Harlow (film)

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Harlow
(Paramount)

video cover
Directed by Gordon M. Douglas
Produced by Joseph E. Levine
Written by Book:
Irving Shulman
Arthur Landau
Screenplay:
John Michael Hayes
Starring Carroll Baker
Red Buttons
Angela Lansbury
Kipp Hamilton
Music by Neal Hefti
Cinematography Joseph Ruttenberg
Editing by Frank Bracht
Archie Marshek
Distributed by Paramount
Release date(s) June 23, 1965
Running time 125 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Harlow
(Magna)
Directed by Alex Segal
Produced by William Sargent Jr.
Lee Savin
Written by Karl Tunberg
Starring Carol Lynley
Efrem Zimbalist Jr.
Ginger Rogers
Barry Sullivan
Music by Al Ham
Nelson Riddle
Cinematography Jim Kilgore
Distributed by Magna
Release date(s) May 14, 1965 (NYC)
Running time 109 minutes
Country United States
Language English

Harlow is the title of two competing biographical films, both released in 1965, one by Paramount Pictures and the other by foreign film distributor Magna Pictures, both portraying the life of actress Jean Harlow. The Paramount version stars Carroll Baker in the title role, while the Magna release stars Carol Lynley.


Contents

[edit] Paramount version

Based in part on Rebel Without a Cause writer Irving Shulman's pulp biography, Paramount's Harlow was a melodramatic look at the life of Jean Harlow (portrayed by Carroll Baker), focusing on her failed marriages. The widescreen technicolor film, produced by Joseph E. Levine, was made on a $2.5 million budget and featured a wide-reaching publicity campaign. Upon release, however, the film failed critically and commercially, making roughly one million dollars at the box office.

[edit] Plot

The film opens with Harlow as a struggling extra and bit actress dealing with her greedy stepfather Marino (Raf Vallone) and oblivious mother "Mama Jean" (Angela Lansbury, only six years older than Carroll Baker). With the help of Arthur Landau (Red Buttons), she rises to fame and gains the unwanted attention of the Howard Hughes-inspired Richard Manley (Leslie Nielsen). She then marries Paul Bern (Peter Lawford), an absentee husband who kills himself some time after the marriage. His death, combined with the stress of her career leads Harlow on an odyssey of failed relationships and alcoholism, culminating in her death of pneumonia at the age of twenty-six.

In real life, Harlow died of uremic poisoning due to nephritis (inflammation of the kidney).

[edit] Casts

Magna Paramount
Actor Role Actor
Carol Lynley Jean Harlow Carroll Baker
Ginger Rogers Mama Jean Bello Angela Lansbury
Barry Sullivan Marino Bello Raf Vallone
Hurd Hatfield Paul Bern Peter Lawford
not featured Arthur Landau (agent) Red Buttons
Efrem Zimbalist Jr William Mansfield not featured
not featured Richard Manley Leslie Nielsen

[edit] Magna version

Filmed in black-and-white electronovision – a photographic technique relegated to television by 1965 – the Magna version was put out five weeks before Paramount's with a more limited release. Directed by television veteran Alex Segal, the film was made on a very low budget, and served as a second feature at most theaters. While Carol Lynley was arguably the better Harlow, being closer to Jean Harlow's actual age than Baker, the film's contrived plot and poor budget prevented it from gaining as much attention as Paramount's big budget version.

In the film, Efrem Zimbalist Jr's character, William Mansfield, is based on William Powell, who the real Harlow was about to marry before dying. That part of Harlow's life was entirely ignored by the Paramount feature. Another notable aspect of the Magna production of Harlow is the fact that it marked Ginger Rogers' last film appearance before her retirement, in a role Judy Garland was originally cast for.

[edit] External links

Paramount
Magna
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