual energy & effervescence. But it is an incredibly poignant performance knowing the terrible physical pain she must have been suffering during the shoot.

By all accounts Jean Harlow was an amazing individual; beloved by all and someone who valued the happiness of others over her own. She was more concerned about letting the cast & crew of "Saratoga" down than getting help for her illness. A class act to the end.

Not a great movie, it doesn't have the expected chemistry between Gable and Harlow, but many bits of trivia connected with it. It was released as I understand it after public pressure for another look at her. It ended up being her most financially successful film. I think that the cigar scene is one of her best, most understated comic moments.

I don't know of another film finished after its star's death like this. For that alone it is a curiosity. The added footage is very obvious, comical yet macabre. And the ongoing bit about her being sick is equally macabre.

As for the trivia, you have one of Lionel Barrymore's last ambulatory roles; longtime MGM contractee Walter Pidgeon in his first MGM role; Hattie McDaniel singing; The Wizard of Oz having breakfast with the Wicked Witch of the West; and Clark Gable playing probably the only nice bookie in the history of the movies (sort of nice, to Harlow's father at least).

For Harlow at her best, go with Personal Property, Red Dust or Bombshell, but watch this for the trivia.

Corny? Sure. Dated? A big part of this movie's charm. Of course, the fact that this was Harlow's last movie makes it worth watching for this reason alone but the fascinating repartee between Gable and her throughout the film is hugely entertaining. For racing fans, the scenes of old Hialeah and Saratoga race tracks shows the days when having a bet on a horse race was the only legal way to gamble. In those days, next to baseball, horse racing was the most popular sport in America and the scenes of huge crowds are a testimonial to that fact. In fact, this movie is a chronicle of American sporting history and unlike the recent horse racing films, "Seabiscuit" and "Secretariat", it is able to show the real glory of horse racing and the elite who were able to own and breed these most noble of animals.

Ordinary comedy would have been a cinematic footnote and a stop gap for Gable and Harlow before their next scheduled pairing on loan to Fox for the much more worthwhile In Old Chicago if not for Jean's sudden death. Instead it ended up becoming the second most profitable film of 1937 and a notorious cash grab for Metro.

Not really a bad film but hardly the best film on any of the actors resumes. Other than the ghoulish, rather easy, game of spotting the scenes filmed after Jean's passing with a stand-in the film is packed with great character actors and actresses doing good work. Of particular note is Una Merkel, sassy and smart as an old crony of Gable's. Jean's part is one that's far away from her more famous early persona as a brassy good time girl but in line with the more refined lady-like roles Mayer was moving her towards after Irving Thalberg's death and which she had been transitioning to nicely. Considering the fact that it's an incomplete performance she is fine in her role, she looks weary and a bit bloated throughout not surprisingly since unbeknownst to all her kidneys were failing.

Her death actually caused great upheaval in many films that were in development at the time changing the course of many careers. She and Gable were to head over to Fox for In Old Chicago which proved a boon to Alice Faye and Tyrone Power. For their services Shirley Temple was to be loaned to MGM for the Wizard of Oz, when that fell through of course Judy Garland was cast pulling her out and Ann Rutherford in to the small part of Carreen in GWTW. Also among many other planned projects Maisie, originally planned as an A production but moved to the B unit after the loss of Jean, was allocated to Ann Sothern so successfully that it started her on a series that ran, between other films, almost ten years.

When you watch this film, you are overwhelmed with sadness realizing that Jean Harlow died during production. Adding to that, Jean was never better than she is in this film. First of all, MGM finally found her 'look.' Her make-up is toned down and her platinum blonde hair is now a darker shade. She never looked lovelier. But what really is remarkable is her acting skills. She developed such a natural style and her comic ability was absolutely flawless.

From what I've read, Miss Harlow was liked by all in the industry, and loved by those who were close to her. Dying a such a young age (26), one can only imagine how many more years her career would have flourished.

Almost 65 years have passed since her death and she's still one of Hollywood's greatest stars.

