“China Seas is not quite as delirious as Red Dust, but it's no slouch in the entertainment department either. The main difference is that Red Dust was made before the enforcement of the censorship code, and China Seas afterwards. Therefore, the latter film has a somewhat more la-di-dah attitude, and, in particular, Harlow has been cleaned up...as much as anyone could clean her up. Still, she is no better than she should be (or than we want her to be) and she drinks ‘em under the table just like we'd expect her to.
“The emphasis in China Seas is on action and thrills, danger and daring, rather than sex and laughter. Director Tay Garnett was famous for taking films which started out as comedies and turning them into fetid melodramas with brutal violence. But a good cast keeps China Seas boisterous, including Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone, and Rosalind Russell in her icy English lady period. But the major delight is the easy camaraderie and sexual pairring of Gable and Harlow. Their roles are tailor-made for them, with Gable as a two-fisted sea captain and Harlow as his mistress who knows they are made for one another. (“You can't quit me anymore than I can quit you, and you can kiss a stack of cookbooks on that!”) Harlow's role was created in the tradition of Dietrich's Shanghai Lily in Shanghai Express (1932), as both were written by Jules Furthman. But Harlow makes it her own brand of believable prostitute - with a heart-of-gold, and any references to Dietrich were left on paper.” --J. Basinger, Wadsworth Atheneum