Platinum Blonde Reviews

One of the better "newspaper" comedies, PLATINUM BLONDE featured two young players who were not long for this world, Harlow and Williams, Williams who would die at the age of 35 with a bright future in front of him. To Capra's credit, this was a fairly authentic glimpse of the real newspaper world and had a number of bright moments. In those days, "breach of promise" suits were all the rage and when a tawdry chorine threatens to sue Dillaway, a wealthy man-about-town, it's big news. Williams is a newsman working for editor Breese and he gets the letters that Dillaway wrote. He holds them back, not that he cares about the cad but he does like Dillaway's younger sister, Harlow. Williams is loved from afar by reporter Young but she is powerless to keep him from marrying Harlow. It doesn't take long for the action-oriented Williams to yawn in this new life he's leading. He hates the caste system and the hypocrisy of Harlow's family, led by Hale, and he thinks he can get some creative satisfaction if he writes a play. Since he's never done anything of the sort, like most first-timers he seeks a collaborator and finds one in Young. She comes to the Hale mansion to work and brings a horde of other merry-making, hard-drinking reporters with her. Soon enough, the whole place is rocking and when Harlow comes home, she angrily tells her husband's low-life friends to exit. Williams tells Harlow off and departs with Young and the others. The couple splits and Williams is now free to marry Young, the woman who has understood him from the first reel. Harlow, who was far funnier in other films, does the best with what they've given her, and Young hardly has a thing to do at all. Some good jokes liven matters up, as does the usual fine work by Hobbes, as the snooty family's snootier butler.