One news item noted that Riffraff (1935) was using 42 contract players, the largest ever used in an M-G-M picture.
On the night of October 30, 1935, the 40 female extras set, many of them elderly or in frail health, were filmed in a simulated rain sequence that included the use of a sprinkler rig, fire hoses and wind machines. Multiple extras sustained bruises, temporary blindness, and loss of consciousness, with many suffering from pneumonia as a result. The crew was found to be understaffed and lacking the necessary supplies to properly warm and dry the extras between takes.
A charge of negligence was brought against MGM by the California State Industrial Welfare Committee by Mrs. Mabel Kinney on behalf of the 40 female extras who were drenched in the prison rainstorm sequence. It contended that women who lost work because of illness after that sequence should be compensated. Each of the extras received an extra $15 as an initial compensation.
On the night of October 30, 1935, the 40 female extras set, many of them elderly or in frail health, were filmed in a simulated rain sequence that included the use of a sprinkler rig, fire hoses and wind machines. Multiple extras sustained bruises, temporary blindness, and loss of consciousness, with many suffering from pneumonia as a result. The crew was found to be understaffed and lacking the necessary supplies to properly warm and dry the extras between takes.
A charge of negligence was brought against MGM by the California State Industrial Welfare Committee by Mrs. Mabel Kinney on behalf of the 40 female extras who were drenched in the prison rainstorm sequence. It contended that women who lost work because of illness after that sequence should be compensated. Each of the extras received an extra $15 as an initial compensation.
In press reports, there was talk about Jean Harlow's new "natural" look in Riffraff (1935). It was thought she darkened her hair to what the press dubbed "brownette" before the film went into production.
The truth was Harlow wore a wig during this entire film because, by this time, her own hair had been so badly damaged by repeated bleaching.
The truth was Harlow wore a wig during this entire film because, by this time, her own hair had been so badly damaged by repeated bleaching.
This was the first of six features Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney made together. The last was It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963), made 27 years later.
When they go to visit Hattie in the women's prison, Pops tells Lily that if Hattie gets lonesome, he has "a nice girl friend in here that's doing life." The line is a subtle, yet remarkable, reference to prison lesbianism for a 1936 film.
The painting on the wall behind the dining room table at "Brains" house (at about 71 minutes) is "The Gleaners" by Jean-François Millet, painted in 1857.