Millionäre bevorzugt

"I know my singing and dancing won't get me anywhere," Jean Harlow tells friend Patsy Kelly. "I'm gonna get married." Harlow is The Girl from Missouri, and in the picture's opening moments she and Patsy flee their depressing small town gin joint surroundings and head to the City, where they take jobs as chorus girls and set about finding men. Harlow is determined to find a rich husband; Patsy is just as interested in meeting doormen and lifeguards.

Lionel Barrymore is excellent as T.R. Paige, a millionaire who has worked his way up from nothing himself and sees Harlow as a "platinum chiseler" after his son; Franchot Tone is also good as Tom Paige, the son of that wealth whose eager pursuit of Harlow inspires her distrust and his father's dismay. Will he propose to her? Will she accept him? Will Lionel accept her as a daughter-in-law? --All is complicated by Lionel's political ambitions and by a ring Harlow has fashioned from a pair of cufflinks.

Patsy Kelly plays it (mostly) straight as Harlow's friend and companion, and gives a solid performance. Lewis Stone has one poignant scene early on as a ruined businessman. The funniest scene belongs to Nat Pendleton as a beefy lifeguard who, when called, pops up from behind a boat on the sand….

Overall, though, it's Jean Harlow's show all the way—and she is charming, strong yet vulnerable, ultimately as tough and clever as Barrymore's political schemer and a match for Tone and his charming grin. No classic, but good fun.

During the early 1930s, pretty much anything went when it came to films--nudity, cursing, adultery and graphic violence. However, these sort of films did not set well with many Americans or special interest groups, such as the Catholic Legion of Decency and attendance began to drop--leading the leaders of the various studios to scramble to bring back viewers. Ultimately, this led to the creation of the new Productiton Code of 1934. Gone were all the excesses of the past years and in its place was a very sanitized world--where husbands and wives didn't even sleep in the same bed! This was a problem for some actresses. Jean Harlow, Kay Francis and Ann Harding (among others) specialized in sexy movies where women who were tramps--and REALLY enjoyed it. Now, with the Code, plots were drastically changed and some of these actresses faded (after all, who today remembers Ann Harding?) while others adapted to new roles. In the case of the previously steamy Harlow, this meant her playing a girl who LOOKED cheap but who was pure deep. Even this image caused problems with the censors and a Harlow film was usually given extra scrutiny by the board because of her reputation in films.

Because of this background, making "The Girl From Missouri" was tough and it required many rewrites and cuts. And, as a result, it resulted in a very strange sort of morality. In this film, Harlow looks and sometimes acts cheap--but she ain't. Down deep she has VERY strong morals. She will NOT sleep with a man before marriage BUT in a nod to the old Harlow, she still insists that she must marry a rich man--love him or not! So, she's a gold-digger with a heart of gold! As a result of these changes, the films were still fun--but if you thought about the plots, they really made no sense at all.

"The Girl From Missouri" is well worth seeing though it's not as vulgarly wonderful as her earlier films (like "Red Dust", "Red-Headed Woman" and "Dinner at Eight"). It does have some lovely supporting actors--in particular Lionel Barrymore and Patsy Kelly. And, the film is quite fun from start to finish.

By the way, I mentioned Kelly in this film because I usually hated her films. However, here she was less brash and loud--and was a positive element in the movie. Here, she really proves she could act and behaves like a hilarious man-crazy dame (but without all the yelling). In reality she was apparently a lesbian and I assume that due to the rigidity of the new Code the studio deliberately gave the normally sexually ambiguous Kelly a VERY heterosexual role--as it was VERY atypical of her earlier roles. So, thanks to the Code, some folks went even deeper into the closet--as gay characters were pretty common up until 1934.

THE GIRL FROM MISSOURI arrives in New York City knowing exactly what she wants: to amount to something solid by marrying a millionaire - without losing her virginity. With her knockout good looks she quickly catches the eye of the playboy son of a tycoon, but by staying true to her virtue will she also discover true love?

