1965 was a strange year. Two DIFFERENT movies came out called "Harlow" and purported to be the famous actresses' biography...and both were filled with all sorts of mistakes, omissions and downright lies about her. So, if you are looking to learn about the REAL Jean Harlow, consider reading the Wikipedia article instead.
My friend Angelo found this movie on YouTube and suggested I watch it...and I was game. But when I began watching, I thought there was some mistake, as instead of the print looking like a movie, it looked like a dark and grainy TV kinescope print. I was shocked when I found out that the filmmakers WANTED that look (apparently they wanted the film to look terrible!) and used a film process called 'Electronvision'...and I can only assume by the look of the movie that no one else decided to use Electronvision! It also was shot over 8 days....which only compouds this and other problems.
So is this 'biopic' worth seeing? Well, as I mentioned above, it's not worth seeing if you want to learn about Harlow's life as it mixes a lot of facts with a lot of fiction. Plus, Carol Lynley often just screams her lines and her performance is very earthy (as if to say Harlow was a very coarse woman in real life). Yes, Lynleywas a decent actress in later flms, but here she is terrible and you wonder if the director was telling her to scream like this to show how poor an actress Harlow was in her earliest movies (she was VERY young at the time).
The film also looks trashy and cheap...which is a plus for bad movie buffs! It's not accurate and is full of salacious scenes and one of the big truths you learn about Harlow is she did NOT like wearing bras and directors liked putting her in scenes without clothing....which wasn't exactly a shock if you've seen her films. With many of the stars in the film, you can understand why they appeared in the movie. They needed money and work. So why did Ginger Rogers appear in it as Jean's mother? It's a thankless role and a poor way to remember this fine actress.
The bottom line is that for most, this is a bad film. But if you like over the top and silly films like many of Joan Crawford's later films (TROG, STRAIT-JACKET and WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE come to mind), then you might enjoy the ride. In fact, I could imagine a group of friends getting together to see it...and laugh at it like an installment of "MSTK3000"!
Next, I'll have to see if I can find the other "Harlow" to know which semi-fictional biopic is best...or worst.
