The Silver Screen Oasis

CineMaven wrote:Robert Williams is amazing. I would say he's a precursor to Lee Tracy, but that might make some folks wretch. ( I like the loud bombastic irascible Lee! )

I always think that Robert Williams had an unusual relaxed style that may have been copied by Bing Crosby. That comparison may put people off, but he is excellent in this film and might have had an interesting career had he lived. Don't kill me, Harlow fans, but working with Capra in Platinum Blonde, it seems to be the only movie where I can see that she was a genuinely pretty girl with a natural sensuality and humor that was erased after the MGM glam machine was done "streamlining" her. I like her in Bombshell, Redheaded Woman, and Dinner at Eight too, but she never seems remotely human in those, even though she is often funny. Loretta's role in Platinum Blonde was interesting since she was clearly supposed to be seen as a plain Jane (were all these reporters too juiced to see her clearly?), but an individual with a mind as well.

Re: Taxi!...Loretta + Cagney should have been a team that appeared again! If only...The Truth About Youth was awful except when Myrna Loy showed up as Kara the Firefly (bad girl!). David Manners was only interesting one time I've seen him, in Crooner (1932) as a Rudy Vallee type, and it sure didn't help that his loved ones in "Truth About..." kept calling him "The Imp." Was there ever anyone less impish? Conway Tearle, who had a long theatrical career, along with his equally starchy brother Godfrey, was so stodgy I hoped that Loretta would meet someone other than the foolish boy and this doddering stiff.

I thought the Truth About Youth was hilarious.

JackFavell wrote:I thought the Truth About Youth was hilarious.

Yeah. I know what you mean. The whole thing must have been a joke.

One hopes so, but... oh lordy don't get me started. I should have known as soon as the first IMP came out of someone's mouth...

Loretta was good with Cagney, they never made another movie together? What a shame. She makes Spencer Tracy sexy (sorry Spence fans, I've never seen him as sexy apart from this one time with Loretta) she has such a sensibility coupled with a little girl lost look that works well with any leading man. I'd love to watch her with Gable.

Robert Williams...might have had an interesting career had he lived

When I rented this movie, the guy at the video store said exactly that. Was the actor killed in an accident?

The guy at your video store knows Robert Williams? Sign him up for the SSO.

JEAN HARLOW ( 1911 - 1937 ) and ROBERT WILLIAMS ( 1897 - 1931 )

[u]IMDB[/u] wrote:...Bobby was rehearsing with Constance Bennett for his next RKO picture, Lady with a Past (1932), when he complained of stomach pains. After a day or two the pain worsened, and despite his protests Williams was rushed to a hospital for an appendicitis operation. Before the operation was completed his appendix burst. Days later, on November 3, 1931, Williams died of peritonitis. He was 34 years old. Platinum Blonde (1931) had been released just four days earlier, and the first reviews proclaimed that Hollywood had a new star. Instead, Robert Williams became one of Hollywood's great might-have-beens.

It seems hard to believe in this day and age that appendicitis could kill so quickly, yet it must have been one of the biggest killers of the young in those days.

After reading your description, I realized I'd seen this one before, I never knew the name of it. It's quite effective, I think it's kind of like those novels we call 'a real page turner'. You can't stop watching once it's hooked you. The suspense is neatly done.

I remember this one too. Like the two of you, I simply relish "edge of the seat" suspense. I read those page turners all the time. My smart friends say, "Don't you ever read anything serious?" Why? Real life is serious!

I caught Capra's "Platinum Blonde." Overall I liked it. Miss Maven's explanation a couple of posts back explains why I've never heard of Robert Williams. He was good. Such a laid back style and an easy delivery makes him very easy to like. Loretta Young had top billing but she had less to do than Williams or Jean Harlow. I did like the chemistry between him and Harlow.

I though the first half was fun though it made me more smile than laugh. Then somewhere after the marriage the film almost came to a grinding halt. I thought more fun could have been made out of his giving in after his resistance to living in Harlow's family mansion, and give up working and having a butler but as things became strained it lost a lot of steam.

The last quarter picked up and had the predictable "correct" ending for the film. Not a lot of Capra touches in the film but it's early. Good performances and some good lines help it along.

A fine print from Netflix.

I wanted to like PLATINUM BLONDE, as I appreciate Capra. It just feels awkward to me. Like the actors are forcing themselves to tell a story even they don't believe. It's been said that it has an improvisational feel to it. I agree. The problem is, the results come up short. There's a painful scene where reporter and society girl adlib a song. Please stop!

That "song scene" you refer to was Williams and Harlow. I didn't mind it at first but it went on way too long. That was awkward.