The Platinum Blonde
In 1931, Jean Harlow starred in a film called Platinum Blonde, directed by Frank Capra. As the eponymous (look it up) blonde, Jean, a natural ash blonde, bleached her hair with a combination of peroxide, ammonia, Clorox and "Lux Flakes". As one can imagine, the process was extremely painful. She was the first to bleach her hair so obviously, and after the movie, she was the orginal Platinum Blonde. She blew away the rote stories of good girl blondes and bad girl brunettes. She was a bad girl from the wrong side of the tracks who had a heart of gold, if only the right man could find it and make an honest woman of her. (We bet you were wondering how many cliches we could fit into that sentence!) Often, that man was Clark Gable, who starred in six films with her. There were rumors of romance.
Jean was no stranger to love, after ditching her young husband, Chuck, she married Paul Bern in 1932. Later that same year, he killed himself in their home on Cielo Drive (later house where Sharon Tate was murdered.) It may have been because he was impotant, or he might have even been killed by an ex-lover. In any event, it was the biggest scandal since Fatty Arbuckle fell from grace. She had an indiscreet affair with boxer, Max Baer (whose life was made into the movie Cindarella Man), which MGM put an end to by forcing Harlow to marry cinematographer, Harold Rossen. In 1935, she starred in Reckless with William Powell, with whom she quickly fell in love. After an extended engagement (reasons for which may have ranged between Louis B. Mayer not letting them marry and their differing opinions about reproduction.)
Her star soared. She was in several movies, including Hold Your Man and Red Dust which did huge business during the Depression. She was still young, only 26. But this story doesn't have a happy ending.
posted by kuaptic. @ 8:37 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home