Product Details

• Actors: Loretta Young, Robert Williams, Jean Harlow, Halliwell Hobbes, Reginald Owen
• Format: Black & White, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• VHS Release Date: June 3, 1997
• Run Time: 89 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304481756
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #220,665 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This Frank Capra comedy from 1931 helped define the screwball-comedy genre that became so popular with films like It Happened One Night and The Awful Truth. In this witty romp, Jean Harlow plays an upper-crust socialite who bullies her reporter husband (Robert Williams) into conforming to her highfalutin ways. The husband chafes at the confinement of high society, though, and yearns for a creative outlet. He decides to write a play and collaborates with a fellow reporter (Loretta Young); the results are unexpectedly hilarious, especially when Young shows up at the mansion with a gaggle of boozehound reporters in tow. With snappy, ribald dialogue (allowable in those pre-Hays Code days), Capra keeps the gags flying fast and furious, taking special delight in having Williams's journalist pals rib him endlessly over his kept-man status. Platinum Blonde was a great success at the time of its release during the class-conscious Depression; for better or worse, its star Harlow was identified with the tag "platinum blonde" until her untimely death. --Jerry Renshaw

From the back cover

In the newsroom, Gallagher may seem like "just one of the boys," but when she trades in her press pass for romantic license, she's 100% Loretta Young sizzle--and ready to take on Platinum Blonde. Jean Harlow shines as socialite Ann Schuyler, a junior-leaguing heiress willing to go head-to-head with Gallagher to win the attentions of tabloid hound "Stew" Smith. Schuyler schemes to lure the frustrated playwright into marriage, then transform him into a convincing gentleman. Knowing nothing of her pygmalion purposes, "Stew" is soon installed in the east wing--quite a leg up for a man who never wears garters. But the gilded cage in no place for this speakeasy bird, and when midnight tolls for "Cinderella man," his pal Gallagher is there to smooth the feathers. Harlow and Young join Robert Williams in this bathtub gin romantic comedy directed by the one and only Frank Capra. Prohibition was never more fun!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Best Actor You've Never Seen, May 5, 2006

By 

Craig Connell (Lockport, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Platinum Blonde (DVD)

Robert Williams doesn't even get any billing on the DVD cover or on other promotions of this film, but he IS the star of the film....and he is outstanding.

Williams could have been a major star, a very well-known actor, had he not died four days after this picture was released with a ruptured appendix. The man simply puts on an acting clinic here. I wonder if young aspiring actors are ever shown this film and told to study Williams? If is wasn't for this film, I assume nobody would ever know about this guy.

Anyway, the movie is really dated but its interesting thanks to some great dialog, mainly, once again, by Williams. Jean Harlow gets the billing but a young Loretta Young has the real beauty and charm here. Too bad her role was so minor and bland. She looked absolutely gorgeous.

The storyline is one of Hollywood's favorite themes: the average Joe beating up on the snobby rich people. Harlow's "mother" in here (Louise Closser Hale) plays that snob role perfectly.

Even though I gave it only three stars, there are lots of laughs in this film and it was a lot better than I thought it would be. Watching Williams' acting performance is worth the price of the disc, and then some.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Platinum Blonde, August 17, 2004

By 

S. A. Alukonis "susansqueezy" (New Hampshire) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Platinum Blonde (DVD)

Any B&W fan will appreciate this film. I LOVED Robert Williams--I thought he was refreshingly original and had great chemistry with both of his female co-stars, two stunningly beautiful and very different women. The scene with the the song about the garters is priceless, and one of the sexiest scenes ever filmed(and there are many other breathtakingly sexy scenes as well). Although it should have been called "Cinderella Man", in captures it's time period in every way. I would have loved to see Robert Williams in other roles after this one, but he died very shortly after filming. You'll also love the scene where Stew follows Ann into the library! Don't miss this cool and sexy film.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Give it a Few Tries, December 14, 2006

By 

Samantha Glasser "Maliejandra" (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Platinum Blonde (DVD)

Platinum Blonde is the story of a newspaper reporter (Robert Williams), one of the best. His job is to investigate a scandal with one of the best known families, the Schuylers. He's so clever, he gets them to admit to a story against their will, but in the process is captured by the eye of beautiful daugher Anne (Jean Harlow). Although he scoops them, he also helps them out of the mess and makes his way into the family by eloping with Anne. This hurts his pal Gallagher (Loretta Young) who has loved him for years, but he's in his own world. He doesn't quite realize what he's getting himself into as a poor man wedding a rich family. Cracks from his friends ensue and day by day his wife does all that she can to change him.

Unfortunately, people have high expectations for this film, and it doesn't necessarily measure up. First of all, this is not typical Capra. There are not heartfelt messages of hope at the end. The characters do not signify what the average man strives to be or the pitfalls he faces. Secondly, Harlow does not play a seductress here; in fact, she's quite classy. Last, Williams is an unknown, and alongside an all star cast, he's the leading man. This can be startling because we have never seen him before and are therefore less likely to like him right off. The first time I saw this film, I was incredibly disappointed and what upset me even more was that this was Harlow's first DVD release. Although the title became her nickname, this is an awful way to experience typical Harlow, but it is a wonderful way for fans to see her in a new light.

If you can find a way to judge this film not based on expectations but on its own merits, you'll find it to be quite enjoyable. Each player is fantastic, namely Williams whose naturalness and easy humor makes the film breezy and fun to watch. Harlow is regal and intelligent, not the least bit green despite this being one of her first big films (before the eyebrow makeover). Young is fresh and exciting, quite thin, but absolutely gorgeous.