Book Description
"HARLOW." Her name epitomizes an era, a decade of Depression in which harsh reality created a demand for lush film fantasy and no Hollywood star was as luscious or fantastic as Jean Harlow. She was M-G-M's most bankable asset, a blonde bombshell whose bleached hair, voluptuous body, and bawdy humor inspired a fervent cult following that remains to this day.

Despite Harlow's blinding fame, the events of her life have been obscured by a fifty-year haze of secrets, lies, and silence. Until the publication of this book. After years of research, critically acclaimed biographer David Stenn unearthed the truth behind the improbable rise of this tow-headed tomboy from Kansas City, her huge success, and her tragic fall.

After fifty-six years, David Stenn persuaded Harlow's family, friends, colleagues, and employers to break their silence and provide previously sealed legal, financial, and medical records, which solved the mystery of her death. His account is confirmed by scores of exclusive interviews with eyewitness sources, including Harlow's nurses during the last days of her life.

Exhaustively researched and compulsively readable, Bombshell stands as the definitive Harlow biography. This edition contains a new UNSEEN SCENES section of never-before-seen photos of deleted scenes from Harlow's biggest hits. This book is a must-have not only for every Harlow fan, but anyone interested in a truly riveting story. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (23)

Amazing.
I wish David Stenn would continue to write more star biographies because this and his Clara Bow biography are fantastic! This book had me in tears at the end when he discussed Jean's final days. It really made me feel like I was living Jean's life along with her. The sure fire way to learn more about Jean is to read this book.

Probably the best portrait of Harlow written
David Stenn connects with his subject... well researched, well written, and a real enjoyment to read, it gives you Jean Harlow as others close to her knew her, and dispels a lot of the myths about her that the Hollywood rumor mills and others have kept alive over the years.Fascinating portrait of an interesting woman whose career was much too brief, and to whom others to this day owe their livelihoods because she went there first.Highly recommended, along with his other book on Clara Bow, "Running Wild."

Lackssubstance (personal details).
Same problem as any biography: Lacking in personal details(more later). I read the book twice in a period of five years and I came away with the taste of cardboard in my mouth both times. The book Does Not get better the more you read it. After reading the book you will know the actress as well as if you were looking at a cardboard cut out of her. What did she like to eat? What was her favorite drink? What did she like to do? What did she think of Hitler? Did she use dental floss? What did the hospital room look like? Get the picture! The story is in the details-but biographers still don't know that.Is it so hard to find personal info? What about the Ferry Hall letters? In all fairness to the author maybe they weren't available at the time. But did he even look? What are the ordinary details of her ordinary life! Whatever they are you won't find them in this book.

Book Celebrates Harlow's Short Life
I am often annoyed with how excessively boring and prolix biographies are. I used this book for a history presentation and read it in one night. Having known nothing of Jean Harlow before I began reading, this book gave me a good knowledge of her life, her death and the insecurities that plagued her because of her mother's overbearing personality. This book was easy to read, especially for someone who finds biographies daunting, and interesting. It also included several pictures that highlighted the beauty of Jean Harlow wonderfully. I would recommend this to anyone interested in Jean Harlow's life and especially to those looking for an interesting and easy to read book, especially for a report.

Top Shelf
This is a wonderful book by a wonderful writer.Stenn obviuosly feels for his subjects.His equally compelling book about Clara Bow is full of the same empathy that runs through this one.He meticulously outlines Jean's life and history, so by the time she is dying, you actually feel like you understand why she seemed to just give up.It's a wonderful book and we highly recommend it. ... Read more

Product Description
From the back cover: Harlow: the long-supressed, true story of the platinum-haired love goddess who may have been the inspiration for "The Carpetbaggers" but whose real life was more sensational than any novelist could imagine. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

An enjoyable quick read
In this quick-moving and well-researched biography, Ms. Golden paints a compelling picture of Jean Harlow's short life. Though her life was tragically short, the story itself isn't short, and is never uninteresting. As with many stars over the years who have died before their time, there have been numerous rumors and urban legends about Harlow, particularly in a trashy 1964 "biography" written by Irving Shulman. Ms. Golden debunks all of them, such as how she was allegedly beaten by her second husband Paul Bern on their wedding night, that Bern killed himself because he was impotent, that Jean had orgies and drug parties, and that she died because her mother was a Christian Scientist and kept her imprisoned at home as she was dying. She keeps a professional tone throughout, never descending into either of the two extremes of fanatical fawning and sugarcoating or mean-spirited degradation and slander.

