Movies: “Harlow”

May 14, 1965 - Opening today is “Harlow,” a biographical drama film directed by Gordon Douglas about the life of film star Jean Harlow. It stars Carroll Baker in the title role and Raf Vallone, Red Buttons, Angela Lansbury, Peter Lawford, Mike Connors, Martin Balsam, and Leslie Nielsen in supporting roles.

The concept of depicting Jean Harlow on film had originated in the 1950s. Many actresses were reported to have been cast as Harlow in different biopics, such as Cleo Moore for Columbia and Jayne Mansfield for Fox, but both of these projects fell through. In 1962, Fox announced that Marilyn Monroe would play Harlow in a lavish biopic under her new contract. However, after Monroe’s death, the project was sold to Paramount, which cast Carroll Baker in the title role. 

Based in part on Irving Shulman’s pulp biography “Harlow: An Intimate Biography,” Paramount’s “Harlow” is a melodramatic look at Harlow’s life, focusing on her failed marriages. The widescreen Technicolor film, produced by Joseph E. Levine, was made on a $2.5 million budget, and is being supported by a wide-reaching publicity campaign. Last year, Carroll Baker played a fictionalized version of Harlow dubbed “Rina Marlowe” in the hit film “The Carpetbaggers” starring George Peppard and Alan Ladd, which had also been produced by Levine.

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