Product Description
"HARLOW." Her name epitomizes an era, a decade ofDepression in which harsh reality created a demand for lush filmfantasy and no Hollywood star was as luscious or fantastic as JeanHarlow. She was M-G-M's most bankable asset, a blonde bombshell whosebleached hair, voluptuous body, and bawdy humor inspired a ferventcult following that remains to this day.

Despite Harlow's blinding fame, the events of her life have beenobscured by a fifty-year haze of secrets, lies, and silence. Until thepublication of this book. After years of research, criticallyacclaimed biographer David Stenn unearthed the truth behind theimprobable rise of this tow-headed tomboy from Kansas City, her hugesuccess, and her tragic fall.

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

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

Customer Reviews (27)

AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY


.....I finished BOMBSHELL last night and it is an engrossing book beautifully
written by author DAVID STENN ...

.....There was a lot of sexploitation garbage written about HARLOW after her
death to try to cash in on her popularity ...most of it was trash that should
have been classified as fiction but I researched the available books well and
the book by STERN is the only one that tells the true story with many
citatations and references ...I paid top dollar for it but it was worth it ...

.....The author was very sympathetic in his narrative and he makes you like
HARLOW from the beginning ...he portrays her as a passive obedient child who
possessed great beauty and was manipulated by people, specifically her mother
and stepfather, who used her and did not have her best interests at heart ...

.....She was loved by the fans of the era (DEPRESSION) and they flocked to her
movies from NEW YORK to PARIS ...but the true test of her character was that,
except for a few over the hill actresses who were jealous of her (JOAN
CRAWFORD), she was universally loved by the people in the movie industry, from
the top producers and directors and co-stars, down to the stage hands who worked
on the sets ...they were all fiercly loyal to her ...

.....She was just a good kid who tried to please everyone around her except
herself and her death at age 26, just when she was on the cusp of greatness, was
a true life American tragedy .....This excerpt taken from the book sums up how Harlow saw herself ..."I wasn't born an actress, you know," Harlow admitted."Events made me one."Lacking experience or training, she literally learned on the job, mutating from wooden sexpot to sublime comic in record time."I'm lucky and I know it," she told a New York Times reporter on the Saratoga set."I'm not a great actress, and I never thought I was.But I happen to have something the public likes."

A Treasure!
There are two gems to this treasure - David Stenn and Harlow herself. David Stenn has said he probably won't write another book but he must. No one researches the way he does and no one has been able to bring their research to life the way he has. A talent like his shouldn't go to waste but even more, the fact that he cares, is involved, nurtures his subjects (and I'm referring to Clara Bow and Girl 27, a masterpiece) does not flinch from gritty or painful details, makes him all the more necessary in the world of biography.

This book is eerily compelling, goes way beyond the typical Hollywood story because Stenn has humanized someone who had been completely dehumanized. Harlow is by turns, funny, sweet, sad, sensitive and so vulnerable it makes your heart break. In a word: human. The Harlow story is a page-turner. Just when you think you understand this darling woman, you are surprised at the next decision she makes in her life. The saddest thing of all is that too many decisions were made for her - marriage, having children, her career, even the evil disease that took her life. In the end we find ourselves wishing that it would have mattered for her to be more aggressive, thrown away her passivity and taken back what was hers.
Just a huge thanks to David Stenn for this beautiful book - everything about it is first-class, as is David and Jean.

Idol worship kills
As the greats of early Hollywood have long since passed away, there is a hunger for what was in the beginnings of California's early movie industry.This biography of Jean Harlow captures the flavor of those times.Born in Kansas City, Harlow went through life being subjected to the whims of her domineering mother who banked her whole life on this gifted and talented actress who died a painful death in 1937.The biography is fleshed out with personal interviews of those people who had first-hand knowledge of their dealings with the "platinum blonde."As for the veracity of their statements most of them have taken their opinions to the grave as this book was first published in 1993 so in a way, we might never know the true story.

I would not give it a full five-stars because as a historian I always look to the lessons that we should learn in how one person's gift led to such sadness and madness among the parties involved.The narrative in this book never drew any conclusions from these events.I give it a good recommendation nevertheless for historical value.

