Line #25 Creator/JeanHarlow


1	[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jean_harlow-405_625.jpg]]
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3	-> ''"Men like me because I don't wear a brassiere. Women like me because I don't look like a girl who would steal a husband. At least not for long."''
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5	Jean Harlow (born Harlean Harlow Carpenter; March 3, 1911 – June 7, 1937) was an American actor and sex symbol in the 1930s, the original Platinum Blonde of legend.
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7	She was born in UsefulNotes/KansasCity, Missouri. In the 1920s, she and her mother moved to Hollywood, and Harlean, taking her mother's name, went into acting. After several bit parts in silent films, she had her breakout role in the 1930 UsefulNotes/WorldWarI movie ''Film/HellsAngels'', produced by Howard Hughes. In this film, she coined the famous line "Would you be shocked if I [[SlipIntoSomethingMoreComfortable put on something more comfortable?]]" In 1931, she appeared in the classic gangster film ''[[Film/ThePublicEnemy1931 The Public Enemy]]''.
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9	While critics disliked Harlow, audiences loved her; her movies were successful, even in the middle of TheGreatDepression. Her films pushed boundaries; in ''Film/RedDust'', she portrays a floozy who gets the guy at the end, and in ''Film/RedHeadedWoman'' she plays an ambitious GoldDigger who sleeps her way to the top and [[KarmaHoudini doesn't receive any punishment for it.]]
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11	After the implementation of UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode (which cracked down on sexuality, both in and out of films), she changed her image to a more mainstream, all-American type, but still remained a star. During the filming of her last movie, ''Film/{{Saratoga}}'', she fell ill, and was taken to a hospital. She died a few days later at the age of 26, from kidney failure (once rumored to be from the chemicals she used to dye her hair; now stated as a possible consequence of scarlet fever she had as a child).
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13	She was an idol of Creator/MarilynMonroe.
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16	!!Films with pages on TV Tropes:
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18	* ''Film/DoubleWhoopee'' (1929) -- short film starring Creator/LaurelAndHardy
19	* ''Film/WhyBeGood'' (1929) (extra)
20	* ''Film/HellsAngels'' (1930) -- StarMakingRole
21	* ''Film/PlatinumBlonde'' (1931)
22	* ''[[Film/ThePublicEnemy1931 The Public Enemy]]'' (1931)
23	* ''Film/TheSecretSix'' (1931)
24	* ''Film/RedDust'' (1932)
25	* ''Film/RedHeadedWoman'' (1932)
26	* ''Film/ThreeWiseGirls'' (1932)
27	* ''Film/DinnerAtEight'' (1933)
28	* ''[[Film/Bombshell1933 Bombshell]]'' (1933)
29	* ''Film/HoldYourMan'' (1933)
30	* ''Film/TheGirlFromMissouri'' (1934)
31	* ''Film/ChinaSeas'' (1935)
32	* ''Film/{{Reckless}}'' (1935)
33	* ''Film/LibeledLady'' (1936)
34	* ''Film/{{Riffraff}}'' (1936)
35	* ''Film/{{Suzy}}'' (1936)
36	* ''Film/WifeVsSecretary'' (1936)
37	* ''Film/PersonalProperty'' (1937)
38	* ''Film/{{Saratoga}}'' (1937)
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40	!!Harlow's work provide examples of:
41	* DumbBlonde: Her specialty. Barry Norman in his book ''The Hollywood Greats'' noted that she like Marilyn Monroe "had the gift of saying her lines as if she didn't understand them, maximimising the comic potential..."
42	* DyeHard: Though she denied it, and was in fact naturally very fair -- just not as fair as she appeared onscreen. Eventually, her hair actually had to be cropped short due to peroxide damage, meaning in some films she's actually wearing a wig. Some stories say that [[{{Squick}} she bleached her pubic hair as well to maintain the illusion]], but this is likely false.
43	* FakeBrit: As Helen in ''Film/HellsAngels''. Not that [[NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent she tries very hard]].
