Harlow | |
---|---|
Directed by | Alex Segal |
Written by | Karl Tunberg |
Produced by | William "Bill" Sargent Jr. Lee Savin |
Starring | Carol Lynley Efrem Zimbalist Jr. Ginger Rogers Barry Sullivan |
Cinematography | Jim Kilgore |
Music by | Nelson Riddle |
Production companies | Electronovision, Inc. |
Distributed by | Magna Distribution Corporation |
Release date |
|
Running time | 109 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Harlow is a fictionalized 1965 Electronovision drama film based on the life of screen star Jean Harlow (Carol Lynley) and directed by Alex Segal. It was Ginger Rogers' final film role. [1]
The film was produced by Electronovision, Inc. and distributed by Magna Distribution Corporation, both of which would be defunct within a year after the film's release. [2] [3]
Paramount Pictures also released a film entitled Harlow , about the same subject, starring Carroll Baker, just five weeks after Magna's release. [1]
Noticing Jean Harlow in the background of a Laurel and Hardy film, actor Marc Peters tips off studio mogul Jonathan Martin, who arranges a screen test. Harlow becomes an overnight success. She is not a trained actor and is mocked by experienced actor William Mansfield, but her sex appeal makes her a Hollywood star.
Harlow's mother Mama Jean quickly capitalizes on her daughter's money and fame. Family and studio demands unnerve Harlow, as does her impulsive wedding to the impotent and suicidal Paul Bern. Harlow has many unhappy affairs and becomes depressed. But veteran actress Marie Dressler persuades her to take her profession more seriously, so Harlow goes back East to study her craft. When she returns home, Hollywood mogul Louis B. Mayer is impressed, as is Mansfield, who falls in love with her. However, Harlow dies in 1937.
Judy Garland was originally cast in the role of Jean Harlow's mother, but left the film after just four days of shooting. [1] She was replaced by Ginger Rogers.
The film was directed by television veteran Alex Segal and shot in the black-and-white Electronovision process, in which action was recorded on a videotape master that would later be transferred to film via kinescope for theatrical release. The film was produced by Electronovision, Inc., owners of the Electronovision process, and distributed by Magna Distribution Corporation. [2]
Electronovision, Inc. was in such financial distress during the making of Harlow that actors' paychecks bounced and the Screen Actors Guild canceled its contracts with the company. According to producer Bill Sargent, the film from two days of shooting was mysteriously lost, the cast was not afforded sufficient time to rehearse and great difficulty was encountered when trying to find a laboratory to process the film's prints as well as suitable theaters for showings. [2]
In a contemporary review for The New York Times , critic Howard Thompson called the film "cheap, lusterless and excruciatingly dull" and a "bony, bargain-basement appraisal of famous, misguided and tragic young woman." [4]
Harlow grossed approximately $2 million, but Electronovision, Inc. did not realize a profit after shares were paid to the film's distributors and investors, including actor Richard Burton. [2]
Harlow was released just five weeks before Paramount's film and with a more limited release. Though Carol Lynley was closer to Jean Harlow's actual age than was Paramount's star Carroll Baker, this film failed to gain as much attention as did Paramount's big-budget version.
Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.'s character William Mansfield is based on William Powell, but the character does not appear in the Paramount feature.
Magna Pictures Corporation brought a $25.2 million (later reduced to $6.3 million [5] ) antitrust lawsuit against Paramount, alleging that Paramount had engaged in a nationwide campaign to boycott Magna's film. Paramount filed a counterclaim alleging unfair competition by Magna and Electronovision. [6] Electronovision, Inc. folded just two months after the premiere of Harlow, [2] and Magna was dissolved in 1966. [3]
Ironically, Electronovision/Magna's Harlow premiered at New York's Paramount Theatre, although the theater was no longer owned by Paramount at the time. [7]
Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starring role in Kitty Foyle (1940), and performed during the 1930s in RKO's musical films with Fred Astaire. Her career continued on stage, radio and television throughout much of the 20th century.
The following is an overview of 1933 in film, including significant events, a list of films released, and notable births and deaths.
The following is an overview of 1930 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.
Jean Harlow was an American actress. Known for her portrayal of "bad girl" characters, she was the leading sex symbol of the early 1930s and one of the defining figures of the pre-Code era of American cinema. Often nicknamed the "Blonde Bombshell" and the "Platinum Blonde", Harlow was popular for her "Laughing Vamp" screen persona. Harlow was in the film industry for only nine years, but she became one of Hollywood's biggest movie stars, whose image in the public eye has endured. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Harlow number 22 on its greatest female screen legends list.