Jean comes across as one of the more normal celebrities, someone who was more like the girl nextdoor in real life than a glamorous sex kitten. She had a relatively stable normal childhood in spite of her parents' eventual divorce, and was first bitten by the acting bug during her family's first stay in Hollywood. She eventually broke into the business after her return in the late Twenties, but the disapproval of her husband and grandfather compelled her to cancel the contract she'd been offered by Hal Roach Studios; luckily, she was able to return to acting not too long afterwards and got another big break, and this time wasn't forced to abandon her career just as it was starting. Though she wasn't always given stellar material to work with and grew to resent how she was more often than not cast as a ditzy blonde or a dangerous or "immoral" type of woman, she proved that she was capable of serious acting and was more than just another blonde. In addition to covering her acting career, Ms. Golden covers how she was also very devoted to her mother, had three marriages and a possible fourth on the horizon, became close friends with many of the other stars of the time, was an animal-lover and a passionate Democrat, and did some writing on the side, even writing a novel that was posthumously published. One can only speculate on how her career might have continued to soar had she lived past 1937. The book is also full of gorgeous photographs.

However, the book isn't without its errors, such as how Jean's mother is constantly called "Mama Jean" instead of "Mother Jean" and the misidentification of the 1931 Laurel and Hardy short 'Beau Hunks,' which Jean appears in via a photograph (and is soon revealed to have broken the hearts of all of the men in the Foreign Legion), as 'Beau Chumps.'There were also some subjects that perhaps could have been delved into a little more deeply, such as Jean's stepfather Marino Bello, the non-acting part of her life (particularly since Ms. Golden emphasises how normal she was), and some of the apparent contradictions in her life, such as how she sought to live a normal life and to be seen as more than just a blonde bombshell, while maintaining a taste for things such as expensive jewelry and clothing. All in all, though, I found it to be a fast-paced compelling biography.

Platinum Blonde Life
She became famous for playing a smoldering succession of bad girls, and the platinum look now mainly favored by Gwen Stefani. But Jean Harlow wasn't the person the public believed her to be, as revealed by "Platinum Girl: The Life and Legends of Jean Harlow." It's serviceable, but not too much more.

Jean Harlow was born into an unhappy but not horrific family (her original name was Harlean) and jumped into a teen marriage while still at school. Hermarriage disintegrated as her star rose (nude photos didn't help), where her striking face and platinum hair made her a fashion icon -- something not hurt by legendary weird rich guy Howard Hughes. Two marriages, one husband's mysterious suicide, one scam and many movies later, the Platinum Girl suddenly died of kidney failure.

Eve Golden keeps a professional attitude towards Jean Harlow. There's plenty of focus on her mind, fears, hopes and her professional life. On the other hand, there's little of her sex life, and what Golden does dip into, she does to debunk (the freaky story about Harlow's brief marriage to her second husband). A tone of professional and personal respect -- but not fannishness -- permeates the book. A particularly nice touch is her emphasis on Harlow's early love of writing, which prompted her to write a novel later in life.

Harlow lived a comparatively peaceful life, with some tragedy and scandal but not a huge amount. A really good writer could manage to keep it moving. But Golden isn't a particularly adept writer; she gets rather tedious at times (enough about bleaching hair!), and fails to elaborate about some points like Harlow's slimy stepfather. She emphasizes Harlow's "normality" in the opening chapter, but doesn't really follow up on that. It seems like she's trying to get us to continue reading.

"Platinum Girl: The Life of Legends of Jean Harlow" is a nice but unimpressive work that describes the basics of Harlow's life. While the professional attitude towards Harlow's too-short life is refreshing, the mediocre writing bogs it down.

Gives some misinformation, but still captures Jean's spirit.
I thought Platinum Girl was well written, in that it is easy to read, and draws you into the life of one of the greatest stars of all time. However, Ms. Golden does give some incorrect facts; as one reviewer pointed out, Jean Harlow's mother was called "Mother Jean" and not "Mama Jean," as Ms. Golden constantly refers to her. Also, when she talks about Jean's grave, she says her name is written in Jean's handwriting. I have visited Jean's grave, and that is not true. She also says that the people who work at Forest Lawn will tell you where she is buried. Again, not true. The employees at Forest Lawn will NOT tell you anything about the location of any celebrities buried there.
Misinformation aside, this book is still a good read. I loved the pictures and how they were placed throughout the book. One photo in particular stood out and still stays in my mind weeks after I read the book; a photo from Jean's second wedding, to Paul Bern. It is a group photo, and her mother is in the photo, absolutely glowing on her daughter's happy day. What shocked me was how much she looked like her daughter. It was like seeing what might have been, had Jean not died so tragically at 26.