This movie is a real treat for classic movie lovers! The star-studded cast includes Jean Harlow, Clark Gable, Hattie McDaniel and Lionel Barrymore. It is especially interesting for all Gone With The Wind lovers to see Hattie McDaniel (Mammy) and Clark Gable (Rhett) work together two years prior to GWTW. Jean Harlow is absolutely beautiful and really shows her acting talent in this movie. It is bittersweet to watch though, considering this was Harlow's last film. The actress worked as long as she could until the physical pain of her illness became too much and she passed away at a very young age before filming completed. The stand-in scenes are very obvious, but fortunately doesn't take away from the magic that Ms. Harlow contributed and therefore set a tone for the movie.I love this movie, and highly recommend to anyone who wants a good storyline w/ wonderful star quality!!!

'Saratoga' was one of Hollywood's biggest box-office hits of 1937, but an explanation is in order. The film was scheduled to star MGM's popular team of Clark Gable and Jean Harlow, but Harlow died suddenly (of uraemia, aged only 26) while 'Saratoga' was in production. Her fans demanded that MGM honour Harlow's memory by completing the movie; when it was released, hordes went to see 'Saratoga' and bid farewell to their platinum blonde. Ironically, this movie made far more money (on the strength of Harlow's death) than it would have been likely to earn had she lived to complete it.

'Saratoga' is a comedy, yet a weird morbidity hovers over this film. Harlow's character's father is played by Jonathan Hale, who later committed suicide. Gable has a bizarre scene in a racehorses' cemetery, appropriately spooky. (Although the gravestones are too close together.) The scenes left unfilmed at Harlow's death were completed with three different actresses doubling for her: a body double, a face double, and a voice double dubbing her dialogue. The doubling is laughably inept, even by 1937 standards.

Several film critics have claimed that we'll never know how great 'Saratoga' would have been had Harlow completed it. That's rubbish, that is. For the first two-thirds of the film -- with the possible exception of one shot in which she pushes her way through a crowd of punters, with her back to the camera -- it's clear that Harlow did all of her own scenes. By the two-thirds mark, 'Saratoga' has failed to register as a classic on the level of 'Red Dust' or 'Dinner at Eight'. There's nothing in the film's first five reels to indicate that this movie would have attained greatness if only Harlow had completed it. This is just one more Gable/Harlow comedy: an enjoyable one, but nowhere near so good as 'Red Dust' or even 'Bombshell'.

I find it intriguing that all of Harlow's doubled sequences are in the last one-third of the movie, as this indicates that 'Saratoga' was shot roughly in sequence. Ironically, the last line that Harlow speaks on screen (two-thirds into this movie) is 'Good-bye'. From here to the last reel, her character is strangely taciturn, always holding field glasses or some other object in front of her face so that we can't get a good squizz at the unconvincing double (actress Mary Dees). Harlow's character appears to have been written out of some late scenes in which one might expect her to appear. But the very last shot of the movie reveals Harlow herself, with Gable and Una Merkel, reprising a song from earlier in the movie: 'The Horse with the Dreamy Eyes'. I wonder if this shot was repositioned from earlier in the film, in order to ensure that the movie would end with a close-up of the real Jean Harlow.

I always find Una Merkel deeply annoying, and here she's worse than usual. She does a bump-and-grind routine, thrusting her pelvis towards us while glancing indignantly backwards over her shoulder, pretending that she's been shoved forward by someone standing behind her. Get some voice lessons, Merkel.

Gable's character is identified as a 'bookie', which may surprise modern viewers in America. Gable is portraying what is known in Britain as a 'turf accountant'. These are independent bookmakers who lawfully take bets at a racetrack, without participating in the pari-mutuel pool. Such people no longer exist Stateside but were carefully vetted by racing commissions in the 1930s. One of the rules for their profession was that a bookie could not own shares in a racehorse. In 'Saratoga', deep-pockets Gable buys a thoroughbred as a gift for Lionel Barrymore, playing Harlow's grandfather. If a bookie had tried this in real life, there would have been legitimate protests of a conflict of interest.

