This Clark Gable/Jean Harlow/Myrna Loy film is billed as a comedy, but I thought it was more of a drama, albeit with some funny moments. Gable (at his most gorgeous – I swooned!) is Van Stanhope, successful publishing executive, who is happily married to Linda (Myrna Loy). Van’s secretary Helen Wilson, known as Whitey, is played by Jean Harlow. Linda (wrongly) begins to suspect that Van is cheating on her with Whitey, and her suspicions threaten to destroy their marriage.
All three leads were wonderful. This was actually the first film I had seen Jean Harlow in, and it was not hard to see why she was so adored. She was an original blonde bombshell, and I don’t think that most photos of her do her justice. Gable was wonderful as Van, a devoted husband who was so shrewd in business, but so utterly incapable of recognising his tendency to place himself in situations that made him look guilty even when he wasn’t. Myrna Loy was beautiful as the confused Linda, who started the film full of warmth and happiness, and became colder and more remote as her suspicions chipped away at her. James Stewart also appeared in the film as Whitey’s boyfriend Dave, who has his own suspicions about her and Van. It was a small role, the likes of which Stewart would not play again once his own star had risen in Hollywood, but as ever, he was endearing and sweet.
As mentioned earlier, there were fewer laughs than I had expected, but lots of emotion, and I really enjoyed this film. I would recommend it to fans of any of the three main leads, or anyone who just enjoys good films.
Year of release: 1936
Director: Clarence Brown
Producers: Hunt Stromberg, Clarence Brown
Writers: Norman Krasna, John Lee Mahin, Alice Duer Miller, Faith Baldwin (story from Cosmopolitan magazine)
Main cast: Clark Gable, Myrna Loy, Jean Harlow
Between the Pages 
Leave a Reply