Greenes Please don't spend money on this.

Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Lela The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

DaisyPraver I mean, I'm not one to pine for days gone by, but Jean Harlow, people. Jean. Harlow. Her name is cooler than anyone alive.

nomoons11 Let me just say, flat out, this film was simply...The Robert Williams show. It's an absolute tragedy we never got to see anymore films with him in it. I'd bet he would have been a star.It's easy to see why he was chosen for the lead in this one. This guy had serious screen charisma. For a film made in 1931 it sure feels like one from today. You get the impression he was almost like William Powell in his delivery. He's dead on in every scene. It doesn't hurt that Capra Directed this one so you know it wouldn't be a stinker.You would think with Jean Harlow in this it would be another one of her wise crackin' ways films...but it's not. I mean it's obvious the film played on her with the title but this was before she became the Jean Harlow we all know from The Red-Headed Woman to Red Dust and all the way to her early death. She's sorta second string in this one. For what it's worth, she couldn't hold a candle to her counterpart in this film in Loretta Young, in terms of beauty. Jean Harlow may have been probably the earliest screen vamp but she wasn't near as beautiful as a lot of her contemporaries.Don't see this film because it's got Jean Harlow and don't see it because it's an early Capra work. See it for Robert Williams...the would have been major star. For what it's worth, Robert Williams should be proud wherever he is, he made a winner.

Steffi_P The early 30s were a trying time for actors. There were silent stars who disappeared into obscurity, stage veterans ill at ease with the medium, and genuine talents slumming it in bit parts and B-movies who would wait years for superstardom. Amongst all this was the tragically meteoric career of one Robert Williams, who dropped dead of appendicitis days after the opening of his sensational first leading role in Platinum Blonde.The most popular stars of this period were warm, earthy types, most at home in gentle comedies - people like Will Rogers, Marie Dressler and Wallace Beery. But a breed of younger, sophisticated wise-crackers such as Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy were starting to emerge, and it with this new generation whom Williams could have belonged. He is quite astonishingly good here, bringing out his character with every gesture and movement he makes, continually using his hat and tie as expressive props. He delivers dialogue in a naturalistic comical style, one that makes you feel as if he is actually thinking the lines as he goes along.Platinum Blonde is among the first really mature pictures from Frank Capra, whose earliest directorial efforts had been egotistically showy. He now demonstrates the sensitivity to romantic situations with which he would make his name. In the scene where Williams first meets the Schuylers everything is filmed in mid-shot, and Jean Harlow - who has no dialogue for the most of the scene - has her back to the camera. However when Harlow does get up and speak, Capra gives significance to the moment by showing her in close-up, and in opposing angles with Williams. In their scene in the garden at the party he frames them softly behind the fountain, while the voice of the opera singer is heard offscreen - a manner of shooting love scenes that is something of a Capra trademark. Meanwhile he keeps the alternate romance with Loretta Young bubbling away by focusing on her reactions while Williams is shot in profile.Also worth noting is Capra's camera placement. Early cinema was presentational, like watching a show in a theatre. Then the point-of-view shot allowed us to "become" a character by seeing what they see. Capra however often picks a third way, placing his camera passively amongst the action in group scenes, not taking the place of an actual character, but nonetheless as if it were a person on the set. This is very obvious in the opening scene, when the camera is right among those desks and reporters, but also subtly in the aforementioned first meeting with the Schuylers. You have Harlow and two other Schuylers seated on chairs around the room. The camera is placed at waist height between Harlow and her brother, as if it occupied an imaginary fourth chair. This technique, which does not demand we become one with the characters, but still makes us feel like we are there with them, can be seen in almost all Capra features, and contributes greatly to the feeling of warmth and humanism with which he is most associated.An even bigger contributing factor to Capra's reputation is his long association with screenwriter Robert Riskin. Capra and Riskin had first worked together on The Miracle Woman. This was their second collaboration, and Riskin was at this point only writing the dialogue. However Riskin's dialogue is bigger than the admittedly trite storyline of Platinum Blonde, just as Robert Williams's performance is bigger than the character of Stew Smith. Riskin's crackling lines tread the border between realism and outrageous wit, as does Williams's performance, and the two of them are the X-Factor in what would otherwise be a rather routine romantic comedy. Williams's death would be a great loss, and we can only imagine what he would have gone on to achieve had he lived. Riskin on the other hand would rise to the top as writer of many of Frank Capra's greatest pictures.

Michael_Elliott Platinum Blonde (1931)*** (out of 4)Romantic-drama centered on a blue collar reporter (Robert Williams) who marries a society girl (Jean Harlow) even though his heart might be with an old friend (Loretta Young). It's been reported many times else where but I'll write it again, Williams would end up dying three days after the release of the film and one can't help but wonder what he would have done in his career had his life not taken such a sad turn. With Capra, Harlow and Young listed in the credits, there's no doubt that this film belongs to Williams. His performance was clearly very influential as the sleepy eyed reporter bit would be played many times in the future and one can't help but see the influence that started here. As far as the film goes, I don't think it was as good as its reputation but it's still a pretty good movie for the time. What will certainly draw most people to the movie is its stars Young and Harlow and both are them are quite good in the film. Harlow's role is pretty underwritten but her sex appeal still shines through. Young is as glamorous as ever but once again the film belongs to Williams. The film's one major flaw is that it's just way too predictable with nothing fresh every really happening. We all know the formula it's going to take and how it's going to end but the movie is still worth watching due to the three leads.