Harlow (I) (1965)

A screen adaption of the blistering best-seller which examines the story of the platinum blonde bombshell (Baker) who rose to fame in the reckless Hollywood of the 1930's.

Director:

Gordon Douglas

Writer:

John Michael Hayes

Stars:

Carroll Baker, Red Buttons, Raf Vallone

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Carroll Baker	...	Jean Harlow
Red Buttons	...	Arthur Landau
Raf Vallone	...	Marino Bello
Angela Lansbury	...	Mama Jean Bello
Peter Lawford	...	Paul Bern
Mike Connors	...	Jack Harrison (as Michael Connors)
Martin Balsam	...	Everett Redman
Leslie Nielsen	...	Richard Manley
Mary Murphy	...	Sally Doane
Hanna Landy	...	Beatrice Landau
Peter Hansen	...	Hansen - Assistant Director
Kipp Hamilton	...	Marie Tanner
Peter Leeds	...	Parker
Bobby Vinton	...	Theme Song Singer (voice)

Storyline

In this story, Harlow starts in the movies as set dressing, the pretty girl who is used for the glamour shots. Refusing to descend to the casting couch for work, she finds that she is soon blacklisted from the industry. But an agent named Arthur sees something in Jean and begins representing her. For a long time, the jobs are scarce and consist mostly of receiving the pie in the face in low budget comedies. But Arthur's belief in Jean never wavers and when she finally graduates to featured roles, the critics say that she cannot act, but she is unforgettable. Polishing the image as the girl next door, but with some fire, she begins her climb to the top and becomes the girl every woman wants to look like and every man wants to have. But her own life is a disaster - unlike her screen life.

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Plot Keywords:

blonde bombshell | casting couch | agent | blonde | 1930s | 

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Taglines:

What was Harlow really like? She was the star who didn't know when to stop!

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Romance

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 June 1965 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Mulher Que Não Queria Amar

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Embassy Pictures Corporation, Prometheus Enterprises Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film appeared the year after Carroll Baker had played "Rina Marlowe", a Harlow-type Hollywood sex siren, in "The Carpetbaggers", which was also produced by Joseph E. Levine. Critics laughingly suggested that, in a few years' time, Levine might well produce a biopic called "Baker"; in fact, it was only another year before he produced "The Oscar", in which Jean Hale, made up to look like Carroll Baker, played a Hollywood actress called "Cheryl Barker".

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Goofs

Jean's stepfather plays a 33 rpm long player on a record player years before they replaced 78 rpm discs.

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Quotes

Marino Bello: Perhaps your agent could find a good part for me.
Jean Harlow: [Sarcastically] He only handles people.

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Connections

References Love Me Forever (1935)

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Soundtracks

"La Donna e Mobile"
(uncredited)
from "Rigoletto"
by Giuseppe Verdi

User Reviews

Disappinting Does Not Even Begin To Describe It

I watched this film, with the mindset that the movie would not be historically accurate, but rather one to watch purely for entertainment. However, I soon realized, that I was watching a train wreck, not a movie. The facts were so far off, they would have been describing another person's life. They never examined her big hit films like Libeled Lady, Red Dust, Red-Headed Woman, Suzy, they only depicted how she was originally used for slam-stick shorts. Hell's Angels and Howard Hughes were huge events in her life, and greatly impacted her rise to fame. How can you make a film about Harlow and completely ignore those details. In the film, they never show her interacting with fellow film stars (Such as Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Franchot Tone), or how she went out of her way to be friendly with the crew. Instead the depicted her as a woman who had to drown her sorrows in liquor and sex. While she was known as one of the first Sex Goddesses, her true personality was far from that. They even fail to address her love for William Powell, which she was very much in love with when she passed. Anyone who has ever read about Harlow, knows that she did not die from pneumonia, that she contracted from passing out drunk on a beach. Even Wikipedia (which is not the most reliable source) knows that she passed away from uremic poisoning. This films tries to hard to sensationalize a woman's life that was already sensational. I wish that film makers would research their subjects more. What a shame.....I wish someone would make a good/truer to life film about her life.

Do not see this movie....it is not even entertaining, more distracting that anything else.