Excellent Service!
An excellent bio and the seller sent it immediately. It arrived lightning fast. Many thanks.

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. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Elusive Truth of Paul Bern's Life and Death
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

A Classic Tinseltown Mystery
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.

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 ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (8)

Gossipy and Trashy and Catty!
No, don't read this book for any truths about Jean Harlow, Clark Gable, or any other Hollywood figure.You won't get many actual facts.You will get what you got from Hollywood Babylon, delightfully hateful trashy gossip about old Hollywood and the people who made the movies that is mostly malicious rumor and lies, fun to read and believe while you are reading, but utter garbage otherwise.Anybody who sources Hollywood Babylon or the Schulberg hatchet job can't possibly be a serious historian.The author comes across as a catty hairdresser when telling the stories of these people, and everybody but everybody is gay in his world.While I have no real problems with that, the sheer numbers of gay people seems to be mathematically impossible to sustain the population of this planet.So read this if you like trashy shocking stories about people that are mostly not true or are slanted to make these stars seem like the most awful people who ever lived with the most hateful motives behind everything they did.Just don't believe a word of it!

Trash.....Pure and Simple.....Trash
I am sick of David Bret and his idea of a biography. It seems like his formula for his "literary" contributions is to collect all the lurid stories that have been circulated about his subject (aka VICTIM) and slap it all together and call it a biography. If his subject is male, the subject is going to invariably be gay or at the very least bisexual and very promiscuous. If the subject is female, the subject is going to be definitely promiscuous and probably bi, too. And all of his victims/subjects are DEAD. The dead can't sue.
TARNISHED ANGEL is a good title because that's all Bret does to Harlow......tarnish her memory. Relying on Irving Schulman's 'definitive' bio HARLOW (which when published in 1965 managed to postumously resurrect Harlow and sully her memory), Bret rehashes the same old and throws in a few more dingers to maintain his stellar rep as garbage monger. I'm not going into Bret's specifics because there is no reason to repeat lies.
Harlow should be remembered for who she really was and I suggest that you get the previously published Harlow bios by David Stenn or Eve Golden if you want to know the real Jean.

Preposterous Garbage!
I could sit here and write a review of this book but;
A) The above reviewers already said everything I would have written and
B) I've wasted enough time reading this tripe I don't think it deserves another moment of my time except to say
C) You want a Harlow bio? Read Bombshell and skip this rehashing of the Shulman mess of yesteryear.

Tarnished Writing From A Tarnished Writer
Readers would have thought that writers and authors were done--at least in part--of resorting to dreadfully written books from start to finish and that is only the spelling in it. (At least Bret spelled Jean Harlow right). 99.9% of the information in this book is erroneous. The few who read the book know that Bret copied Shulman's 'Harlow which has long been proven totally inaccurate even by Shulman himself; anyone who's vaguely interested in Jean Harlow knows that. Bret is lucky that Shulman is dead or else he might find himself sued over plagiarism.

It seems to matter little to Bret that all wrongful stories have been thoroughly discredited over the intervening years by true biographers who are more accustomed to research and seek the truth. The old, untruthful stereotypes are served up again. This makes for a very boring, one-dimensional biography. Bret never discovered and has ignored the human being and the brilliant actress/comedienne beneath the Harlow legend.

So there the readers have it; the author preferred to ignore first hand evidence. This book is without doubt the laziest, most shoddy piece I have ever read. If Amazon shoppers and readers note that all the reviews, except for the one Bret gave himself, (either Amazon deleted the review or Bret did it himself) are negative and the only one who is providing "not helpful" feedback is the writer himself. If Bret has to discredit other writers and Amazon reviewers then the problem lies with himself. Not even worth it for the paper it was written on. I revoke even the one star with the tittle.

Avoid at all costs.