Gable is his usual sly rogue here, with an amusing running gag in which he keeps telling various men and women: 'I love ya.' The payoff is clever. These shots were edited into a very funny montage in 'That's Entertainment, Part Two'. 'Saratoga' benefits from MGM's usual high production standards, and an excellent supporting cast ... including Charley Foy, Margaret Hamilton, Hattie McDaniel, Frank Morgan (less annoying than usual) and MGM's stalwart character actor Cliff Edwards. I enjoyed 'Saratoga' and I'll rate it 7 out of 10 ... but it's hardly a classic, and I'm confident that it would not have been one even if Harlow had completed it.

Saratoga was not a great film. It has some clever and witty moments, such as the scene where Harlow is caught smoking a cigar, but on the whole the film is not among the best work of the wonderful cast which includes: Jean Harlow, Clark Gable, Lionel Barrymore and Walter Pigeon. Harlow died before she completed filming this movie after a supposed illness which lasted 10 days. Watching the film you can see how unenergetic she looks, how puffy and tired and knowing that she does not live to finish the film casts the film in a poor light. When Harlow died, it was reported in the press that the film would be scrapped and left unfinished....but Louella Parsons reported in the press a few days after Harlow's death that the public outcry had been so great that MGM had decided to release the film. Being realistic here, it is hard to believe that MGM would ever seriously consider scrapping the film....the film had already cost millions and had other big name stars in the film. Parsons reported that the role played by Jean Harlow would be filled by actress Rita Johnson, and that at the point in the filming where Harlow died, co-star Lionel Barrymore would film an introduction announcing that Harlow had passed and that the film would be completed by another actress. None of this happened. There was no intro by Barrymore, and the role was taken over by actress Mary Dees. Dees was described in the press as having been both a $55 a week dancer at Warner Brothers, and also was said to have been pulled from a picture that she was shooting at Paramount with Bing Crosby to finish the role.

It is laughable to see the new actress in the role. At the point at which Harlow dies in real life, her character on the screen seems to almost vanish too. When she is shown, she is shown from the back, or with binoculars to her face, or a laughable scene with Hattie McDaniels where she is wearing a huge hat with a wide gauzy brim which obscures her face. This all makes what already was not a stellar film, get even worse. It is hard to say how the film would have been had Harlow lived. There is no question that her role would have been much larger.

In a macabre twist, in the scene where Jean Harlow is being examined by the doctor played by George Zucco, the gown she is wearing, white and with puffy sleeves, was the gown she was buried wearing.

SARATOGA (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1937), directed by Jack Conway, is a lighthearted comedy with some sadness attached to it. Jean Harlow, it's leading lady, never reached the finish line for this one, having died before completion got underway. Cast for the sixth and final time opposite Clark Gable, this was easily their breeziest assignment together. Walter Pidgeon, making his MGM debut, rounds out the trio playing the other man competing for his girl's affections.

With full indication of a horse racing story, the film's introduction starts off with the camera capturing the full view of racing hoofs as jockeys ride up the racetrack before the rising dust covers the screen as the credits roll to upbeat swing music of unseen vocalist belting out its title tune. Fade in begins at Saratoga's Brookvale Farm where Grandpa Clayton (Lionel Barrymore), a horse-breeder, is disappointed that his son, Fran (Jonathan Hale) has sold off his stallions to banker Ed Kenyon to cover up his financial losses. Because Clayton owes $60,000 back debt to best friend and bookmaker, Duke Bradley (Clark Gable), he offers him the mortgage deed to his property as security. Clayton's daughter, Carol (Jean Harlow), while in London, has become engaged to Hartley Madison (Walter Pidgeon), a wealthy New York stockbroker who had taken Duke for $50,000 at Belmont. While at the races, Clayton suffers a fatal heart attack shortly after Carol's return. As Carol calls for Duke to sell her back the farm, he refuses so not to foreclose on her grandfather. Intending on having Hartley give her the money to pay off Duke, Duke has other plans on getting back his losses. Regardless of trying to outbid the rich "sucker" at both auction and racetracks, Carol arranges in keeping Bradley one step ahead of Duke.

