This movie without doubt is one of the best Harlow performances in her whole career (next to Libeled Lady), she is so natural and her comedy skills are superb. In my opinion at our time her performance and act are more realistic than Greta Garbo and a lot of female stars of the 30s. One of my favorite scenes were Alice and Cinderella Argument with Tracy, Fanny Fish and of course the last tow scenes. All the characters played very well such as: Frank Morgan,Ted Healy and Louise Beavers. Now the only actor who annoyed me was Lee Tracy, he really gave me a headache every-time he opened his mouth, his acting skills were good but he had a terrible voice which annoyed me a lot and i had to finish the film in two days in order to keep my ears quite and clean! i wish if Spencer Tracy was instead him for this part, because he really gave us a great performance a few years later also as a news paper man in (Libeled Lady).Finally if you are a big fan of Miss Harlow i highly recommend this light comedy for you.

There's much irony to be found in this dynamic comedy about a "fictional" movie star (Jean Harlow) dealing with her overly creative publicity agent (Lee Tracy), drunken papa (Frank Morgan) and the other hangers-on she deals with while trying to simply have a "normal" life. Harlow shows her easy going personality that made her a favorite with movie crews and endeared her to audiences. Brassier than Monroe, warmer than Lana Turner and less attention hungry of Madonna, Harlow shows why she's the first and most unique of the blonde bombshells and a true original. Feminine without being "female", Harlow's chummy and cheery disposition makes her simply one of the guys, even with her desirability.Try not to think of fellow MGM contract player Joan Crawford as single movie star Harlow tries to adopt a baby. Publicity or desire to be a mother? Of course, everything that can go wrong does go wrong when she's interviewed by the two pickle-pusses from the adoption agency. And when she meets supposedly wealthy Franchot Tone, sparks really fly, especially with his use of some classically corny come-ons. "I'd love to run barefoot through your hair" is of course the most famous, leading to one of the great plot twists in the movies.Tracy, who later got to tell John Barrymore off (in "Dinner at Eight") as his agent, gives his showiest performance as the publicity agent that has been copied in numerous spoofs of movie making, with his character the perfect archetype of those roles. Una Merkel (as Harlow's less than noble secretary), Morgan, Pat O'Brien and especially Louise Beavers shine in supporting roles.This is Harlow's greatest performance. They say the most difficult roles are for actors to play themselves. If that's true, then Harlow playing a variation of herself ranks among the best performances of the 1930's, let alone the funniest. Ironic references to MGM movies include "Susan Lennox" and Harlow's own "Red Dust". While MGM made many lavish art decco productions, this ranks among their lushest.

Bombshell (1933) *** (out of 4) A great cast highlights this MGM comedy that shines the spotlight on 1930's Hollywood. In the film, Jean Harlow plays the beautiful bombshell who just happens to the be the most miserable "A" list star around. Not only does she have a seedy reporter (Lee Tracy) making her life hell but she also has a jealous director (Pat O'Brien) and a weak family who just want her cash. Apparently the story here was partially based on Harlow's life as well as the life of Clara Bow and it would turn out that this comedy would be one of Harlow's most loved. I wouldn't say I loved the film but it's still quite pleasant to watch due in large part to the wonderful cast. Harlow is as good as always, delivering a fine comic performance that has her constantly moving, speaking faster, walking faster and getting into more trouble than anyone would care to count. She does a very good job at playing her part and making it come to life and this is especially true during one great sequence where she tries to adopt a child only to have all her "group" finally push her over the edge and into a breakdown. While Harlow gets all the credit, there's also no doubt that the supporting cast deserve a lot of attention. Tracy nearly steals the film as the press agent always starting trouble and Tone is also good in his supporting role. Frank Morgan gets a few nice laughs as the dimwitted father and O'Brien, as usual, delivers a nice comic performance. Una Merkel, C. Aubrey Smith and Ted Healy round out the cast. The film's reputation as one of the greatest screwball comedies is a bit overdone but this is still a film many will want to see and especially fans of the cast.

This is an interesting change of pace comedy for Jean Harlow. She is not playing a lower class shop girl or even a prostitute like in THE GIRL FROM MISSOURI or RED DUST, nor a slumming upper class girl (as in THE PUBLIC ENEMY). Instead she is playing a very popular film star with a very sexy body and screen personae - gee, it sounds like she is playing Jean Harlow. According to the thread the character she is playing ("Lola Burns") was supposed to be based on Clara Bow (certainly the two names are similar in sound). But it could be based on Harlow's attempts (tragically repeatedly doomed) to have a happy normal life but finding her screen personae interfering.Still, even if one starts thinking of Harlow's marriage to Paul Bern or her romance with William Powell, the film is engrossing and humorous enough to make you push aside the tragedy of the life of Harlean Carpenter. Lola is, like all movie stars, a prisoner of the studio's determination to get all the public attention publicity can garner from it's merchandise (it's stars). In particular Lola finds herself at the mercy of the studio's head publicity man "Space Hanlon" (Lee Tracy). Tracy is always coming up with goofy stunts, or twisting events that involve Lola in her attempts at normality (like adopting a baby, or dating a "normal" man (Franchot Tone) into another mess. The studio only cares that she personifies sexual allure - so Hanlon keeps making that the key to his publicity: he even arranges a fight between several men on the set of her latest film (one is director Pat O'Brien) supposedly over Lola's love.Lola is not against sex and love - the quote in the "Summary line" is Lola's when her maid wakes her at the start of the film, and she's just had a promising sex dream. She really needs a confidante - but everyone around her takes advantage of her. Her father (Frank Morgan) is an alcoholic, cadging old scoundrel (who keeps reminding her - to her growing disgust - of her owing him obedience as her loving father). Her sibling (Ted Healey) is also an alcoholic, constantly having sexual affairs that she has to get him out of. Her maid actually steals from the household accounts (Lola is aware of this - she is not stupid). And all constantly are as demanding on her as her studio.Ironically there is one person who would be her confidante and more - but he knows she'll reject him. It's Space, who loves her. In fact, some of the stunts he sets up is to get rid of possible rivals. Eventually, can he get her to recognize this? Ah that is the final point of the film.Harlow was a gifted comic actress, knowing how to use her image for fun (such as Wallace Beery's unfaithful wife in DINNER AT EIGHT). But I suspect because of her own problems in Hollywood and real life she put more of herself in this film than in any other. I can't say it was her best performance (I tend to like RED DUST and CHINA SEAS a little more) but it was somehow her most real performance, and the film benefits as a result.