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Powerful

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

The entire time I watched this movie I kept wondering why I've never seen Robert Williams in any other picture before and only learned about his unfortunate death by seeing the information posted here on the IMDb. One wonders if he would have broken out as a major star, in this film for example he was already doing Bing Crosby with the hat and pipe, and there was even somewhat of a resemblance to the Bingster. Even better though was his terrific comic timing and extraordinary chemistry with the other principal players. Several reviewers here obviously feel the same judging by the comments.The story itself has that magical Frank Capra touch and for an early film from 1931 it's really quite entertaining. For Stew Smith (Williams) it could have been the rags to riches story most folks dream about but the way he held onto his ideals is what gives the picture it's heartwarming quality. Even when he's berating Attorney Grayson (Reginald Owen) or high hatting mother Schuyler (Louise Closser Hale), Smith does it with a finesse and grace that keeps them off their stride.There are two scenes that are particularly charming, the first one where Smith and new bride Ann (Jean Harlow) sing to each other in sort of an impromptu serenade that's just magical. The other is the hilarious 'putter' conversation butler Smythe (Halliwell Hobbes) engages in with Smith with the bonus echoes thrown in. Very well done.There were also a couple of throwaway scenes that got my attention that probably won't mean much to most folks but I got a kick out of them. As an old timer, my ears perked up when a couple of Ann's friends commented on her 'new' boyfriend at the Schuyler party. One of them described him as one of the 'no beard' Smiths, an obvious reference to the guys who appear on the boxes of Smith Brothers Cough Drops. Until I just looked it up, I didn't think they were even real people.The other sit up and take notice moment only applies for anyone who uses film captioning like I do. Remember when Daily Tribune reporter Bingy (Walter Catlett) went into his drunken Indian war whoop? The picture had that labeled as a 'racist war cry', indicating to me that political correctness has even extended it's reach into the field of movie captioning. So next time it won't be a surprise.

Good acting too. I enjoyed seeing Robert Williams and sorry to read that he died soon after the film was made. He played the snappy reporter just right, although the movie never really explained the great attraction between his character and Jean Harlow's very well-all of a sudden, they are married.Not a Loretta Young fan...but she is fine in this film, and of course (as per her contract I think) she has to end up with the man. Strange to see a divorce being the reason, but then it is pre-code. Still, usually you would see the woman walk out on the man, not vice versa.The plot is pretty cliché, but the pace is fast, and keeps moving, so it keeps your interest. Gets a little heavy-handed with the "bird in gilded cage" references...

Let me just say, flat out, this film was simply...The Robert Williams show. It's an absolute tragedy we never got to see anymore films with him in it. I'd bet he would have been a star.It's easy to see why he was chosen for the lead in this one. This guy had serious screen charisma. For a film made in 1931 it sure feels like one from today. You get the impression he was almost like William Powell in his delivery. He's dead on in every scene. It doesn't hurt that Capra Directed this one so you know it wouldn't be a stinker.You would think with Jean Harlow in this it would be another one of her wise crackin' ways films...but it's not. I mean it's obvious the film played on her with the title but this was before she became the Jean Harlow we all know from The Red-Headed Woman to Red Dust and all the way to her early death. She's sorta second string in this one. For what it's worth, she couldn't hold a candle to her counterpart in this film in Loretta Young, in terms of beauty. Jean Harlow may have been probably the earliest screen vamp but she wasn't near as beautiful as a lot of her contemporaries.Don't see this film because it's got Jean Harlow and don't see it because it's an early Capra work. See it for Robert Williams...the would have been major star. For what it's worth, Robert Williams should be proud wherever he is, he made a winner.

Platinum Blonde (1931)A pre-code romantic comedy with the deliberately ditzy Jean Harlow playing a rich girl and more classy Loretta Young playing the girl who lost her guy to Harlow. Both are sharp, convincing, and well cast. The leading man is a slightly affected, overacting, but charming Robert Williams, a type I associate with the early 1930s (a similar character was Lee Tracy who plays the movie agent in the 1932 "Dinner at Eight").The director is none other than Frank Capra, who has yet to make his stellar films (including the 1934 breakout, "It Happened One Night"). But you can feel his tendencies at work, including a couple who love each other in an ordinary way but who have things come between them. This is part of the formula for what would be called screwball comedy, but "Platinum Blonde" isn't zany enough for that, and in fact it might be part of its problem historically. What makes it take off is Harlow and Williams being both willing to make their romance real, from joking to kissing to just hanging out in a normal way.And the other thing that works is that it's just plain funny. Williams has an easy way of taking an off kilter world in stride which is great. And things do go wrong in the most charming ways sometimes. It isn't overly clever or original, but it's natural enough even old gags are legit. The central gag gets played out in the usual ways--a man in love with girls from two different social classes (a real Depression theme) has to figure out what to do. It would help that he notices he's actually still in love with the Loretta Young character.