Jean Harlow: The first Hollywood car crash?

[Novice]

Originally Posted by Laurent

Thanks for sharing all that - it was very interesting. And your English is great. I never would've known it wasn't your native language if you hadn't said so.

I think the Jean Harlows of yesteryear were just as brokedown as the Britneys, Parises, and Lindseys of today - they just dressed better and looked cleaner back then.

Plus they had a studio system that cleaned up after them to protect their investment - untill a certain line was crossed. And LAPD was as bent as bent could be and the prosecuters office was in on it too.

[sputnik]

please, stars back in the day were the same as ones today. the only difference is we know more about them today. but jean harlow was no different from the starlets we have today. i don't believe in this whole fiction people want to believe of old hollywood having more class and glamour.

[Sasha]

Speranza, thank you for the info, very interesting.

And thanks for this thread. I've always been fascinated by Harlow.

Originally Posted by buttmunch

The only thing that bothers me about the article is that they assume we haven't heard of her. Give me a break. Public Enemy is a great flick and she is a legend.

And Red Dust and Dinner at Eight.

One of my favorite movie scenes is in Dinner at Eight, between Harlow and Marie Dressler:

From memory:



"I've been reading this book..."

(double take from Dressler)

"It's all about how in the future machines will take over every profession".

(Dressler looks her up and down)

"My dear, you will never have to worry about that".

[maryk]

How sad, she was 26 and had all that going on. That's not that much older than I am, it's very young. But I wouldn't be shocked if LiLo is looking like they describe Harlow in 3 yerrs.

[january]

Originally Posted by sputnik

please, stars back in the day were the same as ones today. the only difference is we know more about them today. but jean harlow was no different from the starlets we have today. i don't believe in this whole fiction people want to believe of old hollywood having more class and glamour.

I think why people believe they are "classier" is because they dressed elegantly and always looked clean, they never had their extensions falling out or their bellies hanging over their shirts or short skirts to flash their twats in public. They never took mugshots while being totally wasted. They never led people on car chases, got caught with cocaine after being arrested, blamed the black kid, or fought in public with all of their lovers. They never had baby mama drama, wore trucker hats, talked with bubble gum in their mouth while smacking away, or wiped greasy chicken fingers on new dresses. They never talked about farting and burping and how many times they went to the restroom that day, ala Jessica. The girls of today are trash. And its not because of how many people you sleep with, I don't personally care how "tawdry" your sex life is. These people could screw a whole football team and I wouldn't care as long as they presented themselves a certain way. There was just more old-school glamour those days. And you're right, some of that had to do with protection from the studio - but mainly, they just knew how to conduct themselves with more class and be more discreet. I bet you anything those girls would be disgusted with some of the starlets of today.

[Novice]

But that was not because they didn't do it & not because there were the photographers following them (for the magazines) but because the studios used to tidy-up after them... and then if they couldn't the bribed the police & if it got to courts, the prosecuter too (to blame it on the black kid)....

But yes, the clothes were definately more elegant then; however I don't agree that they knew how to conduct themselves... they did just as people do now, they were just more protected.

[samantha jones]

Was there only one movie on Harlow? I swear I saw one where they said she died of amonia...and the last scene is her walking into the ocean....
Speranza-Your English is fantastic!!

[BITTER]

Originally Posted by samantha jones

Was there only one movie on Harlow? I swear I saw one where they said she died of amonia...and the last scene is her walking into the ocean....
Speranza-Your English is fantastic!!

With Carroll Baker:
Harlow (1965/I)

With Carol Lynley:
Harlow (1965/II)

[Mivvi21]

I always thought that Jean's kidney failure was brought on by a bought of scarlet fever when she was a child. The scarlet fever damaged her kidneys,and over time they just got worse and worse until they failed.

Also,the person that wrote that gall bladder disease causes someone's breath to smell like urine is wrong. The gall bladder has zero to do with the production of urine so why would it's failure make one's breath smell like urine? Kidney failure causes a build up of toxins which in turn can cause the breath to smell of ammonia or urine. The gall bladder has nothing to do with it.

