Harlow: The Blonde Bombshell

This is one of the most shallow and affected so-called documentaries I have ever had the misfortune to watch. It serves, in some respect, as an extra to the new DVD edition of the feature 'Dinner at Eight', but it does Jean Harlow a great disservice at the same time.

Primarily, what is wrong with it, is its hostess. I am no great fan of Sharon Stone's, never gave her much thought actually, but here she is excruciating. I blame the director as much as her, because he seems determined to allow Miss Stone to swallow up every second of this documentary. She is coquettish, clad as a sultry 30's slut but with none of the style or elegance, and it is wildly inappropriate to coax her into taking center-stage when the object is, at least so they claim, another, namely Jean Harlow. Miss Stone says her lines badly, overemphasizes words and inflections, and I found that looking at her bare stomach in exactly the chapter telling us about Harlow's death was ... just so badly judged.

The script was superficial and tawdry, often quite nonsensical. How can you claim that Harlow "redefined movie acting" without expanding on it? But hopefully I need say no more. This so-called documentary is an abomination.