Samuel Goldwyn, also known as Samuel Goldfish, was a Polish-born American film producer and pioneer in the American film industry, who produced Hollywood’s first major-motion picture. He was best known for being the founding contributor and executive of several motion picture studios in Hollywood. He was awarded the 1973 Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award, the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award (1947) and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award (1958).
Efrem Zimbalist Jr. was an American actor best known for his starring roles in the television series 77 Sunset Strip and The F.B.I. He is also known as recurring character "Dandy Jim Buckley" in the series Maverick and as the voice of Alfred Pennyworth in the DC Animated Universe.
Richard Cromwell also known as Roy Radabaugh, was an American actor. His career was at its pinnacle with his work in Jezebel (1938) with Bette Davis and Henry Fonda and again with Fonda in John Ford's Young Mr. Lincoln (1939). Cromwell's fame was perhaps first assured in The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935), with Gary Cooper and Franchot Tone.
Carol Lynley was an American actress known for her roles in the films Blue Denim (1959) and The Poseidon Adventure (1972).
Joseph Edward Levine was an American film distributor, financier, and producer. At the time of his death, it was said he was involved in one or another capacity with 497 films. Levine was responsible for the U.S. releases of Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, Attila and Hercules, which helped revolutionize U.S. film marketing, and was founder and president of Embassy Pictures.
Female Jungle is a 1955 black-and-white film noir directed by Bruno VeSota and starring Kathleen Crowley, Lawrence Tierney, John Carradine and Jayne Mansfield. The production was Mansfield's first film, as well as the only American International Pictures entry into film noir.
Harlow is a 1965 American biographical drama film directed by Gordon Douglas about the life of film star Jean Harlow. It stars Carroll Baker in the title role and Raf Vallone, Red Buttons, Angela Lansbury, Peter Lawford, Mike Connors, Martin Balsam and Leslie Nielsen in supporting roles. Although the film failed commercially, it was successful in launching the hit song "Girl Talk" by Neal Hefti.
Harlow is a town in Essex, England.
The 16th Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film for 1958 films, were held on March 5, 1959.
Saratoga is a 1937 American romantic comedy film starring Clark Gable and Jean Harlow and directed by Jack Conway. The screenplay was written by Anita Loos. Lionel Barrymore, Frank Morgan, Walter Pidgeon, and Una Merkel appear as featured players; Hattie McDaniel and Margaret Hamilton appear in support. It was the sixth and final film collaboration of Gable and Harlow.
William Horatio Powell was an American actor, known primarily for his film career. Under contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the Thin Man series based on the Nick and Nora Charles characters created by Dashiell Hammett. Powell was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor three times: for The Thin Man (1934), My Man Godfrey (1936), and Life with Father (1947).
Wait Until Dark is a 1967 American psychological thriller film directed by Terence Young and produced by Mel Ferrer, from a screenplay by Robert Carrington and Jane-Howard Carrington, based on the 1966 play of the same name by Frederick Knott. The film stars Audrey Hepburn as a blind woman, Alan Arkin as a violent criminal searching for drugs, and Richard Crenna as another criminal, supported by Jack Weston, Julie Herrod, and Efrem Zimbalist Jr.
Electronovision was a process used by producer and entrepreneur H. William "Bill" Sargent, Jr. to produce a handful of motion pictures, theatrical plays, and specials in the 1960s and early 1970s using a high-resolution videotape process for production, later transferred to film via kinescope for theatrical release.
A Fever in the Blood is a 1961 Warner Bros. American courtroom drama directed by Vincent Sherman with music by Ernest Gold, cinematography by J. Peverell Marley and editing by William H. Ziegler. It is based on the 1959 novel of the same name by former lawyer William Pearson. The film stars Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Angie Dickinson, Jack Kelly and Don Ameche. Carroll O'Connor appears in his film debut.
Home Before Dark is a 1958 American drama film directed and produced by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Jean Simmons, Dan O'Herlihy, Rhonda Fleming, and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. The screenplay was written by Eileen and Robert Bassing, based on the novel by Eileen Bassing. The title song was written by Sammy Cahn with music by Jimmy McHugh.
The Ginger Rogers filmography lists the film appearances of American actress Ginger Rogers, as well as her television, stage, and radio credits. Rogers's career spanned fifty-seven years, from 1930 to 1987.