Three Wise Girls

It's early Harlow in a role that doesn't require her signature sparkle. Still, there's enough shine to get noticed. The movie itself is nothing special, reminding me a bit of a cut-rate Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953). Here shapely working-class girls Clarke and Harlow try to satisfy their hearts' desire by marrying well; at the same time, they must dodge the inevitable mashers. Seems however their rich gentlemen already have wives, so that becomes a problem. Still, we get to see Harlow wiggle in and out of costumes in what would become part of her appeal. Have to say I didn't recognize the familiar Andy Devine under all that chauffeur's uniform. Too bad he didn't get more screen time. Then there's Marie Provost, the wise-cracking third girl, whose rather chubby figure presaged an eventual tragic end (IMDB), cutting short a promising Patsy Kelly-type career.

There's one really jolting scene that's sneaky as heck. Broken hearted, Gladys (Clarke) peers down from stories above street level. We think we know what she's planning, but as it turns out, we don't. Anyway, it's a really well thought-out sequence in an otherwise unexceptional screenplay. All in all, the 60-some minutes amounts to a good look at a pre-celebrity Harlow, along with Mae Clarke, who at least doesn't have to eat grapefruit courtesy Jimmy Cagney.

In her last film before she signed her MGM contract, Jean Harlow starred in Three Wise Girls along with Mae Clarke and Marie Prevost for Columbia. If this sounds familiar Warner Brothers was also doing Three On A Match around the same time and it had some similar plot elements.

While Prevost seems to have a really good deal working at home sending out letters with advertisements for various companies both Harlow and Clarke get themselves involved with married men, for one of them it turns out really bad. Prevost seems to have the right idea.

Playing opposite Harlow is Walter Byron who had a run of minor popularity in silent films, but whose career gradually petered out in sound films. He sounds like George Brent in his speech pattern and voice, but looks like Charley Chase. I'm betting that's why he didn't succeed in sound.

This film was filled with tragedy with both Harlow and Prevost dying way too young within six years. Three Wise Girls is far from the best work of these fatally star crossed actresses.

Three Wise Girls (1932)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Jean Harlow plays the good girl who moves from a small town to New York City to make some big cash to help give her mom a better life. Once in the big city she quits three jobs because the bosses keep wanting more than just work. She meets an old friend (Mae Clarke) and is disgusted to learn that she is dated a married man. Soon Harlow meets a man (Walter Byron) of her own but after falling in love she finds out that he too is married. This is a rather strange Pre-Code from Columbia that pretty much tries to explain why it's okay to date married men. This topic certainly wouldn't be made into movies within the next couple years as the Hayes Office would put their foot down on any type of subject like this one. What makes the film work are the performances, which are pretty good with Harlow stealing the film as the naive blonde who doesn't really know what all life has to offer. Harlow is quite believable as the innocent, sweet girl and it shows she could play more than just vamps. Byron is also quite good as the poor sap stuck in a worthless marriage. He brings quite a bit of charm to the role and makes for a very like able character. Clarke is decent but pretty much wasted in the supporting role as is Marie Prevost as the "third" girl. Andy Devine is also wasted in a small supporting role, although he manages to get a couple nice laughs. The sexual innuendo is certainly on display her certainly early on as Harlow is undressing and constantly bending down with a rather loose top on. The film is certainly very predictable but director One Shot keeps things moving at a nice pace. The ending is one you'll see from a mile away but it's handled very well.

Bored with her small-town job as a "soda jerker," sexy platinum blonde Jean Harlow (as Cassie Barnes) moves to exciting New York City. For obvious reasons, Ms. Harlow is treated like a sex object. Propositioned by boss number three, Harlow is rescued by drunken Walter Byron (as Jerome "Jerry" Wilson). After sobering up, Mr. Byron seems like the perfect mate for Harlow. He's wealthy, proper and attentive. Unfortunately, Byron is also married. Harlow is soon reacquainted with childhood friend Mae Clarke (as Gladys Kane), who models underwear (and other clothing). She is having a relationship with a married man. Harlow's roommate Marie Prevost (as Dot) is looking for a man...

