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Deadly Illusions: Jean Harlow and the Murder of Paul Bern

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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.

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.

Samuel Marx was hired at MGM by producer Paul Bern and became a close friend. He ultimately rose to the position of chief story editor during the busiest period of the industry. When Bern, who married MGM's blonde screen bombshell Jean Harlow, died of what was ruled a suicide, a skeptical Marx began sleuthing, unwilling to believe the conclusion that had been reached.

"Deadly Illusions" represents Marx's effort to solve what has become a longstanding mystery in Hollywood, with many unconvinced, as was the MGM story editor, that Bern had died of a self-administered gunshot wound. Marx concludes that MGM executive Eddie Mannix, operating as studio boss L.B. Mayer's troubleshooter, rigged the suicide attempt to cover up a dark secret about Bern's past, which resulted in his being murdered. To reveal more would be to give away the suspense which should be the reader's discovery.

This is a book that depicts Hollywood during a glorious period of productivity. Marx was a busy on the scene participant and makes you as a reader feel that you were an intimate part of it as well.

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.

Samuel Marx was there. He was a writer and producer at MGM when the lion really roared and was good friends with all the artists and stars and legends on the lot. One very good friend, the sensitive and talented producer Paul Bern, married Jean Harlow, and died under mysterious circumstances shortly after the wedding. Like a Beverly Hills Columbo, Marx solves the mystery. He has access to the real clues, not the ones that have become part of sensational myth, and he makes the case for the only credible version of what must have happened I have ever read in any of the overly sensational, salacious Harlow biographies out there (with the exception of Eve Golden's "Platinum Girl").

I just read this book cover to cover, and I vouch for it being a very good book. There is a big surprise at the end, though. After Samuel Marx finished writing this book, he bumped into a man in a post office, in Beverly Hills, who gave him his own second-hand slant on the mystery of Bern's death. That account is given after the last chapter, in this book. That man died very soon after he gave Marx that revelation. Retribution?

I think I should end this review here, so as not to spoil your enjoyment of this book. If you have a strong interest in the history of Hollywood, this book is definitely a not-to-be-missed item.

Sincerely,
Steve

The author of this book, Samuel Marx, once worked as story editor for MGM studios in the early 1930s, and it was during this period when he met and became friends with Paul Bern, then one of the studio's most popular and successful producers. During his days as an office boy for Universal Pictures, Marx had also met and befriended the soon-to-be famous producer Irving Thalberg, and it was Thalberg who hired Marx as story editor for MGM studio when he arrived there in 1930. Thalberg would eventually become one of the most famous film producers of his time before his untimely death in 1936.

The year is 1932, the morning after the Labor Day weekend when Marx received a telephone call informing him that his producer-friend Paul Bern, who was married to Jean Harlow at the time, was found dead in his home, an apparent suicide from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. When Marx arrived at the scene he found several of his colleagues were already there, including Thalberg, Louis B. Mayer and MGM's publicist Howard Strickling. Marx became suspicious when he learned that these men were at the house hours before the police were even notified.

Upon further reading we discover that Paul Bern was once married to a woman he knew and met long ago (during his theater days as an actor), and that this woman was mentally ill. Her name was Dorothy Millette, a stage actress who somehow became very sick and had to be institutionalized. Bern kept this secret from almost everyone he knew except for a select few; probably those he was very close to and trusted. We discover that Dorothy has now been released and is spending most of her time at a hotel in Sacramento. She begins to taunt Bern, who at this time is seen courting a young Jean Harlow, and expresses a desire to come back into his life and continue her aspiration to become an actress. In Dorothy's mind only a night has past, but in reality she has been in a coma for almost a decade. Marx claims that Bern was worried about how to handle the situation but seemed fine the last time he saw him.

The public knew nothing about this Dorothy Millette and it didn't reach newspapers until days after Bern's death. When it finally did reach the newspapers a nationwide search was conducted to locate the whereabouts of this mystery woman, and all that witnesses seem to know was that she was last seen on the Delta King, a steamboat that traveled between Sacramento and San Francisco. Dorothy Millette's belongings were left behind and never picked up, and she never got off the boat when it docked in Sacramento. Nobody knew what happened to her. All evidence pointed to suicide and people believed she jumped. A short time later her body was found in the Sacramento River.

Samuel Marx never believed the motive that became almost synonymous whenever someone mentioned the name Paul Bern; the man who killed himself because he couldn't make it with Jean Harlow, the man who was impotent. Marx claimed that Dorothy Millette -- her side, her story -- was more important than most people at the time were willing to let on. The triangle that made up the mystery, Marx claims, consisted of Paul, Dorothy and Harlow. Two of whom died the same year with Jean Harlow having only five more years left to live before dying of uremic poisoning in 1937. Marx also suspected a cover-up by the hands of certain figures at the MGM studio, a cover-up to withdraw any evidence that would create a scandal or tarnish the reputation of their young blonde bombshell, then on the rise of becoming one of the studio's biggest stars.

It is nice to read a book about something based on real events and knowing that the author himself was there and knew the people involved. But if you're truly immersed in the book you'll notice that there are some things which are almost entirely speculated upon and impossible to prove for the simple reason that both parties who were involved are dead. Nevertheless, Marx presents a credible argument to something that very well may have been a Hollywood myth all these years. I don't want to give anything away. It is such an engrossing book so read it. The final chapter is a jaw-dropping and utterly convincing finale to a good mystery.

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.

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