Platinum Blonde

In The Films Of Frank Capra Citadel Film Series and in his memoirs, Frank Capra described Platinum Blonde as a film that Columbia did strictly as a moneymaker, no messages of social significance that would be found in his later classic work, just a nice girl-boy-girl comedy. Still and probably because Robert Riskin did some of the dialog I found plenty of things that would be instantly recognizable in Capra's more well known films.

The Platinum Blonde is of course Jean Harlow and this film title gave her the title she would have the rest of her short life. She's a society girl who sweeps reporter Robert Williams off his feet and into marriage much to the chagrin of her formidable dowager mother Louise Closser Hale.

Someone else is chagrined as well, Loretta Young who was only 18 when she made this film. Loretta and her sisters added a few years onto their ages in order to work back then. Loretta plays one of Williams fellow reporters who is known only by her last name of Gallagher. Just like Jean Arthur was known as Saunders in Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. Lots of similarities between the two though Arthur's character was far more sophisticated than Young.

Still Platinum Blonde more closely resembles Mr. Deeds Goes To Town. Williams is like Gary Cooper trapped in that big mansion. Only it was Cooper's own mansion that he inherited. Robert Williams is in on a pass and on a kind of probation so to speak, to see if he can adjust to life among the idle rich. In 1931 lots of people would have liked to have been given the opportunity.

The only one in the household he strikes up some kind of friendship with is butler Halliwell Hobbes. Note the echo business with them, it would be repeated in Mr. Deeds.

The week Platinum Blonde was released with reviews acclaiming Williams as a new star, he died of peritonitis. What an incredible loss, he was an actor with a breezy insouciance just like Robert Montgomery or William Haines over at MGM. He probably could also have done parts at Columbia that James Cagney was doing at Warner Brothers. Williams could have been Harry Cohn's first major star of the sound era. Anyway his comic timing was perfect and he steals the film from those two movie legends who were his leading ladies.

You'll also like Reginald Owen's portrayal as Harlow's family attorney and general busybody. Williams also deals with him in the way Gary Cooper ultimately dealt with his shyster.

Platinum Blonde is one of Frank Capra's best early films and watching it will make you sad though when you see Robert Williams and you will agree that he had a brilliant career ahead of him.

Robert Williams doesn't even get any billing n the DVD cover or on other promotions of this film, but he IS the star of the film....and he is outstanding.

Williams could have been a major star, a very well-known actor, had he not died four days after this picture was released with a ruptured appendix. The man simply puts on an acting clinic here. I wonder if young aspiring actors are ever shown this film and told to study Williams? If is wasn't for this film, I assume nobody would ever know about this guy.

Anyway, the movie is really dated but its interesting thanks to some great dialog, mainly, once again, by Williams. Jean Harlow gets the billing but a young Loretta Young has the real beauty and charm here. Too bad her role was so minor and bland. She looked absolutely gorgeous.

The storyline is one of Hollywood's favorite themes: the average Joe beating up on the snobby rich people. Harlow's "mother" in here (Louise Closser Hale) plays that snob role perfectly.

Even though I just gave it six stars, there are lots of laughs in this film and it was a lot better than I thought it would be. Watching Williams' acting performance is worth the price of the disc, and then some.

Robert Williams plays the kind of role Spencer Tracy did time and again at Fox and MGM--the brash, likeable working man--and, in fact, the picture suggests a dry run of Tracy's "Libeled Lady." There's a breach-of-promise suit, a roomful of reporters cracking wise, a rich-rich Long Island clan existing to be mocked, and the kind of farcical complications that made the newspaper comedy one of the '30s' most endearing genres. Unfortunately, the dialogue isn't as snappy as it thinks it is, and Jean Harlow is as miscast as a society dame as Loretta Young is as a world-weary reporter -- the whole thing might have made more sense if they switched roles. The compensations, though, are many: Capra giving his actors brilliant bits of business (the "puttering" scene is an unsung classic), a roster of swell character actors, and some pre-Production Code naughtiness, including two very sexy love scenes between Williams and Harlow. Capra's pace is slower than usual, and his later works had cleverer plot twists. His handling of actors, though, is as beautiful to behold as ever. And in Williams' irresistible performance, we have a glimpse of a star that might have been.

The most notable thing about this movie is Robert Williams unusual performance. I've seen performances like it but none of them were in 1931 and I was surprised I'd never heard of him. Turns out he *died* in 1931, and it's worth watching the movie just to see someone who could have been a star. The movie itself is quite enjoyable, although Harlow makes little impression as a society dame and it's difficult to believe the enticing Loretta Young could be any one's idea of "one of the boys."

There is a scene with Robert Williams and Jean Harlow singing a ditty to each other. There was such natural wit and affection that their infatuation and joy in each others company was perfectly expressed. This was love, this was sensuality, without a hint of the physicality that modern movies are forced to graphicly depict. Seeing a movie like this, made in low fidelity black and white seventy years ago shows what we have lost.