PLATINUM BLONDE (DVD/P&S 1.33/MONO/ENG-FR-SUB) DVD

Platinum Blonde
A rather bleak comedy-drama from Frank Capra, Platinum Blonde basically starts where Capra's later and much more buoyant It Happened One Night (1934) ends: the marriage between a brash newspaperman and a society dame. But where the latter comedy was enhanced by the director's patented optimism, Platinum Blonde, produced at the height of the Great Depression, expresses no faith in a common ground between the classes. Star reporter Stew Smith (Robert Williams) falls in love with the sister (Jean Harlow) of his latest victim (Donald Dillaway). They marry despite the misgivings of Ann Schuyler's blue-nosed mother (Louise Closser Hale) and Stew's cynical colleagues ("Ann Schuyler's in the blue book. You're not even in the phone book!"). Unable to stand life in a gilded cage for long, Stew upsets the Schuyler mansion by inviting his friends to a wild and woolly party. Returning home unexpected in the middle of the drunken revelry, Ann lays down the law and Stew bolts -- right into the arms of girl reporter Gallagher (Loretta Young), whom he has loved all along without realizing it. Jean Harlow is surprisingly realistic as the callous society girl but Robert Williams' wisecracking reporter comes across as rather grating. An up-and-coming comic lead, Williams died after an operation for appendicitis on November 3, 1931, less than a month after Platinum Blonde had premiered to mostly positive reviews. Ironically, Loretta Young, who received top billing, had demanded to star in this film when it was still known as "Gallagher," the name of her character. Harlow, needless to stay, stole the limelight completely and Capra changed the title much to Young's chagrin. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Cast Loretta Young as Gallagher Robert Williams as Stew Smith Jean Harlow as Anne Schuyler Louise Closser Hale as Mrs. Schuyler Donald Dilloway as Michael Schuyler Walter Catlett as Bingy Baker Reginald Owen as Dexter Grayson Edmund Breese as Conroy, The Editor Claud Allister as Dawson, The Valet

Crew Stephen Goosson - Art Director C.C. Coleman - First Assistant Director Frank Capra - Director Gene Milford - Editor Joseph Walker - Cinematographer Harry Cohn - Producer Edward Bernds - Sound Mixer Harry Chandlee - Screen Story Dorothy Howell - Screenwriter Jo Swerling - Screenwriter Robert Riskin - Screenwriter Douglas W. Churchill - Short Story Author

Platinum Blonde
This early Frank Capra talkie showcases Robert Williams in an edgy performance as Stew Smith, a streetwise reporter who naively jumps into marriage with the beautiful socialite Anne Schuyler. Inevitably, he loses his identity and is cut off from all that was familiar to him. While the plot may seem like a cliché to modern audiences, the evolution of Stew and Anne's relationship is handled with a refreshing maturity. Their attraction is immediate, and Williams and Jean Harlow have a chemistry that comes through as honest, notably in a sexually charged scene where they make out behind a fountain glass, and in a bedroom scene where they playfully argue with each other while speaking their dialogue to the tune of "A-Hunting We Will Go." At first, Stew fights to retain his connection to his former world -- he refuses to wear garters, use his valet, give up his job, or live in Anne's house -- but one by one surrenders each of these principles, almost without realizing it. Capra repeatedly stresses the theme of the bird in a gilded cage to emphasize Stew's confinement (and emasculation). Capra also underscores Stew's boredom through subtle touches such as showing him playing hopscotch on the tile floor. Stew's scenes with the butler Smythe are especially fun, as when he instructs Smythe in how to yell so that his voice echoes through the vast but empty mansion, and Smythe in turn educates Stew on the fine art of puttering. Platinum Blonde can certainly be accused of being rather predictable and simplistic, but it also possesses a charm and naturalness that is often missing from Capra's later films. ~ Bob Mastrangelo, All Movie Guide
 

(no awards)

General Specifications: Language Options: English Subtitle Options: English, French, Japanese Sound Processing: DD: Generic Dolby Digital (unspecified format) Additional Features: none specified DVD Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1: Pre-1954 Standard MPAA Rating: NR DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 89 min   DVD Chapters: Side #1 -- 1. Start 2. "Stew" Smith, Reporter 3. The Schuyler Family 4. The Man From the Tribune 5. The Man From the Post 6. Gallagher, Sob Sister 7. The Bobo/Babykins Letters 8. Putty in Her hands 9. An Interesting Experiment 10. Stuck on Some Society Gal 11. Scooped on His Own Beat 12. A Rich Wife's Magnolia 13. The Usual Blessings 14. Estate Planning 15. Dawson the Valet 16. Garters 17. The Spanish Ambassador's Reception 18. Mrs. Smith Meets Gallagher 19. The Tribune's Job Offer 20. The Most Terrible Kind of Publicity 21. Mr. Smith Sends His Regrets 22. A Natural Putterer 23. The More the Merrier 24. "Write About Something You Know." 25. Home Drunk & Early 26. Declaration of Independence 27. The Twentieth Crack 28. A Swell Idea