[buttmunch]

Originally Posted by january

I think why people believe they are "classier" is because they dressed elegantly and always looked clean, they never had their extensions falling out or their bellies hanging over their shirts or short skirts to flash their twats in public. They never took mugshots while being totally wasted. They never led people on car chases, got caught with cocaine after being arrested, blamed the black kid, or fought in public with all of their lovers. They never had baby mama drama, wore trucker hats, talked with bubble gum in their mouth while smacking away, or wiped greasy chicken fingers on new dresses. They never talked about farting and burping and how many times they went to the restroom that day, ala Jessica. The girls of today are trash. And its not because of how many people you sleep with, I don't personally care how "tawdry" your sex life is. These people could screw a whole football team and I wouldn't care as long as they presented themselves a certain way. There was just more old-school glamour those days. And you're right, some of that had to do with protection from the studio - but mainly, they just knew how to conduct themselves with more class and be more discreet. I bet you anything those girls would be disgusted with some of the starlets of today.

I think they did all that and more...the difference is that there weren't paps all over the map, the studios exuded enormous control and would use scandal/photos/whatever as a bargaining/blackmailing tool. And as someone else already pointed out, LA cops were as crooked then as they are now and could easily be bought off to cover things up. I mean, you know that Clark Gable killed someone in a hit and run and it was covered up by the studio, right? Monroe in the loony bin? There are so many stories and those are only the tip of the iceberg.

[BITTER]

Originally Posted by buttmunch

I mean, you know that Clark Gable killed someone in a hit and run and it was covered up by the studio, right? Monroe in the loony bin? There are so many stories and those are only the tip of the iceberg.

Errol Flynn, Spencer Tracy and a couple of other a-listers allegedly caused fatal car wrecks while liquored up. Rapes, assaults and solicitations were also covered up by the studio spin doctors.

Clark also had a child out of wedlock with Loretta Young. That would not get by the media today. Not with the tabloids, and certainly not with the Internet being what it is. I mean, you think Perez or TMZ would let some shit like that slip by? Not even gossiprocks.com .

[buttmunch]

Exactly. They weren't saints back then and they aren't saints now. They're just a hell of a lot more exposed these days, which is a very good reason to avoid fame like the plague.

[BITTER]

Originally Posted by buttmunch

Exactly. They weren't saints back then and they aren't saints now. They're just a hell of a lot more exposed these days, which is a very good reason to avoid fame like the plague.

Sometimes I wonder if they were worse. I lived in San Diego for a few years and the gay bars were filled with drunk old queens whow worked in LA and H'wood, and they'd regale us young'uns with stories of the stars of Hollywood's "alleged" Golden Age and some of the stuff they did was pretty rank. I guess you could argue some of them were making the stuff up, but I heard one too many stories about some of them from different people. I learned more than I needed to know. A lot of them were kinky bastards, especially Errol Flynn. A lot of the powerful behind-the-scenes people were way out there as well.

[nana55]

Well, let's hear some stories. Come on, spill.

[BITTER]

Originally Posted by nana55

Well, let's hear some stories. Come on, spill.

Now, you KNOW how much I hate gossip .

One tale I remember (and it was eventually confirmed in a book by Ken Anger IIRC), was the one about Betty Grable "entertaining" the troops during the war. A few days after hooking up with a serviceman, she noticed a strange and foul odor coming from her va-jay-jay. She rushed to her doctor's office and he went up in there. Turns out the serviceman's rubber came off during sex and got lodged up in there with her diaphragm. Ewwww.

Kirk Douglas allegedly date-raped several starlets, which may or may not have included Natalie Wood. He developed a reputation as an asshole - one of the most disliked people in Hollywood, and Michael Douglas isn't far behind.

Spencer Tracy and Errol Flynn loved going to Mexico, where they could diddle teen boys free from the prying eyes of Hollywood.

Jimmy Stewart was opposed to civil rights and integration until later in his life. He allegedly mistreated African-American actor Woody Strode on the set of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and Strode went public about it in the press. He was also an informant to J. Edgar Hoover.

Johnny Mathis was/is into Italian men - wherever he toured, he always hooked up with one - or several. He loved Philly's South Street too, where he got an endless supply. Allegedly he used Val Kilmer for rough trade while Val was trying to make his mark in Hollywood. Val lived with Mathis at his home in Palm Springs for a while. This was told to me by a screenwriter I met on a flight from Philly to Los Angeles. Johnny was so obviously gay, his PR people were always hard-pressed to fix him up with beards. No one believed those made-up romances anyway.

Take note that this dish is gay-heavy - I heard it from older gay men back in the 90's, and some of them were in their sixties at the time.