Disturbing and Often Unbelievable Bio of Jean Harlow
I had such high hopes for this book. It actually started out pretty neutrally and seemed like a most promising biography of the beautiful star. Once it started getting into her early career, however, this book became more and more of an opinionated diatribe, usually disparaging, of Jean. While there is a bounty of information available about Miss Harlow, which generally follows along the same basic biographical lines, this book degenerates into a lambasting of Jean, her co-stars, her admittedly obnoxious family (Mama Jean and Mario Bello) taken to new heights--or lows--of distaste. So many things are stated as FACT with nothing to back it up--that one begins to take almost every statement with a decided grain of salt. Or, maybe a salt-shaker. It is stated as virtually a fact that Jean slept with her oily step-father. Nothing to back it up. Just the author's opinion. Also, the author made numerous distasteful references to Irving Thalberg'sreaction to Paul Bern's death--implying that Thalberg's grief was purely staged. Of the many bios I have read regarding Thalberg, and other MGM stars and studio personnel of the 1930's, this does not ring true at all. The author freely intersperses his own opinions, usually unkind, on virtually ever person mentioned in the book. He states as fact many rumors that have certainly not proven to be true--often, over and over again...By the time you are finished this book, should you take the author's opinions as truth, you'll believe that every major leading man in Hollywood is at least bi-sexual, if not gay, and every major leading woman in Hollywood is lesbian.

One thing particularly distasteful is that in every single recap of Harlow's films, her character in the film is described as 'slutty,' 'whore' 'tramp' or worse...for a biography of an actor or actress, one would expect a more neutral recap of their major motion pictures.

Bret freely disparages and insults everyone mentioned equally--an equal opportunity insulter--whether it's L.B. Mayer, Irving Thalberg, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Hedda Hopper, Howard Strickland, etc. ....All are accordingly disparaged and deprecated. The only cast member in this book who receives a halfway decent mention is William Powell.

All in all--this book is like a giant train-wreck...You are appalled as you read it, but have to follow thru til the very end....Based on that it gets 1 star. What a hugely disappointing bio of Jean Harlow. Bombshell, by David Stenn, is by far a much better biography of this beautiful young woman. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Bombshell's Brainchild
I originally sought out "Today Is Tonight" after hearing that it is not a book ABOUT the legendary '30s screen actress Jean Harlow, but rather--and incredibly--a NOVEL written BY her! Indeed, in the book's introduction, Harlow's agent and close friend, Arthur Landau, tells us that the story came to the actress in a dream, and that she wrote her book sometime after 1933 or '34; her heyday. (The novel unfortunately got tied up in a legal battle with Harlow's studio, MGM, and went unpublished for over 30 years, until 1965.) Halfway through reading this entertaining novel, however, I happened to peruse David Stenn's biography of Harlow, "Bombshell," and was disappointed to learn the truth. Yes, the story of "Today Is Tonight" WAS Harlow's, but the book itself, apparently, was penned by Hollywood publicist Tony Beacon, and polished up later by screenwriter Carey Wilson. So the novel doesn't quite give us the glimpse into Harlow's mind that I had been hoping for, but still does reveal much.

In the book, we meet a young, attractive couple, Peter and Judy Lansdowne, on the occasion of their third anniversary, in September 1929. With a rich stockbroker husband, a house in Westchester on Long Island Sound, and loads of rich friends to have drunken parties with, life certainly does hold much promise for Judy. Everything changes for the two, however, when Peter is blinded in a freak equestrian accident and the Lansdownes lose everything in the Stock Market crash. Now paupered and living in the relative squalor of Manhattan's East 63rd Street (!), Judy embarks on a doubly duplicitous course of action. She not only decides to keep the knowledge of the crash from her husband, as well as their impecunious state, but also confuses Peter's sense of time, so the blind man will think day is night and vice versa (hence, the novel's title). Thus, she feels free to work nights at a Broadway bawdy club doing a Lady Godiva act, bringing home some bacon to her befuddled hubby. And if this high-wire act of double juggling strikes the reader as being impracticable, imagine what it does to poor Judy, who must also sort out her feelings for the kindly Bill Reynolds, Peter's ex-partner, on top of everything else! It is an interesting story, and the Lansdownes are a bright, witty and likable pair. The book is often racy, never dull, and provides a fascinating glimpse of life amongst the once-rich set in early '30s New York.