The Platinum Girl gets the Golden touch
Eve Golden is a writer who knows Hollywood, especially classic Hollywood in the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s. For anyone who read Moveline magazine back in it's heyday, Eve Golden wrote witty video reviews along with other contributions.

Golden turns her attention to Jean Harlow and the result is stunning. The tragic, short life of the wisecracking blonde from the Mid-West is told without being too sugar-sweet and refrains from wallowing in gutter like a cetain 1960s biography of Harlow. Jean Harlow was a nice person with a longing to be more than just the blonde bombshell the public saw, not a nymphomaniac who needed a navy fleet and an ocean of booze to get through the night.

The layout of the book and the photographs are amazing. Reading this in hardcover is knowing you're reading some very special beyonf the usual as-told-to film/tv/ star tat that crowds the Biography sections.

For the film buff or newbie that wants a worthwhile read that's not hard on the eyes, "Platinum Girl" is a clear winner.

Worth having, but Golden Misses the Gold.
I much prefer David Stenn's "Bombshell: The Life and Death of Jean Harlow" over Ms. Golden's biography. While her book has a wonderful array of sumptuous photos, it is not enough to make up for factual errors and there are numerous factual errors in this book. She states that Marino Bello was in Los Angeles during the 1920s with Mother Jean but that was a totally different man. Bello did not enter into Mother Jean's life until Harlean (Jean Harlow) was at Ferry Hall School for Girls in Lake Forest, Ill. Golden consistently refers to Harlow's big white house on Beverly Glen Boulevard as the house on Club View Drive. I cannot help but to find this as inexcuseable. Mother Jean, as she was called, was never called Mama Jean. Yet, Golden uses "Mama Jean" throughout the entire book. Harlow called her mother Mother or Mommie. Everyone else referred to her as Mother Jean or Mrs. Bello.
There is too much gleaned from movie magazines from the 1930s. I have had contact with several women who attended school with Harlean at Ferry Hall and the school was far too strict to allow the pranks that Ms. Golden writes about. They never happened! I cannot imagine where such information was ever obtained.
This is in no way the definitive biography on Jean Harlow. The defamation of Jean Harlow by Shulman's fictitious and lurid tome is insightful. "Platinum Girl" has its moments but the tangents of Hollywood History seem to this reader as easy filler. Jean Harlow had a tragic life. She was a kind and sensitive girl and was dominated by her Mother. This biography misses that fact and calls Harlow's life a "success story". In terms of becoming a greatly beloved star who transcended her sex symbol image, then it is a success story. Jean Harlow was insecure and passive. She did what the studio told her to do because it was what her mother wanted her to do. Jean Harlow didn't long to become a big star--her mother wanted her to become a star because Mother Jean wasn't able to break into films during the years of 1923-1925. Mother Jean lived vicariously through her daughter, whom she called The Baby. Thus, Jean Harlow never really knew who she was. She was unlucky in romantic love and when told to fight to live, she said, "I don't want to." She died shortly after uttering those words.
Jean Harlow was MGM's most beloved star by the cast and crew and all who knew her. Yet she was plagued by a domineering stage mother, drank to excess, and gave less love to herself than she deserved. Statistical errors aside, Golden paints a far more happy story of Jean Harlow than what was actually true. Read both and decide--but don't bother with Irving Shulman's so-called biography! ... Read more

Book Description

Harlow, An Intimate Biography, is the biography of Jean Harlow, the first of the typically American love goddesses as well as a presentation of the big-studio feudalism of the Thirties and a near sociological consideration of that American phenomenon, the sex symbol devised for mass consumption.

Customer Reviews (4)

Sleaze
I felt like jumping into the shower after reading this miserable trashing of poor Jean, who isn't around to defend herself. She wasn't anything like what this book describes. If you want to read this garbage, do so, but remember to wash your hands afterwards.

Trash but good trash.....
While it is agreed this book is a definate dishonour to jean harlow's memory.One should be smart enough to realize it is still one of the best trashy pulp reads i have ever experienced.Irving shulman is regarded as one of the best pulp novelists with his stories about life on the streets circa 1940's.This film noir treatment of harlow's life maybe inacurrate, but it is still an entertaining read that would make jackie collins green with envy. If one also reads nathanel west's novel,"day of the locust",One could feel it is an companion piece to this other fictonal work detailing side of hollywood lifeone rarely wishes to think about.

