June 24, 1932 saw the world premiere of Red-Headed Woman at Loew’s State on Broadway in downtown Los Angeles; the film went into general release the very next day, and the rest is history.
Appearing on stage alongside the picture were dancer Gilda Gray, performing in the prestiged Fanchon and Marco’s “Ubangi” idea, and the star of Red-Headed Woman itself, Jean Harlow. Variety noted the event being so popular it attracted a “block-long line” by the time of the second show.
Red-Headed Woman‘s opening at Loew’s was announced the same day Jean and Paul Bern appeared at the marriage license bureau. Likewise, Harlow told the press the date of her wedding, July 2, the very same day she began her engagement at the State Theatre. This was apparently done to coincide with the closing of her act:
Obviously, this was generating a lot of publicity for Harlow. Not all was positive: although the deliciously raunchy Red-Headed Woman grossed over $700,000 at the box office, it still saw nationwide censorship problems. The film was even banned in England. At the same time, Harlow had announced her very confusing engagement to the film’s producer, a man twice her age who was widely considered to be the most influential man at MGM other than Irving Thalberg. Bern’s wedding gift to his bride was looked at, too: the deed to his gorgeous Bavarian mansion on Easton Drive. Harlow’s choice of husband was one of security, but it was widely scrutinized.
On the other end of the spectrum, Harlow’s performance as Lil Andrews was lauded in film magazines, reviews, and gossip columns alike. The Motion Picture Herald from the day of its release referred to the picture as “sexy, racy, bristling with snappy dialogue, funny, it’s loaded with dynamite that can be dynamic entertainment, or an explosion of objections unless you handle it properly and with all the finesse and ability that your showmanship experience commands.”
Harlow’s personal appearances at Loew’s State were also well received. She appeared on stage three times a day at 1:00, 3:30, and 9:15 PM respectively. This string of personal appearances came only two months after she completed a tour of the same under Howard Hughes; I would assume she was initially apprehensive. Harlow kicked off her first appearance by asking the audience what color they preferred her hair; platinum or red. The “platinum” suggestion won the most applause.
The following pictures were snapped at Loew’s during Harlow’s run:
An interview with Jean about her upcoming marriage and recent success was published Friday, June 26, beginning with this:
These last two weeks have been two of the most important and hectic ones in the life of 21-year-old Jean Harlow, the little girl with the platinum-dyed hair who first slithered into motion-picture attention with “Hell’s Angels”.
Interview with Muriel Babcock, Los Angeles Times
On Monday, in tortuous agony and suspense, she went to see herself as “The Red Headed Woman” (now at Loew’s,) in one of the most unsympathetic roles it has ever befallen a young and pretty actress to play.
“I was scared to death,” she admitted, “but halfway through the picture I started to laugh at myself. I was such a horrid, scheming little small-town girl, so obvious, and so ruthlessly deliberate in my tactics. For the first time since I have appeared in pictures, I really enjoyed looking at myself. And I didn’t have any particular feeling that it was I. In fact, I enjoyed the whole picture.”
Here is the full interview as it appeared in print, as well as a review column detailing the premiere published on June 25:
Red-Headed Woman would prove to be the first of Jean’s wildly hilarious and popular films with MGM. This point in time was arguably one of the happiest in Harlow’s personal life; she had been signed to a long term contract and given a coveted role that elevated her status as an actress, and she was going to be married to a man who seemed truly invested in both her career and personality. It is regrettable, as always, that this period of success would later be indelibly marked by tragedy.
If you haven’t seen Jean cheat and scheme her way up the corporate ladder in Red-Headed Woman, you should! Watch it for free (and in remarkably high quality, thanks to the recent restoration) right here.
Let me know what your favorite quote from the film is, if you have one, below. I’ve always been partial to Sally’s remark around the two minute mark about the possibility of one smelling Lil’s tonsils.
Harlow Heaven 