Reckless (1935)

Director:

Victor Fleming

Writers:

David O. Selznick (story)
P.J. Wolfson (screenplay)

Release Date:

19 April 1935 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Musical | Comedy

Tagline:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Mammoth Musical Melodrama

Plot:

Wealthy Bob Harrison buys all the seats in the theatre to watch Mona Leslie's musical by himself. He loves her...

Plot Keywords:

Playboy | Singer | Marriage | Racetrack | Yellow Journalism

Cast

Jean Harlow	...	Mona Leslie
William Powell	...	Ned Riley
Franchot Tone	...	Robert 'Bob' Harrison Jr.
May Robson	...	Mrs. Granny Leslie
Ted Healy	...	Smiley
Nat Pendleton	...	Blossom
Rosalind Russell	...	Josephine 'Jo' Mercer
Henry Stephenson	...	Colonel Harrison Sr.
Man Mountain Dean	...	Himself (as Man-Mountain Dean)
Robert Light	...	Paul Mercer
Allan Jones	...	Allan, a Singer
Carl Randall	...	Carl Randall, Mona's Dance Partner in 'Trocadero' Number
Louise Henry	...	Louise
James Ellison	...	Dale Every
Nina Mae McKinney	...	Specialty Singer

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #736)

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

After the movie was completed and shot as a straight drama, MGM decided to make it into a musical, so production was resumed. This became one of Jean Harlow's few real flops. It's failure pleased Libby Holman immensely.

Quotes:

Mona Leslie: [Spoken introduction to the song, Reckless] What'll you ever be? What'll you ever do? How will you ever know if you don't take a chance?
Chorus: You have got to gamble with fate.
Mona Leslie: [singing] I wanna live, love, learn a lot. I'll light my candle and I'll burn a lot.
Chorus: You'll have some bad shots, hard knocks!
Mona Leslie: I'm on my own if I bruise.
Chorus: And there'll be smiles here, shouts here!
Mona Leslie: And I can take it on the chin if I lose, because I'm reckless!
Chorus: She's simply reckless!
Mona Leslie: Reckless!
Chorus: She's simply reckless!
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in Harlow: The Blonde Bombshell (1993) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dum

Recklessly Wonderful

Why do I give a movie with obvious skips a "10". I guess you could call me a nutty Harlow fan! That's so untrue. The cast is wonderful, William Powell is one of the grandest actors of them all. Franchot Tone is so romantic and classy. May Robson plays her matronly role with just the right tone. Even Nat Pendleton and Ted Healy bring the needed roughness to the scenery.

************** SPOILER ************************

But what sets my view of the film, what redeems it for me, is that final scene in the theater. Harlow alone singing a song and then being heckled by the entire audience. She picks herself up and defends herself. To top all this all off, we have her encore. She sings to the audience while Powell, just inside the curtain, close enough to touch her, proposes to her between her lines. It is a tender, surprisingly effective moment that brings anyone with a shred of heart left into them to shed a tear. It is a well directed scene and for what it's worth, appropriately the best scene in the movie.

************* END OF SPOILER ******************

Watch this movie, to know just how few movies there are to see Harlow in. Appreciate it for her every trademark gesture. Enjoy it for its pure entertainment value. Enjoy it for Jean.