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IMDbPro

Platinum Blonde

  • 19311931
  • PassedPassed
  • 1h 29m
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
3.2K
YOUR RATING
Jean Harlow, Robert Williams, and Loretta Young in Platinum Blonde (1931)
ComedyRomance
A young woman from a very rich family impulsively marries a reporter, but each assumes the other is the one whose lifestyle must change.A young woman from a very rich family impulsively marries a reporter, but each assumes the other is the one whose lifestyle must change.A young woman from a very rich family impulsively marries a reporter, but each assumes the other is the one whose lifestyle must change.
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
3.2K
YOUR RATING
    • Frank Capra
  • Writers
    • Harry Chandlee(story)
    • Douglas W. Churchill(story)
    • Robert Riskin(dialogue)
  • Stars
    • Jean Harlow
    • Loretta Young
    • Robert Williams
    • Frank Capra
  • Writers
    • Harry Chandlee(story)
    • Douglas W. Churchill(story)
    • Robert Riskin(dialogue)
  • Stars
    • Jean Harlow
    • Loretta Young
    • Robert Williams
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 66User reviews
    • 27Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos53

    Claud Allister and Robert Williams in Platinum Blonde (1931)
    Claud Allister and Robert Williams in Platinum Blonde (1931)
    Edmund Breese in Platinum Blonde (1931)
    Edmund Breese in Platinum Blonde (1931)
    Jean Harlow in Platinum Blonde (1931)
    Jean Harlow in Platinum Blonde (1931)
    Robert Williams and Loretta Young in Platinum Blonde (1931)
    Loretta Young in Platinum Blonde (1931)
    Jean Harlow and Robert Williams in Platinum Blonde (1931)
    Jean Harlow in Platinum Blonde (1931)
    Jean Harlow, Don Dillaway, Robert Williams, and Loretta Young in Platinum Blonde (1931)
    Jean Harlow in Platinum Blonde (1931)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Jean Harlow
    Jean Harlow
    • Ann Schuyler
    Loretta Young
    Loretta Young
    • Gallagher
    Robert Williams
    Robert Williams
    • Stew Smith
    Halliwell Hobbes
    Halliwell Hobbes
    • Butler
    Reginald Owen
    Reginald Owen
    • Grayson
    Edmund Breese
    Edmund Breese
    • Conroy - The Editor
    Don Dillaway
    Don Dillaway
    • Michael Schuyler
    • (as Donald Dillaway)
    Walter Catlett
    Walter Catlett
    • Bingy
    Claud Allister
    Claud Allister
    • Dawson - The Valet
    • (as Claude Allister)
    Louise Closser Hale
    Louise Closser Hale
    • Mrs. Schuyler
    Wilson Benge
    Wilson Benge
    • Butler
    • (uncredited)
    Vance Carroll
    • Reporter
    • (uncredited)
    Eddy Chandler
    Eddy Chandler
    • Hank - A Reporter
    • (uncredited)
    Richard Cramer
    Richard Cramer
    • Speakeasy Proprietor
    • (uncredited)
    Oliver Eckhardt
    Oliver Eckhardt
    • Reporter
    • (uncredited)
    Bill Elliott
    Bill Elliott
    • Ann's Beau - The Round-the-World Flyer
    • (uncredited)
    Adolph Faylauer
    Adolph Faylauer
    • Party Guest
    • (uncredited)
    J.C. Fowler
    J.C. Fowler
    • Reporter
    • (uncredited)
      • Frank Capra
    • Writers
      • Harry Chandlee(story)
      • Douglas W. Churchill(story)
      • Robert Riskin(dialogue)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The $50 bribe offered by the lawyer would equate to $780 in 2016. The $10,000 mentioned to settle the matter of breach-of-promise would be the same as almost $156,000 in 2016.
    • Goofs
      The spelling of "OK" was not standardized for a long time. Dashiell Hammett among others spelled it "okeh" and "oke."
    • Quotes

      Dexter Grayson: The last time I asked her for those letters, she made very uncouth noises with her mouth.

    • Connections
      Edited into 365 Days, also Known as a Year (2019)
    • Soundtracks
      Manhattan
      (uncredited)

      Music by Richard Rodgers

      Played over main titles

    User reviews66

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    7/10
    Poor Boy Marries Rich Girl
    In The Films Of Frank Capra Citadel Film Series and in his memoirs, Frank Capra described Platinum Blonde as a film that Columbia did strictly as a moneymaker, no messages of social significance that would be found in his later classic work, just a nice girl-boy-girl comedy. Still and probably because Robert Riskin did some of the dialog I found plenty of things that would be instantly recognizable in Capra's more well known films.

    The Platinum Blonde is of course Jean Harlow and this film title gave her the title she would have the rest of her short life. She's a society girl who sweeps reporter Robert Williams off his feet and into marriage much to the chagrin of her formidable dowager mother Louise Closser Hale.

    Someone else is chagrined as well, Loretta Young who was only 18 when she made this film. Loretta and her sisters added a few years onto their ages in order to work back then. Loretta plays one of Williams fellow reporters who is known only by her last name of Gallagher. Just like Jean Arthur was known as Saunders in Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. Lots of similarities between the two though Arthur's character was far more sophisticated than Young.

    Still Platinum Blonde more closely resembles Mr. Deeds Goes To Town. Williams is like Gary Cooper trapped in that big mansion. Only it was Cooper's own mansion that he inherited. Robert Williams is in on a pass and on a kind of probation so to speak, to see if he can adjust to life among the idle rich. In 1931 lots of people would have liked to have been given the opportunity.

    The only one in the household he strikes up some kind of friendship with is butler Halliwell Hobbes. Note the echo business with them, it would be repeated in Mr. Deeds.

    The week Platinum Blonde was released with reviews acclaiming Williams as a new star, he died of peritonitis. What an incredible loss, he was an actor with a breezy insouciance just like Robert Montgomery or William Haines over at MGM. He probably could also have done parts at Columbia that James Cagney was doing at Warner Brothers. Williams could have been Harry Cohn's first major star of the sound era. Anyway his comic timing was perfect and he steals the film from those two movie legends who were his leading ladies.

    You'll also like Reginald Owen's portrayal as Harlow's family attorney and general busybody. Williams also deals with him in the way Gary Cooper ultimately dealt with his shyster.

    Platinum Blonde is one of Frank Capra's best early films and watching it will make you sad though when you see Robert Williams and you will agree that he had a brilliant career ahead of him.
    helpful•18
    1
    • bkoganbing
    • Jan 10, 2009

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 31, 1931 (United States)
      • United States
      • English
    • Also known as
    • Production company
      • Columbia Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 1 hour 29 minutes
      • Black and White

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    Jean Harlow, Robert Williams, and Loretta Young in Platinum Blonde (1931)
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    By what name was Platinum Blonde (1931) officially released in Canada in English?
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