Platinum Girl: The Life and Legends of Jean Harlow - Hardcover

Golden, Eve

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1558592148 ISBN 13: 9781558592148

Publisher: Abbeville Press, 1991

Synopsis

Profiles the famous blond movie actress who died at the age of twenty-six from kidney disease

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Reviews

The movie star whose hair inspired the phrase "platinum blonde," Jean Harlow had a sexy, comic reputation on screen but was, as Golden emphasizes, more comfortable in casual clothes, relaxing with family and friends. Harlow packed a lot of living into a short time: after her career took off in 1930 with the release of Hell's Angels , she was Hollywood's blonde bombshell (the title of one of her movies) until her sudden death of kidney failure in 1937 at age 26. She also married three times and was involved with William Powell when she died. New York City freelance journalist Golden presents an appealing portrait of Harlow and sets a few inaccuracies straight. (For example, it was rumored that she died because her second husband, Paul Bern, beat her in the kidneys, but, according to medical authorities, the effects of such a beating would be instantaneous--and Bern committed suicide five years before her death.) Unfortunately, the text occasionally slips into fanzine style. (Concerning MGM's decision to shave Harlow's eyebrows, Golden writes, "She and Marlene Dietrich led the eyebrow brigade, which left fashionable women all over the world looking like startled drag queens.") This elegantly designed book includes many representative movie stills and publicity shots.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Life of legendary Jean Harlow, rescued from an abyss of scandal by journalist Golden. (One hundred illustrations, including exclusive family candids, not seen here.) Golden's is a well-researched, straightforwardly written bio with some but not too much background filler about MGM and the Thirties and with no urge to be memorably stylish or sumptuously lighted by MGM--though the publisher will undoubtedly make a gorgeous art deco production out of this smartly priced book. Born Harlean Carpenter in 1911, Harlow died at 26 of irreversible kidney failure brought on by an infection--from that early death her later biographer Irving Shulman fashioned the sleaze-riot Harlow: An Intimate Biography that has hidden the real Harlow for the past quarter century. From Kansas City, Missouri, Jean married a wealthy orphan at 16, divorced him at 20, by which time she'd already gotten parts as a film extra, then been taken on by Howard Hughes for some breast-peepery in Hell's Angels and kept out on loan until MGM bought her from Hughes. At MGM, she struck gold as a platinum vamp, a limitation she overcame as a comedienne in the fast-talking satire Bombshell. Her second marriage to top MGM producer Paul Bern ended with Bern's suicide; her third to MGM cameraman Hal Rosson ended in disaffection. She was engaged to William Powell, 18 years her senior (all her men were father figures) when she died. Along the way, she and Gable had become the first great team of the talkies. Saratoga, their last picture together, was completed by a double. Going by her friends' comments, Harlow was a joyful, warmhearted, generous woman, perhaps slightly undersexed, who smoked but never drank or drugged, was not foulmouthd, and clearly was a gifted comedienne. A compelling story--but add in the production values on this book. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

In his notorious Harlow: An Intimate Biography ( LJ 8/64), Irving Shulman portrayed Harlow, the platinum blonde screen idol of the 1930s, as a drug-addled sex-fiend. Journalist Golden tries to salvage Harlow's reputation with this new biography, priding herself on good taste and careful research. Unfortunately, Golden's "nice" Harlow isn't anywhere near as interesting as Shulman's. Golden's portrait of the actress is a vague, colorless assemblage of data that doesn't quite add up. For instance, how does Harlow's avowed detestation of her sex-bomb image mesh with her passion for flashy diamonds and transparent dinner dresses? It's tempting to guess that the truth about Harlow falls somewhere between Shulman's Hollywood Babylon version and Golden's sanitized one. For large film collections.
- Anne Sharp, Ypsilanti Dist. Lib., Mich.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Abbeville Press
• Publication date: 1991
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1558592148
• ISBN 13: 9781558592148
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 248