Trashed Platinum Venus
Ugh!! Along with Shulman's "Valentino," one of the worst movie star biographies I've ever read. Harlow is reduced to a breast-bearing harpie, not to mention poor Paul Bern, whose reputation is utterly trashed. Written as though the writer were present for every intimate moment of Harlow's life, it offers no reliable information. I cannot believe this was the story of Harlow's agent, Arthur Landau. Avoid this hysterical trash and read David Stenn's "Bombshell" instead, a more balanced and sane look at Harlow.

caca
This is what a biography should never be. It's poorly written, poorly edited and is merely a titillating vehicle for the biographer to get some cheap thrills. It was Garbage. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Biography lite, but diverting
This bio of four big stars from Hollywood's golden age is fairly fun, but strictly lightweight; there is no annotation, for instance, and consequently the facts don't seem as unassailable as they should.It isthe kind of thing that would be an enjoyable beach read for the casualmovie (or gossip) fan--but not something for serious fans. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Best book i ever bought
Despite Ms. harlow's life being so wrought with love affairs and scandal, this book stays on task and keeps to reviewing and summarizing her films. I love that it features several of the hard to find and lesser seen Harlow films and include the paper reviews from the film's heyday. I loved it and i think any true Harlow fan will love it too ... Read more

Product Description
We have the best prices for LIFE magazines anywhere on the internet! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Frankie and Johnny, Again
Samuel Marx was a story editor in Hollywood and knew many of the people mentioned in this book. Joyce Vanderveen was a leading ballerina in Europe and an actress in Hollywood. On a September Monday in 1932 Marx received a phone call about the death of Paul Bern, who had married Jean Harlow in July. Chapter 2 tells how the Hollywood studios switched to talking films. The 'Saturday Evening Post' provided serials and short stories that provided sources for Hollywood films. Its "Red-Headed Woman" was adopted to a film and made Jean Harlow a star (Chapter 3). The next chapter tells how Bern's death was reported as a suicide, and the effect on MGM. In Chapter 5 we learn about Bern's "Phantom Wife", who had been placed in a sanatorium. The next week the body of Dorothy Millette was found in the Sacramento River; she had been Bern's common-law wife.

In Chapter 6 Marx explains how "Gone With The Wind" was rejected by MGM; David Selznick, Mayer's son-in-law, bought the film rights. Jean Harlow died at 26, Marx says her life could have been saved by sulfa drugs (p.72). Chapter 7 tells of Marx's later career in films and with Desilu Productions. "The Thin Man" TV show was in the 1950s when Peter Lawford's brother-in-law was a Senator from Massachusetts (p.78). Irving Shulman's "Harlow" falsified many incidents. New interest in Bern's death resulted in a TV interview (Chapter 8). Joyce Vanderveen questioned the story of a coma (p.88). Chapter 9 has the early life of Paul Bern and Harlean Carpenter (Jean Harlow was her mother's maiden name). Baby Jean had been married to Charles McGrew from 1927 to 1930. Would Paul Bern have taken out life insurance just before his death if suicide would have invalidated it (p.110)?

Marx and Vanderveen began investigating the probate records (Chapter 10). Quotations from the inquest are in Chapter 12. Can you believe Charles Higham's story (p.154)? How many scandals were covered up (pp.163-164)? Chapter 15 has different opinions as to Paul Bern's character. The censorship of Hollywood is discussed in Chapter 16. [Was the real reason not with morals but with any political criticisms?] Did the "talkies" have more influence on people than silent films? Chapter 19 tells of the long-hidden documents of the events after the body was found (pp.212-214). Who was the mystery woman seen that night (p.216)? After Dorothy Millette was found in the Sacramento River an inquest was held into her death (Chapter 21). The 'Epilogue' contains the final clue (pp.256-257).

This is a very interesting book about life in 1930s Hollywood, where fantasies were concocted into reality so people could pay for this entertainment. Show business is the tranquilizer of humanity, for those whose mundane life needs a break from reality. This book reads like a detective mystery, but has no surprising ending. The details of life in those days reminds me of the novels of Raymond Chandler or Erle Stanley Gardner.

Controversy and Scandal
Deadly Illusions: Jean Harlow and the Murder of Paul Bern sounds like Samuel Marx and Joyce Vanderveen may believe that Jean had a hand in the murder of Paul Bern, but that is not the conclusion that is reached.

First off, let us recognize that Paul Bern's death is even today largely documented as a suicide. On page 84, Marx writes, "Mention of it was sure to cause someone to say, 'Oh yes, he's the guy who killed himself because he was impotent.'" This book examines the details of the event and the information hidden by MGM, including the fact that Bern was not impotent after all.

The ending of the book is where the assertions come in. One of the last chapters called "Reunion" speculates on Bern's last night and the cause of his death. However, none of it is absolutely proven, though it makes sense in many ways. It is obvious that Marx does not believe that Harlow had a hand in Bern's murder; she is praised despite her silence on the subject throughout. The conclusion of this book is very well put together.

