Harlow is the title of two competing biographical films, both released in 1965, one by Paramount Pictures and the other by foreign film distributor Magna Pictures, both portraying the life of actress Jean Harlow. The Paramount version stars Carroll Baker in the title role, while the Magna release stars Carol Lynley.
Based in part on Rebel Without a Cause writer Irving Shulman's pulp biography, Paramount's Harlow was a melodramatic look at the lif...
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Harlow is the title of two competing biographical films, both released in 1965, one by Paramount Pictures and the other by foreign film distributor Magna Pictures, both portraying the life of actress Jean Harlow. The Paramount version stars Carroll Baker in the title role, while the Magna release stars Carol Lynley.
Based in part on Rebel Without a Cause writer Irving Shulman's pulp biography, Paramount's Harlow was a melodramatic look at the life of Jean Harlow (portrayed by Carroll Baker), focusing on her failed marriages. The widescreen technicolor film, produced by Joseph E. Levine, was made on a $2.5 million budget and featured a wide-reaching publicity campaign. Upon release, however, the film failed critically and commercially, making roughly one million dollars at the box office.
The film opens with Harlow as a struggling extra and bit actress dealing with her greedy stepfather Marino (Raf Vallone) and oblivious mother "Mama Jean" (Angela Lansbury, only six years older than...
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