Platinum Blonde (1931)

Director:

Frank Capra

Writers:

Harry Chandlee (story) and
Douglas W. Churchill (story) ...

Release Date:

31 October 1931 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

She Was Gorgeous - He Was A Man . . . So, the other girl had to wait !

Plot:

A young woman from a very rich family impulsively marries a reporter, but each assumes the other is the one whose lifestyle must change.

Plot Keywords:

Reporter | Mansion | Socialite | Mother In Law | Unrequited Love

Cast

Loretta Young	...	Gallagher
Robert Williams	...	Stew Smith
Jean Harlow	...	Anne Schuyler
Halliwell Hobbes	...	Smythe, The Butler
Reginald Owen	...	Dexter Grayson
Edmund Breese	...	Conroy, The Editor
Don Dillaway	...	Michael Schuyler (as Donald Dillaway)
Walter Catlett	...	Binji Baker
Claud Allister	...	Dawson, The Valet
Louise Closser Hale	...	Mrs. Schuyler

Also Known As:

Gallagher (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

During its 1950 reissue it was double-billed with "Gilda."

Goofs:

Continuity: When Stew Smith is married, his colleagues make fun of him in the press room. At that moment his wife calls and he walks over to the phone with his pipe in his mouth. However, when he picks up the phone, the pipe disappears.

Quotes:

Conroy, The Editor: Anne Schuyler's in the blue book; you're not even in the phone book. Think that one over... sucker!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "SexTV: On Blondes/Walter Kundzicz/The Art of Flirting (#6.13)" (2004)

A PERFORMANCE FOR THE ANTHOLOGY BOOKS

Frank Capra created universes and cast actors capable to inhabit them with total, natural ease. Robert Williams in "Platinum Blond" personifies that theory. His performance is as close to perfection as any I have ever seen. Let's remember this is 1931. Great acting was considered the Paul Muni, George Arliss kind of acting. Now, they seem stilted and highly theatrical. Robert Williams's performance seems ahead of its time even today in 2004. "Platinum Blond" offers very many pleasures, but Robert Williams is at it's center, keeping the joy of the movie very much alive.