TOP 5
Early Days Productions: Films of Jean Harlow Last updated 09/17/2010
"Hell's Angels" (1930) is a American war film, directed by Howard Hughes and starring Jean Harlow, Ben Lyon, and James Hall. The film centers on the combat pilots of World War I. Originally, the film was to star Norwegian silent film star Greta Nissen as Helen, the female lead. Midway through production, the advent of the sound motion picture came with the arrival of The Jazz Singer. Hughes incorporated the new technology into the half-finished film, but the first casualty of the sound age became Greta Nissen due to her pronounced Norwegian accent. He paid her for her work and cooperation and replaced her, because her accent would make her role as a British aristocrat ludicrous. The role was soon filled with a teenage up-and-coming star found by Hughes himself, Jean Harlow. Edited from Wikipedia.
"The Public Enemy" (1931) is a American crime film starring James Cagney and directed by William A. Wellman. The movie relates the story of a young man's rise in the criminal underworld in prohibition-era urban America. The supporting players include Jean Harlow, Edward Woods, Joan Blondell, Beryl Mercer, Donald Cook, and Mae Clarke. The film, which was based on the novel Beer and Blood by John Bright, launched Cagney to stardom. Edward Woods was originally cast in the lead role until director Wellman decided Cagney was more effective in the role and switched the two actors. the sound technology used in The Public Enemy was far superior to that used in earlier films, making it no longer imperative to have an actor in the lead role with impeccable enunciation. Edited from Wikipedia.
"Red Dust" (1932) is an American romantic drama film directed by Victor Fleming.[1] The picture is the second of six movies Clark Gable and Jean Harlow made together and was produced during the Pre-Code era of Hollywood. The story revolves around a love triangle, set on a rubber plantation in Indochina (Vietnam) during the monsoon season, between the plantation's owner/manager Dennis Carson (Gable), a prostitute named Vantine (Harlow), and Barbara Willis (Mary Astor), the wife of an engineer named Gary Willis (Gene Raymond). The movie was remade by director John Ford in 1953 as Mogambo, this time set in Africa rather than Indochina and shot on location in color. Clark Gable returned, twenty-one years later, to play the same character. Edited from Wikipedia.
"Dinner at Eight" (1933) is a Pre-Code comedy of manners/drama produced by MGM Studios. The film was adapted to the screen by Frances Marion and Herman J. Mankiewicz from the play by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber. Produced by David O. Selznick, it was directed by George Cukor. Although it can technically be called a romantic comedy, it is a study of people during the Great Depression. The movie addresses topics like wealthy people dealing with the loss of money and prestige; relationships between men and women involving power, blind love, selfishness, and unselfishness; and relationships between the wealthy and those who work for them. Edited from Wikipedia.
"Libeled Lady" (1936) is a 1936 screwball comedy film starring Jean Harlow, William Powell (who were romantically involved at the time), Myrna Loy and Spencer Tracy. The movie was written by George Oppenheimer, Howard Emmett Rogers, Wallace Sullivan and Maurine Dallas Watkins, and directed by Jack Conway. Wealthy Connie Allenbury (Myrna Loy) is falsely accused of breaking up a marriage and sues the New York Evening Star newspaper for $5,000,000 for libel. Warren Haggerty (Spencer Tracy), the chief editor, desperately turns to former reporter and suave ladies' man Bill Chandler (William Powell) for help. Libeled Lady was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. The film was remade in 1946 as Easy to Wed with Esther Williams, Van Johnson, and Lucille Ball. Edited from Wikipedia.
