In 1911, Jean Harlow (née Harlean Harlow Carpenter) was born in Kansas City, Missouri. She was a dentist’s daughter, who tried out for a part in a movie on a dare – and won the small role. She was soon discovered by Howard Hughes, who cast her as the female head in “Hell’s Angels”. While on loan out to another studio, she made an impression on executive Paul Bern, who convinced MGM to offer her a contract. Capitalizing on her physical & comedic gifts, she was a success in the roles that showcased the steeze that was to become so distinctly ‘Jean Harlow’: the joyful, high-spirited street kid trapped in a dishy firecracker’s body. In 1937, after struggling with kidney disease for over a decade, she died of uremic poisoning. She was only 26 years old.
While one of her lesser known films, “Reckless” stands out as Jean Harlow’s gentle attempt at drama.
“Reckless” was released by MGM in 1935, and directed by Victor Fleming (“The Wizard of Oz”, “Gone With the Wind”). The film stars Jean Harlow, my dream boyfriend Franchot Tone (“Mutiny on the Bounty”), and William Powell (“The Thin Man”). It also stars Rosalind Russell as a well-bred lady of the horsey set, Mickey Rooney as an entrepreneurial newspaper boy, and May Robson (best known for being Katherine Hepburn’s crabby aunt in “Bringing Up Baby” & Janet Gaynor’s crabby granny in the 1937 version of “A Star is Born”) as Granny. May Robson played a distinguished list of characters named “Auntie” or “Granny” for over 25 years. There were few movies of the studio era that couldn’t be made better with Robson’s lovingly cantankerous presence, so we welcome her here.
Granny’s arrives at Ned Riley’s (William Powell) apartment, to wake him up. Thanks to her expository complaining, we learn that Broadway song & dance sensation Mona Leslie (Jean Harlow) has a careless streak. She’s been arrested, again, for reckless driving. We also learn that Ned has always been “like a great, big brother” to Mona. Ned’s presence is required to get her out of jail, as she is the main entertainment at a benefit performance. An organization called the S.A.M.L have bought out the entire house for Mona’s performance this evening. It turns out the S.A.M.L. (the “Society for the Admiration of Mona Leslie”) consists solely of tipsy millionaire bachelor Bob Harrison (the endlessly sexy Franchot Tone) and his bottles of champagne. Anyone pulling the same stunt nowadays would be considered a stalker and sent to court-mandated rehab. That is one reason why I love movies from this period. They can seem as unrealistic as fairy tales.
At this point, I was waiting on the edge of my seat to see the aforementioned benefit performance. Jean Harlow, an immortally gifted woman, was never known to be particularly talented at singing or dancing. The show finally begins and Jean Harlow’s attempt at talky-singing is astonishing. Within the span of a minute, she vacillates from a British accent (she pronounces ‘chance’ as ‘chaahnce’) to a New York accent (she pronounces ‘life’ as ‘loyfe’). The actual singing is obviously a dub, and any difficult dancing is done by a double. Since Jean Harlow was such a charismatic personality, the ‘performance’ is not a debacle. The scene is also aided by the fact that her song & dance number consisted only marginally of any actual singing or dancing.
After the performance ends, Bob begins to court Mona. “Court” may not be the correct word, as it is obvious on several occasions that he just wants into her pants. He also gives us a hint as to his self-esteem issues. During one of her attempts to cool Bob’s jets, she confesses that she has had some negative experiences falling for damaged men who need to be saved. Now, the censors would never let it be admitted expressly in the script, but it is obvious that Mona has been around the track a few times. As Mona & Bob keep seeing more of each other, Ned finally realizes that he is in love with her and even goes so far as to buy her a ring and propose to her. Unfortunately, Mona was asleep at the time and did not hear his proposal, so he decides to table it for another day. Bad move, Ned.