The book also comes with its share of problems, however, and reveals some of the deficiencies of the tyro novelist. There are numerous instances of fuzzy writing, a tendency to show off with $2 words, and some repetitious turns of phrase (as in "blind, unseeing eyes"). Many characters are introduced in the novel's opening chapters, never to be heard from again. And then there is that doubly preposterous central plot device! Still, despite all, "Today Is Tonight" remains fascinating, for the simple reason that it IS Harlow's brainchild, and because she felt the part of Judy Lansdowne would be the ideal screen role for her, if and when the novel ever made it to the silver screen. (It never did.) Indeed, reading the book, one can very easily picture Harlow in the lead, with someone like Franchot Tone playing Peter, and perhaps Jack Carson or Ralph Bellamy portraying Bill. It certainly would have made for a clever--albeit implausible--dramedy, leavened with a goodly share of sex and romance. If anything, the novel demonstrates that the world lost not only a superbly gifted actress when Harlow died in 1937, at the age of 26, but a promising young writer as well. The book is assuredly recommended to all her fans.

I'm Not Convinced She Wrote It, but I'd Like to Think She Did
Peter and Judy Landsdowne are in the early years of a blissfully happy marriage in September of 1929.Before the very quick 200+ pages go by, this changes in several ways large and small, with consequences for the young couple and those who love them.I can see this terribly romantic, dramatic book being written by a woman in her early 20s.It encompasses romance that Jean Harlow, in her real life, had problems maintaining.It contains dramatic features that most young writers indulge in when they are jotting down their stories.The novel, according to the foreword, was held for thirty years and released in the mid-1960s (probably to provide a push to the paperback release of Irving Shulman's biography of Harlow and the Carroll Baker film based on it).

I would not be surprised if Jean Harlow drafted this piece before her untimely death in 1937.I would be surprised if she wanted anyone else to see it before she herself had had a chance to refine it herself, possibly after she'd grown a bit older and wiser.It is a page-turning read, but it is in an occasionally over-wrought style, one that she might have wanted to polish if she'd lived long enough.

There is one other reason that I would buy the premise that Jean Harlow wrote at least the first draft herself.It is written in a very "cinematic" style.As I read it, I could see the scenes as they would play out on a movie screen.As an actress, and a particularly astute one at that, it would be natural for Miss Harlow to structure her story in such a way, perhaps with herself in the leading role (though this book would never have made it past the Hays Code).

By: Pamela Kuiken
I read this book back in the 70's.
I found it to be a very good book.
I would tell any one to read it, for
it is wrote in away any age can enjoy reading it.
I loss my copy, would love to fine another copy.

Predictable 20s Romance
Judy and Peter Lansdowne have the perfect marriage. Their love for each other is only enhanced by their extravagant lifestyle; on their wedding anniversary they are surrounded with friends and baubles that prove that their pocketbooks are bloated. After a night of drunkeness and passion, a group is led by Peter on a horseback riding escapade. Things do not go smoothly. He attempts to take his horse on a jump, but it balks and sends him to the ground where another horse stamps on his head. He is alive, but he is blind.

Judy is in hysterics, and during the time when Peter is on the brink of life and death, the stock market crashes, leaving them poor. It is up to Judy to keep up Peter's morale, even though their world has changed entirely. The only support she has is the love of their friend Bill, the man that Judy might have married.

A mildly amusing book, Today is Tonight hinges on an incredibly melodramatic story filled with stereotypical characters. If you enjoy reading such books, I recommend this one because it isn't terrible. It just doesn't offer anything outside of the predictable. Most likely, the only people that will bother tracking it down will be Jean Harlow fans. Harlow wrote the novel during her short life but it was never published until the 60s. It is interesting to think of Harlow in relation to the Roaring Twenties since she didn't achieve major stardom until the 30s.

beautiful person, great writer
jeanie we miss you everyday! It is a treasure to have this book around, it is a collctors item. Love to hear you write in the lingo of your time.Anyone should buy it at this price!!! It istrue collectors item. Thanx for all the entertainment and beauty, Miss Harlow. ... 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 (7)

SEXPLOITATION TRASH

.....This book should have been put in the fiction section because Shulman never talked to anyone who actually knew Jean Harlow except for her agent who was complicit in this farce.Harlow's 87 year old father sued the publisher for 3 million dollars but they settled out of court for a lesser sum because of his advanced age.

.....This book trashes the memory of one of Hollywoods most beloved stars and is not worthy of consideration.

