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Red Headed Woman (1932)
Director: Jack Conway
Writers: Katharine Brush (book), Anita Loos (screenplay)
Cast: Jean Harlow, Chester Morris, Lewis Stone, Leila Hyams, Una Merkle
Genre: Pre-Code Comedy
A wreck-loose floozy relentlessly tries to seduce her boss (Chester Morris), a married man. Lillian (Jean Harlow) will do anything, no matter how underhanded to break up her bosses marriage so that she can marry him and live a life of luxury. Along the way she sleeps with other men too, just to use them to her own advantage. CR
The red headed woman, Jean Harlow...normally was a platinum blonde. She gets her hair dyed red at the beginning of the film and tauntingly says to the camera, "So gentlemen prefer blondes, do they?"
Jean Harlow is the woman you love to hate in this red hot 1932 Pre-Code film from MGM. Few films of the time packed such blatantly sexual themes as Red Headed Woman did. So much so that the film was banned in Great Britain until 1965.
Lillian (Jean Harlow) is an unabashed home-wrecker who employs every dirty trick in the book to break up the happy marriage of her boss (Chester Morris) and his lovely & sweet wife (Leila Hyams).
The lovely Leila Hyams is the forsaken wife and Chester Morris is the husband and boss that Jean Harlow pursues at no matter the cost.
Oh sure this scenario of the working girl secretary falling for her handsome boss and finding a way into his arms, has been done many, many times since Red Headed Woman came out. And often the boss has a wife too...but the difference is the wife is always presented as cold, uncaring and very unsympathetic to us, the audience. We don't like her, but we do like the sweet sectary and root for her to win...In Red Headed Woman the bosses wife is charming and we like her and he's a nice guy too. The bad woman is the secretary and that's what makes this film so different. The protagonist has zero redeeming qualities and yet she's still likeable for her quirky personalty and zeal to win. She's delightfully evil!
And I have to give a shout out to comic actress Una Merkle who lays Jean's side kick, Una steals every scene she's in and that's not an easy task as Jean Harlow her self is a major draw.
+
Red Headed Woman (1932)
Director: Jack Conway
Writers: Katharine Brush (book), Anita Loos (screenplay)
Cast: Jean Harlow, Chester Morris, Lewis Stone, Leila Hyams, Una Merkle
Genre: Pre-Code Comedy
A wreck-loose floozy relentlessly tries to seduce her boss (Chester Morris), a married man. Lillian (Jean Harlow) will do anything, no matter how underhanded to break up her bosses marriage so that she can marry him and live a life of luxury. Along the way she sleeps with other men too, just to use them to her own advantage. CR
The red headed woman, Jean Harlow...normally was a platinum blonde. She gets her hair dyed red at the beginning of the film and tauntingly says to the camera, "So gentlemen prefer blondes, do they?"
Jean Harlow is the woman you love to hate in this red hot 1932 Pre-Code film from MGM. Few films of the time packed such blatantly sexual themes as Red Headed Woman did. So much so that the film was banned in Great Britain until 1965.
Lillian (Jean Harlow) is an unabashed home-wrecker who employs every dirty trick in the book to break up the happy marriage of her boss (Chester Morris) and his lovely & sweet wife (Leila Hyams).
The lovely Leila Hyams is the forsaken wife and Chester Morris is the husband and boss that Jean Harlow pursues at no matter the cost.
Oh sure this scenario of the working girl secretary falling for her handsome boss and finding a way into his arms, has been done many, many times since Red Headed Woman came out. And often the boss has a wife too...but the difference is the wife is always presented as cold, uncaring and very unsympathetic to us, the audience. We don't like her, but we do like the sweet sectary and root for her to win...In Red Headed Woman the bosses wife is charming and we like her and he's a nice guy too. The bad woman is the secretary and that's what makes this film so different. The protagonist has zero redeeming qualities and yet she's still likeable for her quirky personalty and zeal to win. She's delightfully evil!
And I have to give a shout out to comic actress Una Merkle who lays Jean's side kick, Una steals every scene she's in and that's not an easy task as Jean Harlow her self is a major draw.
+