Harlow ** (1965, Carol Lynley, Efrem Zimbalist Jr, Ginger Rogers, Barry Sullivan, Hurd Hatfield, Jack Kruschen) – Classic Movie Review 10,219

The 1965 Hollywood biopic Harlow stars Carol Lynley and is a fast and fairly feisty biopic of the platinum blonde bombshell star Jean Harlow.

Director Alex Segal’s 1965 Hollywood biopic Harlow stars Carol Lynley and is a fast and fairly feisty biopic of the platinum blonde bombshell star Jean Harlow, filmed in black and white simultaneously with the much ritzier Carroll Baker-Angela Lansbury version, also called Harlow.

Carol Lynley is hollow and disappointing, unable to capture Harlow’s persona and special allure. She simply doesn’t seem like her or look like her. But Ginger Rogers proves her worth as Harlow’s mom Mama Jean Bello, saving the show, which is hastily and pretty feebly put together and looks like a rough spoiler job. It was shot in grainy black and white and TV process Electronovision in just eight days.

Nevertheless, it has its moments, with effective turns by Barry Sullivan as her stepfather Marino Bello, Hurd Hatfield as Mama Jean’s second husband Paul Bern and Jack Kruschen as the MGM studio boss Louis B Mayer. Its black and white B-movie feel works for it and is quite appealing.

Efrem Zimbalist Jr as William Mansfield (based on William Powell), Hermione Baddeley as Marie Dressler, Lloyd Bochner as Marc Peters, Audrey Totter as Marilyn, and John Williams as Jonathan Martin are other strong assets to the cast. Carol Lynley apart, there is nothing much wrong with the casting or the acting.

The writer is Karl Tunberg.

It was released on 14 May 1965 in the US, beating the Carroll Baker-Angela Lansbury Harlow (1965), which was released on 23 June 1965.

For the real thing, Bombshell (1933) is worth a watch.

It is Rogers’s last feature film, taking over from Judy Garland, who had second thoughts about the quality of the project, and from Eleanor Parker, who also withdrew before filming started.

Also in the cast are Efrem Zimbalist Jr, Barry Sullivan, Hurd Hatfield, Hermione Baddeley, Lloyd Bochner, Audrey Totter, John Williams, Robert Strauss, Audrey Christie, Michael Dante, Jack Kruschen, Celia Lovsky, Sonny Liston, James Dobson, Cliff Norton, Paulie Clarke, Jim Plunkett, Jim Red Fox and Joel Marston.

Harlow is directed by Alex Segal, runs 110 minutes, is made by Theatrofilm [Electronovision Inc], is released by Magna Distribution Corporation (US), is written by Karl Tunberg, is shot in black and white by Jim Kilgore, is produced by Brandon Chase, Bill Sargent and Lee Savin, is scored by Al Ham and Nelson Riddle, and is designed by Duncan Cramer.

Carol Lynley (born Carole Ann Jones; February 13, 1942 – September 3, 2019) 

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,219

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