Riffraff

This tragic romance features Jean Harlow in a brown wig, in place of her trademark platinum blond hair, as a fisherman’s daughter who works in a tuna cannery. Hattie (Harlow) falls in love with Dutch Muller (Spencer Tracy), a big-headed fisherman who leads his fellow workers in a strike at the urging of Belcher (Paul Hurst), a rabble-rouser who is really a stooge for cannery owner, Nick Lewis (Joseph Calleia). Nick benefits from the strike, while the fishermen lose out. Dutch is kicked out of the union and, distressed, leaves his waterfront home and new wife Hattie. Later, Hattie receives word that Dutch is penniless and sickly. She begs Nick for money and when he refuses she decides to steal it. Dutch is too proud to accept her offering, so she gives the money to Belcher, who promises to deliver it to her husband. Belcher keeps the money for himself, however, and Hattie winds up in prison. Having sunk to new lows, Dutch and Hattie eventually realize the error of their ways and reunite, but under different circumstances than before.