"Three Wise Girls" focuses on one Jean Harlow, but the other women have the better roles. Harlow commands the screen when she undresses - and director William Beaudine gets in several scenes with Harlow and Ms. Clarke in stages of undress. Harlow's figure is generously displayed. A "silent" star said to be victimized by the microphone, Ms. Prevost is noteworthy in a character role. Able to command the screen without taking off her clothes, Prevost sounds fine. She's looking for a plumber, but will settle for chauffeur Andy Devine. Clarke's subplot is the dramatic highlight. Unfortunately, Harlow's figure and her scene-stealing supporting cast don't make the main story more engaging.

***** Three Wise Girls (1/11/32) William Beaudine ~ Jean Harlow, Mae Clarke, Marie Prevost, Walter Byron

THREE WISE GIRLS (Columbia, 1932), directed by William Beaudine, is early Jean Harlow, vintage Columbia, and routinely made story dealing with three young girls (usually three) attempting to make good in the Big City, and the men who take part in their personal lives. Adapted from the story, "Blonde Baby" by Wilson Collison, there's nobody legally blonder than the platinum blonde baby herself, Jean Harlow (1911-1937), making her second and final feature presentation for Columbia. Though PLATINUM BLONDE (1931), her initial film for Columbia, is known mostly as an early Frank Capra directed comedy, THREE WISE GIRLS offers nothing really outstanding for Harlow except the opportunity in handling a leading film role for the first time.

Of the THREE WISE GIRLS, the story introduces Cassie Barnes (Jean Harlow), a small town girl living at home with her mother (Lucy Beaumont) and earning a living as a soda jerker for Lem (Robert Dudley) at the Chillicoale Drug Store. Finding that her good friend, Gladys Kane, has found success away from the town they grew up in, Cassie decides to follow suit by quitting her job and moving to New York City. Sharing an place with Dot (Marie Prevost), who supports herself addressing envelopes in their apartment, Cassie, soon meets Jerry Wilson (Walter Byron), a drunken millionaire, at the drug store. After quitting her third soda jerking job since moving to the city, Jerry, in good faith, takes Cassie home in his limousine. Later, Cassie comes to meet with Gladys (Mae Clarke), whom she hasn't seen in three years, at her place of work. Learning of her unemployment situation, Gladys arranges her employer, Andre (Armand Kaliz) to use Cassie as one of the models at $60 a week. As Cassie becomes romantically involved with Jerry, her situation soon patterns that of Gladys' courtship with Arthur Phelps (Jameson Thomas), a rich banker with eyes on Cassie, while Dot takes an interest in Jerry's chauffeur, Barney Callahan (Andy Devine). Complications soon take its toll for one of the "three wise girls."

Brief (67 minutes), and to the point, THREE WISE GIRLS limits itself of character introduction and plot development by presenting what it needs to be addressed without any drawn-out scenes. For Jean Harlow's first starring role, she's not bad. Her acting technique would improve greatly following her move to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the studio where all her future films were made, with comedy being her finest contribution to the motion picture industry. Harlow's Cassie is sometimes sassy, but mostly on the serious side. She's unlucky when it comes to men as evidenced in the opening scene that has her walking home alone from a date she abandoned some miles down the road. She later loses her jobs due to some overly aggressive bosses. Regardless of setbacks, Cassie will not give up her dream to make it on her own. As for the co-stars, Mae Clarke, the secondary character living in a luxurious penthouse, comes off best with her natural flare of acting, with advise of not ending up "behind the eight ball"; while Marie Prevost, the third "wise girl," with little to do except being the funny member of the trio with the most common sense. Andy Devine, the one in chauffeur's uniform, is almost unrecognizable here, speaking only a few lines of dialog, none which have that recognizable trademark raspy voice for which he's known. Walter Byron, sometimes classified by film historians as a poor man's "Ronald Colman," does satisfactory work as a millionaire with his distrust for women, but would drift to uncredited parts by the end of the decade. Others in the cast include Natalie Moorehead (Rita Wilson), Katharine Clare Ward (Mrs. Kane), and Marcia Harris as the no-nonsense landlady.

With the exception of sporadic reissues in revival movie houses in New York City during the 1970s and 80s, THREE WISE GIRLS remains a seldom seen Harlow product. Though this time filler made its way on cable television's Turner Classic Movies July 10, 2009, one can only hope for revivals of other extremely rare Harlow finds as THE Saturday NIGHT KID (Paramount, 1929), GOLDIE (Fox, 1931) and THE IRON MAN (Universal, 1931) to become part of a television broadcast package. (**)