La donna di platino

Platinum Blonde launched so many careers - the most infamous being Frank Capra and Jean Harlow. It is not a perfect film by any stretch of the imagination. The sound is bad, Harlow is terribly miscast, and poor Loretta Young struggles valiantly to bring depth to a part that is the filmic equivalent of wallpaper. As many have said before me, she and Harlow would have done well to reverse roles.

But the greatest on screen portrayal of fresh, modern, naturalistic acting (a style that later would be attributed to James Dean) is from the wonderful, refreshingly brilliant young Robert Williams in 1931!!!!! I would never mark this film as a masterpiece, yet I would encourage all struggling male actors to study this man's work as a prime example of how to dominate a scene without any artifice or aggression. Every time he enters a room, the whole film lights up, and every time he leaves, all the other actors seem to lose their purpose and energy.

I have never seen such simple perfection, and I am saddened to no end to learn of his untimely death at thirty-four, just as he was starting to get roles worthy of his genius. I could not get enough of this man's work, and regret having so little of it to view. An absolute must see for Robert Williams alone!

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."

PLATINUM BLONDE marks the start of three careers- First, Frank Capra. He has a natural style of handling actors. There is scene where lovebirds Jean Harlow and Robert Williams mock sing-song to each other. It feels improvised, very natural, unlike the stage learned dialog that infested early talkies. He's experimental with camera angles, and playing with sound (One scene is filmed by a crackling fountain) and he keeps the pace and dialog delivery going at rocket pace. Then you have Jean Harlow. Wow, do you have Jean Harlow! Not only is she stunningly beautiful (even when photographed from behind) but she has a cool, likable wit (She suppose to be a society dame, but she makes the character so likable, you just want to hang around). Thirdly, you have Robert Williams, who was just starting to make a name for himself with this 1931 film. Sadly, this bristling talent died later that year of appendicitis. He's wonderfully energetic, quirky and full of speed (He's so wonderfully jumpy when he feels enclosed in a stuffy mansion you'd think he has Starbucks running through his viens.) PLATINUM BLONDE seems to be dress rehersal for the film Capra would make five years later- MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN (My favorite Capra film) Williams (Like Gary Cooper) is labeled "Cinderella Man", he loves yodelling and getting the servants to yodel in his newfound mansion home. Catch this film if you can.

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.

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.