Capra'd (again)
Jan. 29th, 2012 07:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tilly_stratfordI know I'd sworn off Capra movies, but then I read some line from Platinum Blonde (1931) that made me laugh, and decided to give it a go. I'm glad I did!
Not only did it make me realize that yes, Jean Harlow definitely earned her status as a Sex Symbol (which certainly doesn't come across in plain pictures, but wow, watching her on screen is spellbinding), but it also made me fall completely in love with the male lead, Robert Williams.
I mean, that easygoing Clark Gable-type charm! That witty delivery! His obvious chemistry with Harlow! Those eyes! I thought, "Why hasn't anybody told me about Robert Williams! He should be up there alongside Spencer Tracy and Jimmy Cagney and James Stewart! I need to see his entire filmography ASAP!"
See, funny thing about Robert Williams... Turns out, Platinum Blonde was his first big role. Also, he died three days after it premiered, of appendicitis.
Ahhhhh darn. At least I appreciate that I'm not alone in thinking he'd really been considered one of the great actors of the 1930s had he lived.
Not only did it make me realize that yes, Jean Harlow definitely earned her status as a Sex Symbol (which certainly doesn't come across in plain pictures, but wow, watching her on screen is spellbinding), but it also made me fall completely in love with the male lead, Robert Williams.
I mean, that easygoing Clark Gable-type charm! That witty delivery! His obvious chemistry with Harlow! Those eyes! I thought, "Why hasn't anybody told me about Robert Williams! He should be up there alongside Spencer Tracy and Jimmy Cagney and James Stewart! I need to see his entire filmography ASAP!"
See, funny thing about Robert Williams... Turns out, Platinum Blonde was his first big role. Also, he died three days after it premiered, of appendicitis.
Ahhhhh darn. At least I appreciate that I'm not alone in thinking he'd really been considered one of the great actors of the 1930s had he lived.
