Playing a truly scary sociopath, Jean Harlow gives one of her greatest calculating performances as a tough gold digger who sets her mind on boss Chester Morris and is determined to win at every cost. It's a good thing that Morris and his wife Leila Hyams don't have a young daughter, otherwise they might find a bunny boiling in their kitchen. Having lately set her sights on her boss, Harlow, not even his official secretary, shows up at his house when he's sick to assist him, and from there, he's putty in her hands. her actions become more and more obsessive, and she rants and raves and makes threats, eventually causing Morris and his wife to divorce. Harlow really took a chance in playing a character so unsympathetic and sinister that she really gained the audience's attention from the start. "So gentlemen prefer blondes" she says, mentioning a book written by screenwriter Anita Loos, and indeed, as a redheaded woman, she's a walking time bomb.
Every element of this film promotes sin, even as it goes out of its way to show how rotten Harlow is. it shows the fun side and a dangerous side, and she truly is amazing even though she is a character that the audience would never like to meet in person. Una Merkel gets some very good lines has Harlow's pal, and May Robson is very funny as her life loving aunt. in fact, the cast of this film is universally superb, and look for a cameo by star to be Charles Boyer a few years before he became a household name. This film, along with Warner Brother's Barbara Stanwyck precode drama "Baby Face", represents a different side of the American woman, struggling yet determined to make it out of poverty any way they can. it may not have a modern sensibility, but it is certainly a fun look back at how Hollywood used to think.
Every element of this film promotes sin, even as it goes out of its way to show how rotten Harlow is. it shows the fun side and a dangerous side, and she truly is amazing even though she is a character that the audience would never like to meet in person. Una Merkel gets some very good lines has Harlow's pal, and May Robson is very funny as her life loving aunt. in fact, the cast of this film is universally superb, and look for a cameo by star to be Charles Boyer a few years before he became a household name. This film, along with Warner Brother's Barbara Stanwyck precode drama "Baby Face", represents a different side of the American woman, struggling yet determined to make it out of poverty any way they can. it may not have a modern sensibility, but it is certainly a fun look back at how Hollywood used to think.