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

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 simultaneously with the much ritzier Carroll Baker-Angela Lansbury version, also called Harlow.

Lynley is hollow and disappointing, unable to capture Harlow’s special allure, but 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 Electronvision 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 B-movie feel works for it and is quite appealing.

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.

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.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,219

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