Harlow
"The sensational, intimate biography of the world's greatest sex goddess...Told in all its name-naming, spade-calling candor...fascinating" New York Herald Tribune

Plus 29 Sensational photographs.

The long-suppressed, 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.

"Answers all the whispered questions. sparing no details, this book shows why in all the wild, free-wheeling history of hollywood, no star has ever blazed with such a red-hot light or left such an unforgettable afterglow" - Bridgeport Herald

Trash
This was an unbeilivable piece of trash written by a man who didn't give a care about those who loved Jean (her father and Bill Powell, just to name a few) and were terribly hurt by the lies.Shulman didn't do his research (he even spelled her dad's last name incorrectly) or ignored it to make a fast buck.I can't believe that it has been reissued.

I wish that I would have saved the two Photoplay magazines that came out that year, it gave dozens of interviews with Jean's friends and family completly refuting the garbage that he wrote.For the real Jean, read Eve Golden's book. Collen Moore and Myrna Loy had good chapters on Jean in their biographies.I haven't found one book that supports Shulman's lies, he (Mr Shulman) even had Jean living in a "trashy" house.A housein Beverly Hills????????Give me a break!

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. ... Read more

Product Description
The sex goddess's seemingly endless power to influence and fascinate, to achieve in a sense her own self-reproduction through many decades of "re-makeovers" reveals her positioning in American culture as not only a lasting image but also as a potentially powerful and subversive force. The sex goddess is often thought by feminist film theorists to be little more than a projection of the male imaginary. However, this book makes a necessary correction to this trend by demonstrating how the actresses performing the role of sex goddess in fact use the feminine imaginary to create their own agency. Through their performance of "hyper" femininity, and with their seductive power, they exert control not only over their filmic narrative "targets of seduction" but their viewers as well.The ability to hold their objects of seduction in such thrall suggests that the image of the sex goddess possesses a power far more subversive than what has been previously explored; in fact, to date there has not yet been a critical study of the sex goddess in film. Cinema becomes a place where the sex goddess's designation as sex itself can further suggest her bodily signification as a whole discourse on sex outside of her cinematic representation, thus loading her body to be read almost entirely in terms of sex and its corresponding contemporary social thought. During the period of Classical Hollywood Cinema, the construct of the sex goddess warrants especial attention because of what this study can reveal in broad terms about cultural ideas of feminine sexuality, American cinema, and visual culture.In the first critical study of the sex goddess in film, Jessica Hope Jordan illustrates how Jean Harlow uses her sexualized body to "affect" and seduce viewers away from any primary identification with those characters and their plotlines that are supposed to lead the film, to identifying instead with the kind of sexual empowerment and self-possession her characters consistently display. Linking the idea of sexual empowerment to the filmic and public celebration of hyper-feminine sexuality, the book additionally covers previous feminist discussions of Mae West's performances as "feminist camp" to argue that West sought to both celebrate and embody for women viewers what she viewed as cultural ideals of femininity and women's sexuality. With Lana Turner and the "cinematic code," the book considers the many problems inherent in both the filmic and public celebration of hyper-feminine sexuality in relation to censorship and considers the effects of the Hays Code on hyper-feminine sexuality as depicted in film noir. The book also importantly presents the first critical discussion of the actress Jayne Mansfield, suggesting that her 1950s open acceptance, celebration, and public promotion of her feminine sexuality, both onscreen and off, makes her not only a precursor of the more sexually liberated 60s, but also, like the other actresses discussed here, a kind of prescient performance artist, even theorist, of feminine sexuality in particular, and cultural ideas about sexuality more generally. Beyond recouping her image as feminist, the book demonstrates how the kind of desire aroused by the sex goddess, a desire which remains endlessly suspended, works as a supreme example of the aesthetic apparatus of cinema itself.This is an important book for inclusion in all film, film history, film theory, gender and sexuality studies, women's studies, and American studies collections. ... Read more

