Silver Screen Magic with Jean Harlow

In 1935 MGM came out with “China Seas,” an American adventure film. It is based on the 1930 book of the same name by Crosbie Garstin. It starred Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, and Wallace Beery.

Alan Gaskell (Clark Gable) is an abrasive, gambling captain of a steamer, the Kin Lung, shuttling between Singapore and Hong Kong. Tensions are high before the Kin Lung sails from Hong Kong because some pirates are discovered disguised as women passengers, while others try to smuggle weapons aboard. Playing his brassy paramour, Dolly Portland, aka China Doll (Jean Harlow).

“Dinner at Eight” was directed by George Cukor in 1933 for MGM. The film is an American pre-code comedy-drama based on a play of the same name by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber. It starred Marie Dressler, John Barrymore, Wallace Beery, Jean Harlow, and Lionel Barrymore.

In this comedic drama, an ambitious New York socialite, Millicent Jordan (Billie Burke), plans an extravagant dinner party as her businessman husband, Oliver (Lionel Barrymore), contends with financial woes, causing a lot of tension between the couple. Meanwhile, their high-society friends and associates, including the gruff Dan Packard (Wallace Beery) and his sultry spouse, Kitty (Jean Harlow), contend with their own entanglements, leading to revelations at the much-anticipated dinner.

In 1936 MGM came out with a screwball comedy, “Libeled Lady.” It was directed by Jack Conway and starred Jean Harlow, William Powell, Myrna Loy, and Spencer Tracy.

When a socialite, Connie Allenbury (Myrna Loy), sues a big paper for libel, the editor, Warren Haggerty (Spenser Tracy), responsible calls in the help of his ignored fiancée, Gladys Benson (Jean Harlow), and a former employee, Bill Chandler (William Powell), to frame her and make the false story seem true.

In 1931 Warner Bros. produced an American pre-code gangster film, “The Public Enemy.” It was directed by William A. Wellman. The film starred James Cagney, Jean Harlow, Edward Woods, Donald Cook, and Joan Blondell. The film is based on an unpublished novel “Beer and Blood,” by two former newspapermen, John Bright and Kubec Glasmon.

The plot relates the story of a young man’s (Tom Powers, played by James Cagney) rise in the criminal underworld in Prohibition-era urban America. He and his friend Matt Doyle (Edward Woods) want to join gangsters. Powers’s brother Mike (Donald Cook) and Matt’s sister Molly (Rita Flynn) want to see them go straight. Their gang is led by Paddy Ryan (Robert O’Connor). A gang war ensues.

Columbia Pictures came out with “Platinum Blonde” in 1931, directed by Frank Capra. It starred Jean Harlow, Loretta Young, and Robert Williams.  It was Williams's last screen appearance; he died of peritonitis three days after the film's October 31 release.

Stewart "Stew" Smith (Robert Williams), an ace reporter for the Post, is assigned to get the story about the latest escapade of playboy Michael Schuyler (Don Dillaway), a breach of promise suit by chorus girl Gloria Golden (Jean Harlow) , who has been paid to drop it.

In 1932 “Red Dust,” an American pre-code romantic drama, was directed by Victor Fleming. The film starred Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, and Mary Astor. This was the second of six films Gable and Harlow made together.

On a rubber plantation in French Indochina during the monsoon season, the plantation's owner/manager Dennis Carson (Clark Gable), a prostitute named Vantine (Jean Harlow), and Barbara Willis (Mary Astor), the wife of engineer Gary Willis (Gene Raymond), get involved in a love triangle.

The 1932 MGM film “Red-Headed Woman” is an American pre-code romantic comedy directed by Jack Conway. It is based on the 1931 novel of the same name by Katharine Brush. It starred Jean Harlow, Chester Morris, and Lewis Stone.

Lillian "Lil"/"Red" Andrews (Jean Harlow) as a gold-digging secretary determined to advance her social position by all means, including seducing her wealthy married boss, William "Bill" Legendre Jr. (Chester Morris).

Directed in 1936 by Clarence Brown, “Wife vs. Secretary” is an American romantic comedy. It is based on the short story of the same name by Faith Baldwin, published in Cosmopolitan magazine. The film starred Clark Gable, Myrna Loy, and Jean Harlow.

High-end magazine publisher Van Stanhope (Clark Gable) and his wife, Linda (Myrna Loy), are celebrating their third wedding anniversary. They are very much in love and demonstrate it in every way. However, Van's secretary, the beautiful and bright Helen "Whitey" Wilson (Jean Harlow), is thought by Van's mother to be too great a temptation to him.