Wonderful character development!

There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Even though this "Poor-Boy-Meets-Rich-Girl" Screwball comedy from 1931 was given the decidedly misleading title of "Platinum Blonde" - It certainly wasn't Jean Harlow's character who carried this film's story and made it all work. No, it was not.IMO - Harlow (20 at the time) only served as being mere window-dressing in this picture. That's all.The actor who was really the focus of "Platinum Blonde" was Robert (never heard of him?) Williams who played Stew Smith, the outrageously bold, wisecracking, womanizing, newspaper reporter who'd do just about anything for a scoop.I'm someone who usually avoids watching Screwball comedies from Hollywood's heyday - But this early "Frank Capra" production actually did appeal to me on account of Williams, not Harlow.*Note* - 4 days following this film's initial theatrical release, Robert Williams (34 at the time) died from a burst bladder..... The tragic end to a potentially promising career.

Robert Williams is the male "fish-out-of-water" that gets the total treatment from Jean Harlow. She is the rich, bored socialite that traps "Mr. Smith" (Williams) in her little web, and completely "twitterpates" him (yes, it's a real verb). He leaves all that he knows as a reporter and newspaperman, and becomes known as "The Cinderella Man" by the papers. His rich wife also has hints of infidelity, as well. The last half hour is priceless, as he finally realizes he is a "Captive Eagle", as Smyth the Butler so discreetly puts it. He invites "Gallagher", (the incredibly beautiful Loretta Young at age 18) his newspaper "buddy" at work, to the mansion while his wife is out at a society event, and she brings the entire office! A rousing and funny climax ensues. He finally gets to do three things: 1. Write his comedy play (a fictionalized account of his sappy marriage and high society). 2. Sock their divorce-lawyer in the nose. 3. Propose to Gallagher. Great Capra-corn. A "warm up" to "It's a wonderful Life", populated with a few of the Capra cast of character actors. Both Williams and Harlow died very young. Jean Harlow had fantastic charisma and was captivating. Just like Marilyn Monroe she was not a true natural blonde. Her special "hair treatment" might have contributed to her early demise. (Read the on-line bios.)

Platinum Blonde is directed by Frank Capra and written by Jo Swerling. It stars Robert Williams, Loretta Young and Jean Harlow. Plot finds Harlow as rich heiress Ann Schuyler, who seduces down to earth reporter Stew Smith (Williams) into marriage. It's a union that causes chagrin to many around them…….Not quite a screwball comedy as some folk have called it, Platinum Blonde is more a comedy drama that's laced with some tasty satire involving the gap between the classes. The lady actors are oddly cast, but remarkably this does not hurt the movie too much. This mainly comes down to fact that the wonderful performance of Williams dominates the picture. Williams would sadly pass away within a month of Platinum Blonde's release, a victim of complications caused by a ruptured appendix, Platinum Blonde shows that a great career was in the making. With an unassuming face and smooth and correct delivery of comedy set-ups, Williams adds meat to the skeleton script whilst creating a working-class guy we can really root for. Not that the rich are constantly bludgeoned here, story does have Harlow's Ann as sympathetic and capable of loyalty to her husband when her parents frown and look down their noses at Stew.It has been suggested that Harlow and Young perhaps should have switched roles? There's some decent logic behind that working far better for the movie. Both ladies have different sexual dynamism, Harlow walks like a panther and carries a man eater aura, Young is gorgeous, prim and looks bred into money. Both of which are at odds with the characters they are playing! In the support slots are three fine performances: Halliwell Hobbes as Butler Smythe, Louise Closser Hale as Mother Schuyler and Reginald Owen as the Schuyler's lawyer Dexter Grayson. The ending holds no surprises, but this is exactly the type of thing that Depression Era audiences lapped up in spades. The format and thematics of Capra's movie would become a staple of many more movies from the classic era, this is a good place to start, with some sharp dialogue, the tongue in cheek satire and a lead male performance of some quality. 7/10

...but I had to say it again. Robert Williams was such a revelation. He "hit" me kind of like when I saw a restored version of "The It Girl" with Clara Bow. Both actors could be stars today.I don't know what it was about Mr. Williams - his looks, his attitude, his humor, maybe his perfect melding with Frank Capra - but he definitely had "it" too.I wanted to know what happened to him...is he still around? I learned, sadly, no. He died soon after this movie, of peritonitis (something that could have been remedied easily today).Robert Osborne even said that the star of the show wasn't Jean Harlow or even Loretta Young, but Robert Williams. Glad I wasn't in the minority with my opinion and being mesmerized by this actor. There should be more written about him and his short career.