Spotlight

Spotlight Date: 23-May-04
Spoiler Rating: High

Platinum Blonde (1931)

Romantic comedies are, by nature, exceedingly predictable, and Frank Capra's "Platinum Blonde" is no exception. The title refers to the box-office draw of the picture, a spoiled little rich girl played by Jean Harlow. As socialite Anne Schuyler, Harlow decides to acquire an exotic husband (i.e., someone who actually works for a living) after she meets Stew Smith (Robert Williams), a witty newshound who exposes one of her brother's affairs. At first, Stew cannot believe his good fortune in successfully courting a gorgeous woman of intelligence and spirit. (Her wealth and renown strike him as romantic but unimportant.) Yet as Anne gradually strips away his autonomy to make him fit into her high-class world, he finds himself in a nightmare of being a "bird in a gilded cage" or, as his former cronies in the pressroom dub him, "the Cinderella man." His one real source of solace is old pal Gallagher (Loretta Young), a colleague whom he views with platonic, locker-room affection. Of course, Gallagher is an unassuming beauty who has secretly loved Stew for years, so she watches him build his house of cards with sorrow, trepidation, and hope.

The movie was clearly designed to solidify Harlow's status as a sex goddess, but while she gets the best costumes and the title, she misses out on the glory and the guy. (Young's name appears first in the credits.) This is usually the way it goes when our society contrasts the Wife and the Mistress, the assumption being that women like Harlow, with a nice set of vas and a voom, could never offer a man the requisite happily ever after. To my modern sensibilities, the movie would carry more weight if Stew were more dazzled by Anne's riches, making his dilemma as much social as sexual. Without this element, the moral of the story seems somewhat trite.

But while the outcome of "Platinum Blonde" is immediately and prosaically apparent, the superior qualities that generally characterize older movies are in full effect. The script attests to its theatrical roots with extended scenes of rapid, incisive dialogue that reward close attention and demand strong performances from the cast. Williams, a noted comedian who died soon after the film's release, carries the movie with a distinctive style of Average Joe bravado. (Reminiscent of Alan Alda's Hawkeye Pierce, he manages to be riveting even when he's grating.) Displaying his own brand of flair, Capra endows the characters with just enough idiosyncrasy so that their actions aren't as predictable as their destinies. Every time the mechanics of the plot or the stereotypes of the players begin to wear thin, the movie rights itself with some unexpected delight, like Stew chasing echoes in an empty mansion or the mismatched couple engaging in playful but momentous psychological warfare by singing to each other in bed. (In addition, Capra stages one of the most fabulous love scenes ever, in which Anne and Stew give in to their mutual passion behind a glimmering sheet of water.)

In his autobiography, Capra briefly mentions "Platinum Blonde" as a simple comic diversion, but it clearly bears his signature and is therefore not so easily dismissed. Certain lines, characters, and scenes rise above the romantic formula so that despite some artificiality, it looks a lot like the real thing.

Copyright © 2004 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.