Wife vs. Secretary or Harlow vs. Loy

What a pleasure it was to see Wife vs. Secretary (1936) on my DVR.  Once again, THANK YOU to Turner Classic Movies for a great March full of Jean Harlow (1911 - 1937) movies, during Jean's 100th birthday month.

I must admit, up until this month, I had only seen her in the two Laurel and Hardy films she made in 1929, Double Whoopee and Bacon Grabbers.  She was also in City Lights (1931) the Chaplin classic, but was only an extra so I didn't notice her.

We started out by watching Bombshell (1933), an early starring feature with a very platinum blonde Harlow.  I believe it was typical of some early talkies to have too much dialog in a movie populated by a cast of former stage actors who project all the way to the back row of the theater.  Someone needed to tell them that the microphone was closer.  As a result, the movie is difficult to watch.  The talking is too fast, and combined with the colloquial way of speaking in the thirties, I couldn't easily follow the story.  To really understand this movie would take three viewings.

Then we watched Reckless (1935).  I figured two more years of sound experience, plus William Powell (1892 - 1984) would make this a better experience.  Harlow and Powell were lovers and I hoped there would be on screen chemistry.  It was another disappointment.  The script was beneath them both, and it became boring, but Harlow was beautiful and quite accomplished for only 24 years old.

We struck cinematic gold with Wife vs. Secretary.  The pairing of good friends Myrna Loy (1905 - 1993) and Jean Harlow (now with toned down, more natural blonde color), was perfect.  Clark Gable (1901 - 1960) got top billing because he was the King of the Movies, but his part could have been played by any leading man of the time.  All eyes were on Harlow and Loy.

In a Bit Part, we have James Stewart (1908 - 1997) as Harlow's boyfriend.  This was only Stewart's fifth film, but you could see his bright future in every scene he had.

I can't say enough about this film.  The story took you through all the emotions of the head of a publishing empire and his desire to succeed, his secretary who knows her help is needed by him, and his wife who only wants to give her love as he gives his to her.  Plus, the frustration of Harlow's boyfriend who thinks he may be losing her.  The fact is, everybody loves everybody else, but is Harlow just too much of a temptation for Gable?

There is no sex, because this was after the Hays Code.  Loy and Gable even have separate bedrooms.  But listen closely and you can hear the innuendos.  These were all sexy stars and they could deliver the message in body language plus a few words.

I was going to commit Wife vs. Secretary to VHS tape, but I think I'll order the DVD set instead.  (I really need to get that home theater PC I've been thinking about!)  Harlow was a star for a very short time.  I wonder what her future would have brought.  Would it have been filled with success in a long life like Bette Davis, or end in tragedy like Marilyn Monroe?  Kidney disease took Jean Harlow at just age 26, so we'll never know.

Jean Harlow in Bacon Grabbers

Laurel and Hardy made a silent film in 1929 called Bacon Grabbers.  In it, in a small bit part, we see an 18 year old Jean Harlow as Edgar Kennedy's wife.  Harlow was born in 1911 and Kennedy was born in 1890, so I guess she prefers older men!

Its a pretty good film about L&H as debt collectors, going after Kennedy who hasn't paid for his radio.  They serve the summons and then try to repossess the item.  Of course, in a slap stick silent film, total destruction ensues.

Harlow made three films with L&H, plus a fourth where she is only seen in a photo as Ollie's sweetheart, Jeanie-Weenie.  She made eight films at Hal Roach Studios, and only about 41 films in her short life.

Some other parts in Bacon Grabbers were played by actors who really worked for a living.  I will cover Charlie Hall in another post, but he is a perennial favorite of all Sons of the Desert.


Eddie Baker (1897 - 1968) played the sheriff in this, one of over 200 roles he is in on film starting in 1917, and later on TV.  He made 71 at Hal Roach from 1917 to 1934, and he made five films with W. C. Fields.  Most of the early films are not famous, having been lost or just not popular because they are silent.  That is a shame because silent films can be great, and they should be viewed by film buffs.  After all, everything we learned about making films came originally from silents.

Harry Bernard (1878 - 1940) also appears as a cop.  He made a total of 148 films, over 90 of them with Hal Roach.  Both of these actors worked in multiple Laurel and Hardy films.

Go find a good silent film to watch.  Keep in touch with classic film web sites for silent film festivals, and read the Silent Movie Blog.  It is worth it.

Bit Actress, Jean Harlow

Jean Harlow only lived for 26 years, but her name is one of the most famous in Hollywood.  A symbol of every man's desire, the original blond bombshell, and the inspiration for Marilyn Monroe.  Of course, she started out as an extra and bit actress.

She made 39, 40 or 41 movies over nine years, it is not clear as people try to recognize her as an extra on the screen.  Accurate records of extras weren't kept in those early days. 

In an early film in 1928 she worked with Charley Chase and director James Parrott at Hal Roach Studios.  She appeared in four films with Laurel and Hardy; Liberty, Double Whoopee and Bacon Grabbers in 1929 and Beau Hunks in 1931 (but only as Ollie's girlfriend in a still photo).  That same year she made City Lights with Charlie Chaplin.

There were several films with Edgar Kennedy, and seven films with writer/director Leo McCarey who worked with Stan and Ollie.  She must have been on contract with Hal Roach.

She also worked in the early days with Clara Bow (The "It" Girl), Jean Arthur, Charles "Buddy" Rogers, Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette McaDonald, and was uncredited in almost all of them.  She made Love Parade with director Ernst Lubitsch in 1929.  She worked with all of these stars BEFORE she became famous.

Finally in 1930 she had a larger part in the Howard Hughes World War I movie called Hell's Angels.  She changed her name several times through her career, appearing early under her real name Harlean Carpenter, then as Jean Harlowe, and then dropping the "e" to Harlow. 

You can see how much you can learn about bit players when you look at their early careers.  Some make it big, and some end up playing bit parts all their lives, like Leonard Bremen.  Jean Harlow was a lucky one for a short while.  She was engaged to William Powell when she died.