Il mio amore eri tu

Watching Suzy it's hard to believe that a year later Jean Harlow would be no more. She seems so witty and so bright in her performance as this American showgirl on the other side of the pond before World War I.

In the title role of Suzy, Harlow is down and out and about to be evicted from her not so palatial digs in London. She's not quite willing to go the casting couch route for a part. But things are becoming desperate. She meets young inventor Franchot Tone and they fall in love and marry. But they also discover a nest of German spies and the femme fatale of the nest, Benita Hume, shoots Tone and casts blame on Harlow. Jean flees to Paris where she gets involved with playboy aviator Cary Grant and then they marry. Wouldn't you know it Tone turns up alive and as it were he and Grant are friends.

I know I could be describing a comedy and Suzy does have its funny moments, but instead it's a well done drama with Harlow front and center in a typical part for her, a good natured dame who's learned life's answers from bitter experience. Her two leading men are clearly in support of her.

Franchot Tone did a few films at MGM with Harlow, but this was Cary Grant's one and only pairing with Jean. He was just leaving his original studio of Paramount to freelance and this might have been his first film with MGM. Notice the billing with Grant clearly number three as it was Harlow and Tone's home studio. Twelve year later Grant and Tone would be together in Every Girl Should Be Married with poor Jean dead eleven years and Grant clearly with the star billing.

Suzy received an Oscar nomination for Best Song which was won by Jerome Kern's The Way You Look Tonight from Swing Time. Jean sings Did I Remember with her voice dubbed on screen and Cary does an obbligato which gained some immortality in That's Entertainment. I have a recording of it by Dick Powell. Highly unusual because it's not a song introduced by Powell nor is it from a Warner Brothers film. So I'm guessing Powell must have liked the song to insist Decca record him doing it. It's a nice ballad by Walter Donaldson and Harold Adamson.

I won't give away the ending, but bear in mind those words from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance about when the legend becomes fact. A legend gets protected in Suzy.

Both on screen in the story and in the cinema legend of Jean Harlow, Suzy is a great example of the actress in a role tailor made for her talents.

What a loss to films when Jean Harlow died. She was so immensely likable, with a wonderful vulnerability. In "Suzy," she marries one man (Franchot Tone) in London, believes him dead and fears she'll be arrested for his murder, runs to Paris, and ends up married to a pilot (Cary Grant).

The story was interesting, enjoyable, and poignant, but a little confusing. I sat through the entire film saying to myself, "Why did France go to war in 1936?" I knew it was supposed to be World War I - sort of - but only because 1936 made no sense at all. The clothing, however, was very '30s.

Cary Grant plays his part of a war hero and bounder very well. The sweetest scenes were between Harlow and Lewis Stone, who plays Grant's ill father.

The final scenes were exciting, with a lot of airplane footage from "Hell's Angels." Virginia Verrill dubbed Harlow's singing, and I assume Grant did his own. Interesting how people in those days sang with that very rapid vibrato.

first, to comment on the other comment - I think Franchot Tone's Irish accent was entertainment enough, without Cary attempting a French one!

Anyway, I really enjoyed this film. There's no amazing, original plot and the acting is a little clunky in places, but its all done with such enthusiasm you can't help but love it!

It starts out quite formulaic - showgirl seeks rich husband, finds fake rich man etc - but the leads are so gorgeous you go with it, and then the plot takes a turn (not too subtle, but thats OK).

Once we follow our heroine to Paris, and meet Cary, it really picks up, and there's another clichéd whirlwind romance, followed by call up.

To say more would spoil the plot (though you'll spot every 'twist' a mile off anyway) but its just 'a rollicking good ride', with 3 excellent stars, and a fun script.

Just sit back and enjoy!

This was a decent film. Though this is not the best film that any of the actors ever did. The plot is fairly predictable but it is okay.

Franchot Tone's fake accent was amusing and seemed to come and go. While I much prefer Jean Harlow in comedy she does well enough with drama. Cary Grant was okay but why they cast him as a Frenchman I'll never know.

My main gripe with the film was using 1930's clothes for a film that was supposed to take place during World War I. While it is not that obvious with the men's clothing, but the women's clothing really stands out. Not having period clothing really takes away from the film. You would think that a wardrobe person or the producers or director or someone would have caught how out of place the clothing is.

I greatly enjoyed this--the second of seven films from my 'Jean Harlow: The 100th Anniversary Collection' put out by Warner Archives, unfortunately not with anything in the way of DVD extras (except for a cool, unadvertised set of postcards), and only three of the films were remastered. So it was as if they were perhaps celebrating her, say, 99th birthday and not going all-out like they could and should have, since she DID single-handedly save the studio from bankruptcy three years prior.

I like the way filmmakers back then didn't care if a French actor was playing an Irish inventor and an English actor was portraying a French pilot. THESE days, there'd be sheer, unadulterated hell to pay.

It was a really strange mix of genres, to get absolutely everybody into the seats. I could just see the pitch at the board meeting now: '1914 period piece romantic-comedy mixed with wartime spy thriller and musical'. But Harlow knocked it out of the ballpark, just like she always did. Supertrooper right to the very end.