Jean Harlow sizzles in this excellent little comedy. With her platinum hair & gorgeous accouterments, she is a dazzler. But her beauty should not obscure the fact that she was also a very good actress. She has rightfully earned her spot at the very top of the Hollywood pantheon.

An excellent cast gives Harlow fine support: Lionel Barrymore as the wily old tycoon, wise to Harlow's ways; handsome Franchot Tone as his son, smitten with love; raucous Patsy Kelly, stealing her scenes as Harlow's sidekick; debonair Alan Mowbray, as a well-mannered English Lord; elderly Clara Blandick as Barrymore's feisty secretary; hearty Hale Hamilton as a rich man with an eye for the ladies; muscular Nat Pendleton as a lifeguard who catches Kelly's flirtatious eye; and Lewis Stone, unforgettable in a small role as a bankrupted businessman.

It should be noted that this film was produced soon after Hollywood's Production Code was instituted. A comparison with RED-HEADED WOMAN, made two years earlier, would be fascinating - in which Harlow's character goes after the same ends, but uses very different means.

Pretty weak showcase for the star who manages to shine brightly despite the ordinariness of the script. The story is cliché and has been told with more imagination elsewhere.

It helps that she is pitted against a top rank actor like Lionel Barrymore as her protagonist. Their flinty interchanges are some of the best scenes in this lackluster affair. The other standout in the cast is Patsy Kelly who makes a peach of a sidekick for the brassy Jean. Her easy virtue is used to counterpoint the heroine's chastity in a way that could get around the censors of the day.

The actor who is out of place, although he fulfills his role adequately, is Franchot Tone. A fine actor in the right pictures, dramas such as Five Graves to Cairo and the like, Metro for some reason used him mostly as a colorless effete mannequin for their leading ladies. Jean and he are oil and water, she was always more comfortable with an earthy man like Gable or Spencer Tracy.

One last thing, what a lousy title for any movie but for a Jean Harlow movie, ridiculous. For some reason the powers that be had a hard time coming up with an appropriate title. Shot under the title Eadie Was a Lady, then changed to 100% Pure then Born to Be Kissed and released in some areas under that title, while none of them is great any would have made more sense than the lemon they ended settling on.

Jean Harlow was always a sheer delight in her films, so full of life, charming and beautiful with some of the most sparkling comic timing of anybody at that time in film. Such a shame that she died so young with so much more to give and didn't do more films, regardless the film she was always one of the best assets. 'The Girl from Missouri' had a good cast besides Harlow, including Lionel Barrymore, who may not have been what one calls a subtle actor but was always riveting to watch.

Don't let the title of the film put one off. From the title, one expects 'The Girl from Missouri' to be pretty generic, very cute if not much more and basically with not much to it. It is a much better film actually than the title indicates, a much more spirited, wittier and more charming film than one would think and doesn't get too cute. Not perfect, but the cast are on form, it's well directed and the writing sparkles at its best.

Harlow is perfection here in 'The Girl from Missouri'. Truly enchanting and her comic timing dazzles. The other standouts are Barrymore, both hilarious and crusty, and Patsy Kelly, occasionally going a bit overboard but clearly having a great time. The whole cast are good and what makes the film work, as well as their chemistry which never labours. Franchot Tone has been better, but he does his best in bringing colour and wit to his fairly one-dimensional character. Alan Mowbray brings distinguished support as does a poignant Lewis Stone.

'The Girl from Missouri' benefits from a sharp and witty script, a spirited pace, a genuine charm and Jack Conway directs with skill and energy throughout. The story is silly as heck but is never dull.

Some of the situations are a little on the forced and convenient side.

Part of me wished that there was more nuance to Tone's character, because he can be one of those where one is not sure what people see in him.

Overall though, a lot of fun and fans of Harlow should love it. 8/10