Today in Harlow History: Portraits by Ted Allan, 1936

I’ve posted quite the wealth of Ted Allan portraits — not only does he capture Harlow’s loveliness like no other, his portraits also document a transitional period in her career. In the midst of revamping her image, Jean had not just changed her hair. Her flashy primary designer Adrian was replaced by Dolly Tree—and Ted Allan, whose demure portraits earned him the nickname “Rembrandt”, was appointed the official Harlow photographer.

The nature of his work was instrumental in helping change the “mood” of Jean Harlow to something softer. George Hurrell’s famed chiaroscuro portrayals had helped solidify her sex appeal, but were too harsh for the new look she was going for. Allan hit the nail on the head.

Eighty four years ago today on March 18, 1936, Ted met Jean in her home for yet another pre-production promotional shoot. Harlow’s current project was Suzy, a lackluster period drama set during the first World War. The film would be released that June. Other principals were Franchot Tone, who had acted alongside Harlow in three of her previous films; and Cary Grant, a relative newcomer borrowed from Paramount.

Harlow’s comic ability is wasted in the lachrymose role of a chorine who gets trapped in a sticky, albeit humorless situation. Harlow couldn’t sing, so Virginia Verrill from Reckless (1935) stepped in again to lend her voice. After the monumental failure of Jean’s only musical, one wonders who on Earth made the final decision to put Jean in a chorus role again. Either way, Suzy proved only be a blip between the great Wife vs. Secretary and the greater Libeled Lady which came only months later.

Back to today’s Harlow History: Ted Allan and Harlow had already done two Suzy sessions in the past ten days; their first official session took place March 7 (just four days after her twenty-fifth birthday). The pair met again for more portraits on March 9.

For their March 18 session, Jean posed in front of various places in her Beverly Glen living room, including the fireplace. She wore a diaphanous accordion pleated creation from her personal wardrobe:

This is easily one of my favorite dresses of hers. She wore it again a few weeks later, to William Randolph Hearst’s birthday party held at Santa Monica. The event had a “Spanish fiesta” theme, so Jean accessorized accordingly:

The dress is spotted again in the Libeled Lady period on July 27, 1936. Jean goes out dining and dancing with best friend Barbara Brown at the Biltmore Bowl, located in the prestigious Biltmore Hotel.

Considering I’ve never once heard of this man and he’s not pictured at the actual event with Jean, I’m going to assume this was a clever press photo op. All I can find on John Schwartzkopf is he once went fishing with Evalyn Knapp and others earlier in 1936.

Back to March 18, 1936: this dress isn’t the only thing Jean modeled for Ted Allan’s camera. Her persona was changing during a time when tailored women’s suits were becoming immensely popular. She had largely started wearing them the year before, during the China Seas era. One lovely example appears in the March 18 session.

Despite the relative middling nature of Suzy, I hope we can all agree these portraits are probably the best thing about it. Definitely, however, give it a watch, and mourn for the subdued nature of Harlow’s titular character. Also, all of the plane scenes just happen to be Hell’s Angels outtakes that MGM bought off Howard Hughes. Libeled Lady could not come soon enough!