Before Ned can re-propose, Mona runs off and elopes with Bob. The morning after the wedding night, Bob looks hung over and, given his ardent pursuit of her, surprisingly regretful. Well, it turns out that Bob’s family owns an entire town. The town is also called “Harrison”, natch, which is going to make things confusing. They couldn’t have called it “Harrisontown”? In addition, by marrying Mona, Bob has unceremoniously jilted his upper-class fiancé, Jo (Rosalind Russell). While reading through the congratulatory telegrams, Mona sees one from Bob’s father (played by Henry Stephenson, always a welcome presence) that simply reads “Bitterly disappointed.” Rut roh. I guess showgirls weren’t what Harrison Sr. had in mind for his progeny. They immediately catch a train to “Harrisontown” in hopes of explaining themselves. Once they arrive, Mona & Bob try to adjust to being given the stink eye by jilted Jo’s hostile horsey friends. Mona, for one, takes the initiative her first day there. She makes friends with jilted Jo and tries to assuage the bitter disappointment of Bob’s father. Meanwhile, in Manhattan, upon hearing the news of the wedding, Ned drinks himself pie-eyed. Bottle in hand, he stumbles to Mona’s penthouse, and confesses his love for Mona to Granny’s sympathetic ear, only after lovingly referring to the black maid as “daughter of Africa”. Bad move II, Ned.
Shortly after his wedding, Bob hears that jilted Jo is now engaged to another man. At Jo’s wedding, Bob’s jealousy at the presence of Ned, along with the anger at seeing Jo marry another man, pushes him to get rip-roaringly drunk. Later on, he finds Mona and Ned having tea in the living room part of Ned’s hotel suite (censors….). In a drunken, jealous rage, Bob’s actions cause irreparable damage to all concerned. How Mona recovers, emotionally & professionally, along with the evolution of her relationship with Ned, constitutes the last act of the film.
There is a lot to recommend this picture. Jean Harlow had such a brief life, and surprisingly few films to remember her by, considering the prodigious output of many stars during the studio age. She made this movie a few years after she had perfected her trademark ‘dame who is both carnal & funny’ in “Red-Headed Woman” and “Red Dust”. She is a true pleasure to watch – she has a scene in a lawyer’s office with Henry Stephenson that makes me wish she had the chance to do more drama. William Powell is the same snappy character he is known & loved for. He is not an actor well-known for displaying vivid emotions, as they are usually hidden by his wise-cracking, unflappable, exterior. In this movie, he does a good job of showing his character’s distress, in an awkward, protective manner that feels totally consistent given his character. May Robson, Andy Rooney and Henry Stephenson play the characters they were best known for at the time: respectively, the wise, cranky granny; the street-smart boy trying to make a living; and the biased, disappointed plutocrat who is used to having his own way. Finally, we have the elegant Franchot Tone. I think that man hung the moon, so I find myself pleased with most of his work. He found himself pigeonholed into playing wealthy, sophisticated, bachelors - usually as the second lead. He plays a wealthy, sophisticated, bachelor here, but he also shows us evidence of the chops he developed working on stage in the early 30’s. He had the opportunity to learn from such theatrical luminaries as Katherine Cornell, and he makes Bob completely believable as the conflicted man he is. He’s dynamic, funny, angry & disillusioned with himself, all in a charming, tuxedoed package.
I’ll warn you, the end of the movie does seem overly convenient. Keep in mind, this movie was made in 1935 – one year after the enforcement of the Production Code, which made the neat & tidy movie ending a foregone conclusion for most movies of that period. There are few American movies made between 1935 and 1968 that can offer a controversial, ambiguous ending. Among many other things, the code mandated that by the end of a movie, sin & immorality would be punished, while good & honesty would be rewarded. However, in my opinion, the ending to “Reckless” is fairly plausible, only because the actors did such a good job showing us the nature and motivations of their characters.
One last note: the anecdotal aspect of a production can have a significant effect on a viewer’s perception & enjoyment of a movie – see Humphrey Bogart & Lauren Bacall. In 1932, Jean Harlow lost her husband, producer Paul Bern, to a suicide; a suicide that generated several sordid explanations (he was gay, he was impotent, he was being blackmailed by an unbalanced common-law wife). During the filming of “Reckless”, Jean began spending time with her co-star, William Powell. They began to date, and he is widely acknowledged as bringing calm and balance to her life. When she died in 1937, he was devastated, as was most of Hollywood. It appears that there were few people with a bad word to say about her. Whether you are a Jean Harlow fan, or not, “Reckless” is an underrated gem with a lot to recommend it.
“Reckless” is available on DVD at Amazon.com. It can also be seen until November 2010 on Xfinity OnDemand (>Free Movies>Preferred Collection).
