(97 mins.) Released 1935-04-19
Director: Victor Fleming
Stars: Jean Harlow, William Powell, Franchot Tone, May Robson
drama, musical, comedy
originally posted 26 Oct 2017 15:15
The only Harlow film classified as a musical. (She apparently had a bit part in The Love Parade (1929).) Musical is justified by her singing 4 numbers, 3 with her dancing. Her voice was dubbed, and her dancing doesn't thrill, but she was credible in her role as a Broadway star.
This is her first film with W.Powell, the other being Libeled Lady (1936). She dies in 1937 while engaged to him.
How did she tolerate this plot? According to one of the IMDb bios, in 1932 her recent husband Paul Bern committed suicide by gun after his (former) common-law wife met Harlow; the wife also committed suicide a few days later. Not quite the plot of this film, but close enough.
Nina Mae McKinney solos briefly at the end of the Reckless musical number, but the framing is quite far, so you have to pay attention. She is not Harlow's voice double here, despite what it says in NM's IMDb bio.
I'll stay with my prior rating, but I'm not recommending it as a musical, more for Harlow and the story, which tells Depression era audiences that money doesn't buy mental health, much less happiness.
MGM, dir. Fleming; 7
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Update 17 Nov 2017
Is Reckless a remake? An IMDb Trivia item says:
Brief Moment has nothing in common with Reckless beyond a singer marrying a millionaire; no one dies. It's Trivia says it was based on a Broadway play also called Brief Moment that closed in Feb '32. Excellent copy here.
Sing Sinner Sing is a lot more similar to Reckless. A singer marries a millionaire, he is a raging drunk who cannot stop partying. He gets depressed one day and is killed by gunshot - he had a gun in his hand immediately before we hear the shot. His wife goes on trial for the murder, and as she hears her guilty verdict, her former boss (a gambling ship / nightclub owner/manager) who was obsessed with losing her to the millionaire, comes to court with a gun, screaming that he killed the millionaire and now he wants to kill her too.
The Sing Sinner Trivia page has this item:
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Update 17 Nov 2017
Is Reckless a remake? An IMDb Trivia item says:
Producer David O. Selznick based this on the Libby Holman murder scandal. Jean Harlow felt the story had disturbing similarities to suicide of her second husband, Paul Bern. She believed that she was cast in the picture in a deliberate attempt to capitalize on that event, and refused the role at first. In William Powell's autobiography, he says he convinced her to accept it rather than be suspended.On the Holman bio page, it says, among many juicy stories:
In 1932, over the family's annual alcohol-fueled July 4th holiday party held at the estate, she told her husband she was pregnant and there was reportedly a tense confrontation - stories differ, but there was a gunshot and Libby and Ab Walker (whispered to be her lover), a close friend of Smith's, were indicted for murder. Fearing scandal over their son's activities, the intensely secretive Reynolds family persuaded local authorities to drop the charges; the death was ruled a suicide. The scandal stuck to Libby and her career suffered. ... Despite her excellent performances, the Reynolds scandal dogged her and she was often hissed and booed.The IMDb Connections page cites both Sing Sinner Sing (1933) and Brief Moment (1933) as antecedents. But they both have the same release year, they are from different studios, and they don't share any writers in common. I found both films online, and watched them.
Brief Moment has nothing in common with Reckless beyond a singer marrying a millionaire; no one dies. It's Trivia says it was based on a Broadway play also called Brief Moment that closed in Feb '32. Excellent copy here.
Sing Sinner Sing is a lot more similar to Reckless. A singer marries a millionaire, he is a raging drunk who cannot stop partying. He gets depressed one day and is killed by gunshot - he had a gun in his hand immediately before we hear the shot. His wife goes on trial for the murder, and as she hears her guilty verdict, her former boss (a gambling ship / nightclub owner/manager) who was obsessed with losing her to the millionaire, comes to court with a gun, screaming that he killed the millionaire and now he wants to kill her too.
The Sing Sinner Trivia page has this item:
The character of Lela is based on infamous torch singer Libby Holman, and the character of Ted Rendon is based on tobacco heir Zachary Smith Reynolds, who married Holman on November 16, 1931 and was found shot dead in their home on July 6, 1932. The death was originally ruled a suicide, but a coroner's inquiry later decided it was murder. Holman was suspected of having killed her husband for his inheritance but was never prosecuted for the crime.So it is plausible that Reckless is derived from Sing Sinner, but did MGM pay the Sing Sinner producers for the rights to the story? Unlikely, since both were based on the Holman/Reynolds public scandal. Sing Sinner is in public domain, available on disc, Amazon Prime and YouTube in poor visual and aural quality. (It's amazing that both SSS and BM are the same year. The quality is night vs. day.)