44	* FakeShemp: Harlow's sudden, shocking death from kidney failure came with ''Saratoga'' still unfinished. Louis B. Mayer and MGM considered throwing away all of her footage and re-shooting with a different actor, but after fans lobbied to see Harlow's last film, production continued. An actor named Mary Rees who looked like Harlow was used as her double in some scenes, with another actor doubling Harlow's distinctive voice. (Note the scene at the racetrack where Fake Jean Harlow holds a pair of binoculars to her face and another scene with Hattie [=McDaniel=] where Fake Jean is shot from behind while wearing a wide-brimmed hat.)
45	* HeAlsoDid: She wrote a novel, ''Today is Tonight'', which wasn't published until 1965.
46	* HighClassGloves: She wore them in ''Film/DinnerAtEight'' and ''Film/ThePublicEnemy1931''.
47	* LeslieNielsenSyndrome: [[invoked]] As noted above, she was initially much more vampy. But once The Hays Code cracked down on sexual conduct in movies, her image became more of a DumbBlonde in comedies.
48	* TheOtherMarty: When Howard Hughes decided to convert ''Film/HellsAngels'' to a talkie, this meant that the Norwegian actor playing Helen - Greta Nissen - had to be replaced. In came Jean Harlow.
49	* PlayingWithCharacterType: While Kitty in ''Film/DinnerAtEight'' is a ShamelessFanserviceGirl, she's less a GoodBadGirl and more a RichBitch. Kitty is probably the nastiest character she ever played.
50	* PopCultureUrbanLegends:
51	** Her husband Paul Bern was found dead in his room, and a wild rumor was that Jean herself found him and the studio had it covered up.
52	** Then there were all the rumors about her death. One story held that all the hair dye used for that platinum blonde look ruined her kidneys--nope, not possible. Another story was that Harlow died because her mother was a Christian Scientist and so did not call a doctor when she got sick. Although Harlow's awful StageMom did apparently say this to a man from MGM in order to get him to go away, in fact she was getting round-the-clock care from doctors and nurses from soon after she went home sick from the studio. And it wouldn't have mattered anyway even if the rumor had been true, since in the 1930s kidney failure was a death sentence.
53	* PrettyInMink: Some of her movies gave her glamorous furs, such as a fox-trimmed dress in ''Dinner At Eight'', and an ermine-trimmed dress in ''Personal Property''.
54	* RealitySubtext: The tension between her and Creator/WallaceBeery in ''Film/DinnerAtEight'' was very real; he treated her horribly, viewing her as too inexperienced.
55	* SexyBacklessOutfit: After she says her famous line in ''Hell's Angels'', it's shown that she's already wearing a backless dress. In ''Dinner at Eight'', her character says, during a party conversation about sunbathing: "You know, my skin's terribly delicate and I don't dare expose it." Then she turns around, [[HypocriticalHumor revealing her backless dress]].
56	* ShortLivedBigImpact: She died at the age of twenty-six after having only been in the film business for about nine years, three of which she worked entirely as an extra. Yet she was an iconic sex symbol and there was worldwide heartbreak when she died prematurely.
57	* StageName: Born Harlean Harlow Carpenter; Jean was her mother's name, and Harlow her maiden name.
58	* ThoseTwoActors: She appeared in six movies with Creator/ClarkGable, five with Lewis Stone, four with Una Merkel, and three with Creator/WallaceBeery.
59	* VaporWear: In ''Bombshell'', a movie in which Harlow plays an actor, the studio specifically instructs her not to wear a bra. Harlow never wore any underwear, and some even say that she iced down her nipples before shooting a scene (which was one of many contributing factors for the Hays Code to crack down on immoral content in movies).
60	* VocalDissonance: Despite her glamorous looks, she had a nasal voice and lower class accent described by Creator/MelanieGriffith as sounding like a "truck stop waitress," often exploited for comic effect.
61	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
62	** MGM was hoping to cast Harlow in a series of movies focusing on the character of Maisie Ravier. Harlow's death led to that role being played by Ann Sothern.
63	** She was offered the leads in ''Film/KingKong1933'' and ''Film/{{Freaks}}'' but turned them down.
64	** She was meant to say a line in ''Red Dust'' when she's found bathing in the barrel - "don't you know, I'm La Flamme, the girl who drives men wild" - but she refused to say it

Context Creator / JeanHarlow