One of the major drawbacks to this publication is that one does not get a sense of who Paul Bern was as a person to really care much outside of the scandalous elements of the story. Fans of Jean Harlow will surely want to read the book, but more general fans of the era might want to shy away.

Some of the information is questionable and some of it is completely false. Marx states that Harlow's mother refused medical treatment for her dying daughter because of her Christian Scientist background, although their relationship sincerely hinders this assertion. Also, this book states that Sebring and Tate were not murdered by the Manson family in Harlow's home although ghost lore claims they were.

One flaw is that Marx uses quotes from personal meetings that could not have possibly been recorded to transcribe word-for-word the way they are presented. The implementation of these conversations are probably highly skewed due to information forgotten or altered over time. However, the quotes used from conversations that were able to be recorded like those with Roddy McDowall and those quotes between the authors which could be verified are effectively used.

Since it was published in 1990, Deadly Illusions is fairly recent and up-to-date.

The information used from the bibliography in the back of the book is obviously cited in the text, but the court cases, documents, interviews, and other materials used are not. These things could have easily been added in an appendix to provide credibility.

This account is chronologically jumpy which makes it difficult to follow in many places.

The controversial book A Cast of Killers about the William Desmond Taylor murder is referenced a few times in this book although mainly indirectly. First, Marx acknowledges King Vidor's quest to find Taylor's killer. Secondly, Buron Fitts of the police department was referenced in both cases as being one of the sole reasons full investigations were not held. Fitts was bribed by the studio each time.

This book makes one question many things about old Hollywood. Bern's first wife Dorothy Millette's death is as much a mystery as her husband's was. Even Bern's death is not proved to be murder absolutely; the only reason his death was questioned by Marx in the first place was because of the friendship between the men.

They don't make em like that anymore
Fascinating, dark look at the beautiful movie queen and the strange his studio exec she married. The book lays out the story gwith lots of insight and empathy for MS. Harlow

Case closed....or not?
Two Hollywood murder cases wrecked havoc on the lives of those closest to the victims. One was William Desmond Taylor. The second was Paul Bern.

When Paul Bern was found dead one morning, suspicions flew and continued to haunt his young bride Jean Harlow until her own tragic end. Did Paul Bern kill himself? Did Jean Harlow do it? Did he really beat poor Jean to a pulp, pushing her to the edge? Or was another force at work?

Like William Desmond Taylor before him, Paul Bern had a secret life that Hollywood knew little about. A woman, Dorothy Millette had lived with Bern as man and wife before his Hollywood glory days. Could Dorothy have reappeared in Bern's life and pulled the trigger on her former lover/common law spouse before ending her own life mere days later?

The only people who will truly ever know what happened at those in the room the night of Bern's death. But Samuel Marx builds a strong case for Paul Bern being murdered and not at the hands of his young wife. If Dorothy Millette was the real murderer, the rumor mill of 1930s Hollywood and a certain Harlow biographer of the 1960s did Jean Harlow and Paul Bern a great injustice and insult.

A Hollywood Mystery Solved
Even Hollywood's earliest scandals are frequently raked over today: the infamous Arbuckle trials, the William Desmond Taylor murder case, and the questionable suicide of actress Thelma Todd are but a few examples of 1920 and 1930s scandals still being discussed into the new millenium.One of the most famous of these tales concerns Paul Bern, an MGM producer, who was found dead of a gunshot wound in his Beverly Hills some two months after his marriage to Jean Harlow.Word quickly spread that Bern was sexually inadequate and he had taken his life when even marriage to Hollywood's reigning sex goddess failed to arouse him.His death was quickly ruled a suicide and that was that.

Or rather, that would have been that except for one little thing: the whispered rumor Paul Bern was murdered.Over the decades that whisper has enticed a great many writers, but none approach the subject with such dogged determination as Samuel Marx and Joyce Vanderveen.Making use of Marx's insider connections (he was an MGM story editor), the two piece together a somewhat speculative but extremely credible tale of insanity, bigamy, police corruption, studio power, murder, and suicide to considerable effect.The cast of characters in this 1930s scandal are fascinating in and of themselves, and although the style in which it is written is a bit simplistic DEADLY ILLUSIONS makes for a great rainy-day read; fans of true crime, Hollywood scandal, and Jean Harlow will find it a must have.Recommended. ... Read more

Product Description
Very nice original color tinted 8" x 10" close-up portrait of the legendary "Blonde Bombshell" of the 1930's who died tragically in 1937 at age 26. The portrait is printed with facsimile signature and is printed on thin paper. Fine. ... Read more