Product Description
This is the paperback of the first fully detailed biography of "The Blonde Bombshell" the talkies' first major sex symbol. In 1930, after the public had seen Jean Harlow in Howard Hughes's "Hell's Angels", the nation's beauty parlours were jammed with women demanding to be transformed into "platinum blondes" (the phrase was coined by a studio press agent as if hair alone could make a star. Born in Missouri in 1911, the daughter of a dentist, Harlow (nee Harlean Carpenter) was a bride at sixteen, divorcee at eighteen, a wife again at 22, and widow within a few months of the wedding - her husband, a top MGM executive, having committed suicide (his note hinted) from despair over his impotence. Despite scandal, Harlow's career, driven by her irresistible sparkle, glamour and sensuality, continued to skyrocket. She married for the third time in 1933, was divorced a year later, became engaged to her sometime co-star William Powell, but died suddenly of uremic poisoning in 1937, aged 26. In this biography Eve Golden explores the woman behind the legends and the scandals. The world evoked here is at once glamorous, nostalgic, poignant, and tragic.Golden's deeply researched narrative of her subject's shockingly brief life is illustrated with rare film stills, posters and exclusive photographs from family archives. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Harlow in real life; not just a walking talking mannequin
Second in a trio of film biographies I am reading (see Robinson's Chaplin: His Life and Art I just finished, McGilligan's Fritz Lang: The Nature of the Beast up next), this life of Harlow is similar to Chaplin's bio in its gentle handling of the subject.

Based on general cultural background I knew of Harlow, and on the author's review of the innuendo and rumor published on Harlow since her untimely death (1937 at age 26 from kidney failure), this gentle treatment was apparently overdue.

Harlow in real life wasn't the sex goddess of Hollywood, but a well-liked friend of actors and technical folks alike.Three times married, twice divorce, and once widowed under mysterious circumstances (Paul Bern committed suicide after 3 months of apparently happy marriage, but he had problems of his own), Harlow was unlucky in romance.Her mother was a classic stage mom yet also Harlow's best friend, but her step-father was a leach spending Harlow's money on get-rich-quick and outright fraudulent ventures of his own.

And judging from Golden's review, and cross-referencing with the omnipresent Leonard Maltin, Harlow was growing up into a real actress, not just a walking talking mannequin.

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. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

the platinum bombshell!
a great book full of pictures and a great guid to her films. i highly recomend this to harlow fans if only forpictures of her hard to find work :)

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

Customer Reviews (1)

JEAN HARLOW Pyramid Book
JEAN HARLOW Pyramid book came on time, intact, without damage.
Lots of beautiful pictures and close-ups, but few words. Not
a book to read, but great to look at. Those photographs are
worthwhile. --- Too many people have forgotten JEAN HARLOW
the actress, and this book remains a good introduction to
what a beautiful girl actress she really was. Historically,
she was Hollywood's first "blonde bombshell" and paved the
way for others like Mae West, Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield,
Mamie Van Doren, Diana Dors. A sad situation she died so young.
She deserved better. ... 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

Product Description
BRAVO!, 4/e is a one-volume intermediate French text that integrates communication, grammar, culture and literature. It was created to respond to the challenge of students entering intermediate classes with different levels of preparedness. Each chapter of BRAVO! opens with La grammaire ? r?viser (grammar to review) to provide students with the opportunity to review certain grammar points that they have already been exposed to in first-year courses. Within the chapters, new grammatical items are covered in La grammaire ? apprendre. Chapters are organized around specific themes and functions representing some of the communicative uses to which language can be put. Chapters are subdivided into three function-based lessons, and each lesson contains culture, language, and process-writing instruction. At the end of each chapter, the section called synth?se pulls it all together with open-ended oral and written activities, video activities, Internet activities, and the final draft of students' writing assignment. BRAVO! provides students with many opportunities to engage in meaningful oral communication. Culture is central to BRAVO: it is presented in the Liens culturels reading sections, created with the idea to spark students' curiosity about cultural matters for French speakers and contemporary French society is like. The Interm?des culturels sections, located at the end of the chapters feature two reading passages: one related to "big C" culture topics, such as history, art, etc. while the second reading is literary in nature. Both have pre- and post-reading activities to help students develop successful reading strategies. The technology package for BRAVO! is complete: text-specific video, new and expanded web site, lab audio CDs, and a computerized testbank. ... Read more

Product Description
UK movie magazine. ... Read more