Harlow on the Cover: Movie Mirror, January 1936

I already posted this on the Harlow Heaven social media, but I’m trying to be good and share on a more permanent, paragraph-friendly platform (the blog). There’s so many tangents I’ve gone on that are better suited for here… oh, well.

Anyway, here to share another magazine acquisition from my collection: and it’s Harlow in real color! Lord knows how painfully little color film and photos we have of somebody whose career skyrocketed due to the color of her hair.

This particular cover came to me with a huge pencil line right through Harlow’s forehead (which I was aware of). Dutifully removed in Photoshop—hopefully I did a good job. I think I did.

This photo was taken by James N. Doolittle in the fall of 1935, right after Harlow debuted her new “brownette” look prior to the release of Riffraff (1936). Another portrait from this session made the New York Daily News’ Sunday photo selection on November 3, in which Harlow is wearing a Dolly Tree creation from the aforementioned Riffraff:

Thankfully, this isn’t the only color session with Doolittle—he would photograph Harlow again in early 1937, again coinciding with a coiffure change; this time, Harlow dons her lighter honey-blonde locks which debuted in tandem with Personal Property.

Both of these sessions were done using the labor-intensive Carbro process, an early color photography method that fell out of favor with the availability of easier processes (like Kodak Dye Transfer).

Doolittle would have done a fair amount of chemistry to achieve the results you see above—everything I’ve read about the Carbro process had me in awe of rudimentary color photography. Three separation negatives were needed (cyan, magenta, and yellow) and are the basis of the rich hues seen in the final print. I am admittedly bad at explaining the science side of photography—but if you’d like a detailed explanation of the Carbro process, check out this article written by somebody with firsthand experience.

Back to brownette Jean and Movie Mirror, January 1936; while there’s not a dedicated Harlow article inside, which is usually the case with the cover star, there are a few goodies for the hopeful Harlow fan. One is this rare photo taken in 1933, used to promote a Harlow article on her “collection of momentoes” in the next month’s issue:

The other Harlow mention is in a typical beauty tip article, this one purportedly telling what each star does to “wake up” in the middle of an especially long work day. As usual, take beauty tips with a grain of salt, but Harlow’s suggestions are quite interesting.

I love epsom salts as much as the next girl, but a warm bath when I’m already tired would put me right to sleep… not to mention how the rubbing alcohol would dry out my skin. To each their own, though… at least the iced coffee is an obvious staple. I’ve been following that tip for years.