“Glamorous Lady of a Thousand Emotions in Her Greatest Role!…Her First ALL TALKING Picture!”
Sound film — 81 mins.
United Artists Corp. / Dir Lewis Milestone
Production: began June 3, 1929
Release date: December 28, 1929
Survival/release status: Extant; available to watch online; no legitimate DVD release. Bootlegs available.
Cast: Norma Talmadge (Jill Deverne), Gilbert Roland (Fred Deverne), John Wray (Joe Prividi), Lilyan Tashman (Peggy), Roscoe Karns (Johnny Dolan), Mary Doran (Ruth Day), Jean Harlow (uncredited extra).
Summary (from AFI): Chorus girl Jill Deverne supports her song-writer husband, Fred, who has a strong bent for alcohol. When he finishes a new song, she consents to show it to racketeer Joe Prividi, the producer of her musical show, but Fred objects to favors from him; nevertheless Prividi, who covets Jill, agrees to use the song. Fred and his partner, Johnny Dolan, arrive drunk at a nightclub appointment; and in a raid, the police discover Fred with Ruthie, a chorus girl. Disgusted and angered by Fred’s behavior, Jill becomes Prividi’s girl. Later, at a private party, Prividi shoots a drunken gambler who tries to force himself on her; and when she goes to him at the jail, Jill finds Fred down and out and plans for a new future. Prividi hires gunmen to shoot Fred upon his release, but Prividi is taken prisoner aboard a train, and Jill and Fred begin life anew.
Trivia:
- Star Gilbert Roland told Harlow biographer David Stenn that he remembered seeing Harlow on the set: “Did I notice her? Who didn’t? But she only worked two or three days, so I didn’t know her; I just looked at her.” Al Jolson had a cameo that does not appear in the viewable film.
Stills and ad art:
Harlow Heaven 