Taken from an original screenplay by Anita Loos and Robert Hopkins, the plot revolving around a snobbish girl engaged to a millionaire and becoming attracted to a smooth talking bookie was typical movie-making in the 1930s. Considering the plot being ordinary, the winning combination of Gable and Harlow makes SARATOGA all its worth. With the finished product not going according to plan due to Harlow's untimely death, how the writers managed to work around her character is more interesting than the story itself. Aside from extended use of supporting players Una Merkel (Fritzi, Duke's old flame), and Frank Morgan (Jesse Kiffmeyer, Fritzi's jealous husband allergic to horses), there's also noticeable out-takes revolving around the real Harlow and those featuring her double with face covered by large hats and camera capturing her discreetly from the back. The frequent mention of Carol's illness was certainly an excuse by not keeping her in full view. One surviving scene where Harlow's Carol, examined by Doctor Hanerstein Beard (George Zucco), constantly telling him, "I'm perfectly well. There's nothing the matter with me," comes across as too close for comfort, considering the actual circumstances of her being gravly ill during filming.

On the lighter side, Harlow demonstrates her flare for comedy in a memorable scene where she claims to have picked up cigar smoking to avoid any detection of Duke's presence in her room (who's hiding underneath her bed) from her fiancé' Bradley, after noticing the burning cigar resting on her ashtray. Gable comes across as very likable through his constant catch phrase to everyone, male or female, "I love you." When Carol uses it on Duke, he replies amusingly, "Hey, what are you trying to do, steal my gag line?" In between the battle of wits come song interludes by Walter Donaldson, Robert Wright and Chet Forrest: "Saratoga" (sung by Grace Saxon and the Four Esquires); "The Horse With the Dreamy Eyes" (sung by Cliff Edwards, Una Merkel, Clark Gable and Hattie McDaniel); "Saratoga" and reprise of "The Horse With the Dreamy Eyes." The Horse song, set on the "The Racing Special" train bound to and from Miami, is noteworthy as one of the rare cases where Gable participates in a song, and quite good at that.

Rounding out the cast of co-stars include Hattie McDaniel as Rosetta Washington, Harlow's maid; Cliff Edwards as "Tip" O'Brien; Frankie Darro the jockey, Dixie Gordon; and Margaret Hamilton appearing as the homely woman on the train seated next to Jesse (Morgan), founder of Harriet Hale Beauty Cream. Lionel Barrymore, a reliable actor, is nearly unrecognizable with his Claude Gillingwater Sr.-type performance playing the aging grandpa sporting silver hair and droopy mustache.

Regardless of title, not every scene takes place in Saratoga, but at Tropical Park in Miami, Florida, and at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Highlighting with a horse race sequence between Moonray and Dubonnet leading to a photo finish, SARATOGA concludes with its own photo finish with that of Jean Harlow (1911-1937) in a fond farewell to her work. To echo those words of Gable's Duke Bradley, fans would gladly say, "Jean, we love you." Formerly available on video cassette in the 1990s, SARATOGA is certainly a sure bet whenever presented on Turner Classic Movies. (*** markers)

This was the last film that Jean Harlow appeared in during her brief career. You might notice I wrote "appeared in" and not "completed"--that is because she died in mid-production from a minor illness complicated by her and her mother's religious beliefs (which forbade the use of doctors or traditional medicine).

So, Hollywood did what they could to both salvage the film they already shot AND capitalize on her death--they CONTINUED with the film using her stand-in. However, as she was obviously NOT Ms. Harlow, they shot her from behind--often wearing a very large hat to obscure her and having a slightly different voice. Because of this, it's fun to watch to try to spot the REAL and the FAKE Harlow.

Apart from this, this is a decent MGM Harlow-Gable film. Not extraordinary but still quite good and a lot better than one of their earlier pairings in Hold On To Your Man.

Clark Gable does a great job as a bookie and even early on it's easy to see Jean Harlow isn't feeling good. She was dealing with kidney failure, and had had her wisdom teeth pulled in real life while filming this picture...I often wonder how much pain was she in trying to do her scenes. Clark Gable even said she smelled of urine during filming...can't understand why she wasn't hospitalized but it was 1937...very sad she died before the picture was finished... Not a great film, not even what I would call a good film but if your a Gable and Harlow fan you will like it....I think it would have been better with Carol Lombard but who knows... The cigar scene, and the train scenes are my favorite...see if you can spot the wicked witch from the wizard of Oz...and who is that sitting next to her ...hint it's the Wizard ..

