Harlow

This version of "Harlow" used to be a staple on local television until the mid-1970's. Then it suddenly vanished. It was nice to finally catch up with this film again. It has generally been acknowledged as a slipshod filmization of the life of Hollywood's Blonde Bombshell, Jean Harlow. Apart from the film mixing fact with fiction, it's really not a bad movie. It was shot in just eight days, and it looks like a live TV show. But that's fine! The inexpensive process used for filming the movie ultimately creates an appropriate atmosphere for the film. Carol Lynley is good as Jean Harlow. Had she been given more than three weeks rehearsal, she might have given a stronger performance. Ginger Rogers (who had only a couple of days rehearsal after being chosen as a fast replacement when Judy Garland quit the production) simultaneously gives a bravado performance and shows her unmistakable star quality as Mama Jean. Hurd Hatfield, ever a fine actor, is very moody as producer Paul Bern. Lloyd Bochner has an ongoing role throughout the film as a Hollywood big shot. Undeniably low-budget, this production of "Harlow" is much more enjoyable than the alternate version made the same year. I'd seek this one out. It works better as entertainment on all levels.

Although she's not particularly interested, a reluctant actress named "Jean Harlow" (Carol Lynley) is eventually convinced to take a role in a movie even though, by doing so, she opens herself up to film critics over her marginal acting ability--with the condescending remarks from an actor named "William Mansfield" (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) being particularly annoying. Likewise, the parasitic nature of her mother, "Mama Jean Bello" (Ginger Rogers), and stepfather, "Marino Bello" (Barry Sullivan), is also emotionally draining. However, things seem to change for the better when she meets a fellow actor named "Paul Bern" (Hurd Hatfield) who appears to be the answer to her problems. Unfortunately, it isn't long after their wedding that she realizes he isn't the man she thought he was--and things take a turn for the worse after that. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that, although this film had a solid cast, other than Carol Lynley, none of the other actors really stood out. Throw in a weak script and terrible cinematography, and I have difficulty rating this movie any higher than I have. Slightly below average.

As if insulting the memory of Jean Harlow with one bad fictitious screen biography wasn't bad enough they had to go and make two! At least the Carroll Baker one was in color with a decent budget but this cheap quickie was shot in only eight days and looks it.

Filled with terrible performances from everyone but Ginger Rogers as Mama Jean this has at its center an actress, Carol Lynley, of limited skill none of which is on display here and absolutely zero approximation of the real Jean Harlow's screen charisma or magic.

The incredible thing about both of these bad bios is that the real Jean Harlow had an event filled life, packing an awful lot into 26 short years, yet both movies fabricate stupid untruths which they present as fact. Why bother to make the film, and shed a negative light on the subject, if you can't be bothered to tell the truth. Oh well maybe someday she will receive her due, in the meantime skip both of these pieces of trash and watch Jean's classic films. A much better use of your time.

The rise of Hollywood's first blonde bombshell, Jean Harlow, who died tragically at the age of 26. Magna Pictures distributed this low-budget venture, which was first shot on an early form of videotape and then transferred to film. It competed with Paramount's version of Harlow's story (also entitled "Harlow" and released in 1965!), but because of its unusual pedigree, this effort (ambitious, if rough) was hardly seen. Carol Lynley portrays Jean not as the raucous, lovable gal who made friends so easily, but as a volatile, impatient, often heartless young woman who wasn't quick to take good advice. Lynley does well in the role, even if her body type isn't right and her voice falls short (her performance actually improves as the movie progresses, and she has a very strong scene with mama Ginger Rogers near the end). Some identities have been changed, and Harlow's first and third marriages are barely mentioned, but the movie makes its point with little pomposity: this was a troubled young woman who had no inkling of her own impact with movie-going audiences, constantly short-changing herself in the romance department. Rogers does solid work; Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., as a movie idol à la William Powell, Hurd Hatfield as tortured producer Paul Bern, and Lloyd Bochner as a director are each excellent in support. Does any of it ring true? Probably not. Writer Karl Tunberg seems to have constructed his script out of fan magazine articles, and the picture is fairly useless for those wanting to know the real dish on the 1930s superstar. Still, there are interesting accents and attributes throughout "Harlow", and it is seldom dull. **1/2 from ****

More of a curiosity than a movie, this shot-in-8-days quickie was made to beat the release date of the big budget Joseph E. Levine production of Harlow. Lasting in a few theaters for just about as long as it took to shoot it, it utilized the experimental "Electronovison" process (as was The T.A.M.I Show and Richard Burton's Hamlet) which was basically a step up from kinescopes. The effect is like watching a shot-on-video soap opera from the 60s and one not quite as polished as say, Dark Shadows. As for the content, this Harlow trivializes the image of the great 30s star as much as the Carroll Baker Harlow yet in different ways. Here she's petulant, demanding, and obnoxious. With its shot-on-the-fly direction, writing, and performances, it doesn't get much deeper than the video tape allows. Oddly enough, what this movie most reminded me of was Inserts, the low-budget Richard Dreyfuss movie about the shady adult-film industry in the 30s. Yet, if you get a chance to see it don't miss it. It's one-of-a-kind.