Jean Harlow, the blonde bombshell bar none of 1930s Hollywood, rinsed her hair scarlet to play social-climbing home-wrecker Lil Andrews in this audacious, cynical and often hilarious Pre-Code film from MGM.
Lil is a seemingly hard woman in a tough world, but screenwriter Anita Loos’s one-liners draw the audience on to her side, as she seduces first her married boss and then a visiting coal tycoon. And Lil’s not alone in her sexual “racketeering”. Una Merkel plays her fretful, wise-cracking best pal to perfection and none other than Charles Boyer plays a key role as a divertingly attractive chauffeur.
This screening will be preceded by a recorded introduction from season curator Pamela Hutchinson, filmed at Cinema Rediscovered 2022.