'Saratoga' was Jean Harlow's last picture, and indeed suffered from a large amount of patching-up after her death mid-way through shooting (notice the scenes where her character is only present with her back to the camera, or is missing altogether). This serves to distract the viewer from the good points of her last movie (especially the scene where Harlow has to explain away the presence of a large cigar in her room; Gable of course hiding under the bed!). In the scenes which she did manage to shoot she is fabulous, although clearly not looking her best.

Jean Harlow was probably the best sexy blonde comedienne of Hollywood's Golden Age, as testified by her marvellous work in Dinner at Eight, Libeled Lady, Riff Raff, and Bombshell. She lit up any scene she was in, and this movie is no exception. We can at least be grateful it wasn't ditched or recast, and that we have the snippets of her greatness within this fairly good movie.

'Saratoga' is primarily known as being the final film of Jean Harlow, an immensely talented actress who was taken from us far too soon with much more to give. Also really like Clark Gable and they were always great together. Seeing Walter Pidgeon in his first MGM film, seeing Margaret Hamilton and Frank Morgan pre-'The Wizard of Oz' in the same film were further interest points and Lionel Barrymore was always fun to watch and always gave his all whatever the material.

While 'Saratoga' is an interesting film with a number of good things, it is not great at the same time and yet another film that could and should have done much more with its sizeable potential. A vast majority of the actors are on top form, it is wittily scripted and has surprising emotional impact. It is sad though that one of its interest points is also its biggest undoings for reasons said well already. Not much to add really, my thoughts on the film mirroring those of most here.

The film's biggest problem is the doubling and replacement for Harlow, done after her death. It is so painfully obvious and the hokiness (quite clumsy filming and the replacement doesn't really do very well at all at imitating her) really distracts from everything else. This is most apparent towards the end, where it was clear that it was done last and in a rush. That the picture managed to be completed is laudable, but this was afterthought-like and felt like a different film.

Also present is a running gag that, while not grating or too stretched, had an uncomfortable eeriness (seeing as Harlow was seriously ill at the time) that didn't really gel and it was not nice being constantly reminded when so obvious already how ill Harlow was.

For all those problems, 'Saratoga' does have a lot that works well. The best thing about it is the cast, with Harlow on sparkling form and at her most poignant. She shares irresistible chemistry with the ever dashing Gable as quite likely the most likeable bookie on film. Barrymore is deliciously crotchety and his crusty demeanour is entertaining to watch. Pidgeon would go on to better things but is charming, Morgan and Hamilton has one of the film's highlight scenes together and Hattie McDaniel's singing is a pleasure. There are some particularly good scenes, the one on the train being the favourite and the cigar one close behind.

Characters are engaging, Harlow's appeal shines throughout, and Jack Conway directs robustly for most of the film despite stumbling in the scenes where Harlow is doubled/replaced. Other than towards the end the production values are solid, the camera clearly loving Harlow even when visibly ill. The script sparkles too with wit and intelligence with the best lines going to Barrymore. The story didn't feel dull to me and was quite lively and poignant, racing neither being glamourised or trivialised.

In conclusion, could have been better but well done generally. 7/10

The 26-year-old Jean Harlow wasn't feeling all that well when filming her character's sick scene with Walter Pigeon and Clark Gable in July 1937 "Saratoga." "I feel terrible!" she told Gable between takes. "Get me back to my dressing room." While director Jack Conway advised her to eat some food, she buzzed her boyfriend, actor William Powell, about her illness, who immediately brought her home.

Harlow had a history of experiencing periodic episodes of sickness ever since she came down with scarlet fever as a teenager. She suffered a severe sunburn the previous summer and a bout of influenza during the winter. Nearing the scheduled filming of "Saratoga," the actress had an extraction of impacted wisdom teeth, which developed into sepsis, sending her to the hospital. Her hospitalization delayed the filming of "Saratoga" for two months. Finally in late April the production of Anita Loos' scripted film about a bookie and horse breeder, Duke Bradley (Gable), was able to begin. In the movie, Duke has a crush on his trainer friend's daughter, Carol (Jean), but she's engaged to wealthy socialite Hartley Madison (Pidgeon). During the month of filming, her friend and co-star of "Saratoga" Una Merkel noticed Harlow's sudden weight gain, lethargy and her skin tone turning grey. The perceptive viewer can see that, despite heavy makeup, the cosmetic artists weren't able to hide the dark circles around her eyes. On May 20, she complained of having stomach pain and was nausea. The studio doctor examined her and diagnosed her having a slight inflammation of the gall bladder and influenza. Not that big of a deal, he said. Harlow plowed through her scenes for the next nine days until she said she couldn't take it anymore.

At home, a second doctor's opinion concurred with the studio's physician. Staying at her mother's house, Jean was monitored by nurses throughout the day. By June 3, Harlow was feeling much better and informed everyone she could resume filming "Saratoga" in four days. Gable visited her in the interim and noticed her severe bloating. When he bent over to kiss her goodbye he realized her breath smelled like urine. Another doctor was summoned, and with a quick examination rushed her to the hospital for kidney failure. Upon arriving at the Good Samaritan Hospital, she went into a coma. The next day, June 7, Jean Harlow died at 11:37 a.m. From complications of kidney failure.

Thousands mourned when Harlow was laid to rest at the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. Meanwhile MGM executives contemplated what to do with "Saratoga." Harlow filmed nearly ninety percent of her scenes. Studio head Louis Mayer planned to reshoot all her scenes, replacing the late actress with either Jean Arthur or Virginia Bruce since he felt it would have been macabre to show Harlow in a movie released after her death. But scores of her fans felt differently. They sent thousands of telegrams and letters to MGM demanding the best way to honor Harlow was to show the film with her scenes intact. Scriptwriter Loos rewrote "Saratoga's" conclusion. The studio inserted Mary Dees (a body double of Jean for years) as her replacement by filming from behind for the close-ups and medium shots while actress Geraldine Dvorak filled in for the wide long shots. Voice actress Paula Winslowe imitated Harlow's voice for the remaining dialogue. Gable, still shocked at his friend's passing, felt filming the scenes with her lookalike Mary Dees was like acting with Harlow's ghost.

Film reviewer Kimberly Pierce was critical of the replacement scenes. "They feel jarring when viewed through a contemporary lens, as it is clear Dees is attempting to hide that this isn't Harlow," writes Pierce. "The scenes stand out in comparison to the scenes Harlow shot before her passing. This film stands as a tragic entry, as we see the effects of her decline ravaging Harlow, and when viewed in hindsight, it is prevalent on-screen." Her fans lined out theater doors waiting to see Harlow's final film. Their response ranked "Saratoga" the second highest box office movie of 1937. Actor Lewis Stone appeared in the movie's trailer describing the outpouring of her admirers' sentiments flooding the MGM studio, insisting the late actress remain in the motion picture.

Harlow's last word she said on the screen in "Saratoga" which appeared 15 minutes towards the end of the film was "Goodbye."

Like a lot of movies, Saratoga does little more than pander to something popular in its day. In this case, degenerate gambling on horse racing.

Oh, sure, there is some sort of plot involved but the way it meanders around, kills time, and goes nowhere, I'm not sure it matters. It's just an excuse to show a big day at the races.

But it already wasn't a very good movie by the time the third act rolled around and the most interesting person in the movie was dead. Not dead as in character dead. But dead as in real-life dead. Harlow's wackjob mom saw to that.

But worse than that, missing Harlow meant having to fill with the frenetic Frank Morgan character and the entirely obnoxious Lionel Barrymore character. I would probably hate that ''miserable old man" shtick in any event, but if you're old enough to remember Dana Carvey satirizing it on Saturday Night Live, where he made it genuinely funny, you can't help but see the original as an "I pooped my pants" old man character and you want him to stroke out as soon as he hits the screen. No matter how many movies Barrymore tried it in.

Ultimately nothing more than a curiosity piece.