Platinum Girl: The Life and Legends of Jean Harlow

good book, worth the read

I really loved this book! The author not only states the movies that Harlow played in and their plot, but she also shows the relationships that all of these people had with Harlow off the set. This is a real collector's item for anyone out there who likes Harlow. I never knew much about her, so this was the reason why I purchased the book. Usually, in the center of a book you will find photographs of the star that the author is writing about. What I liked about the book, was that there were photos all throughout the book. In fact, there were a lot of them, which I really appreciated! Harlow suffered from extreme stage fright at the beginning of her career. I do not mean the insecurities that Marilyn Monroe dealt with. But once Harlow got over that she enjoyed her career and was very timely in her comedic scenes. She died so young, which was sad. But she was deeply loved by everyone in Hollywood. Even Joan Crawford, who is known to be a tough cookie, spoke out in Harlow's defense when people tried to write books about her that were nothing but lies and completely outrageous! So, for you Harlow fans, this is a MUST.

Great!!! SUPER fast shipping! 5 stars!

It was a gift, but she enjoyed it very much. And the timing of it being delivered was perfect.

A worthwhile read and I enjoyed the book but some of her "facts" were not the same as those I read in BOMBSHELL which I consider the best book on Harlow.

Before there was Monroe, there was Harlow. Lovely bio about a lovely lady, with insights not found in other books written about her. If you're a fan, this is a must-read! And the pictures are nice as well.

A book worth every penny of the money! An excellent book to read! homework on this book very well done! a five star book!

One of the few bio's of this screen legend. A interesting read.

"Platinum Girl: The Life and Legends of Jean Harlow" is an interesting biography of the legendary star from that by-gone era of Hollywood. Eve Golden tries to portray her life objectively, offering insights and her own commentary and critiques of Harlow's electric life and career. The book itself is great. It appears to be out of print but I was able to get a fantastic used version in hard-cover and it was a glorious find. It is not a small book, it is lengthy (over 200 pages) but straighforward, the pages are thick and several eye-catching photographs of Harlow are included. The pictures range in size from thumbnails to full page and are crisp, clear and glossy. The book is sturdy and very well put-together and fans of the enduring star should not hesitate in hunting this down. There have been some reviewers who have questioned some of the information in this book. It is true that David Stenn's biography "Bombshell: The Life and Death of Jean Harlow" is probably more factual as it was exhaustively researched and many to date have crowned it the definitive biography of the young star, but Golden's treatment, which was released before Stenn's, is still a very enjoyable read and quite respectful of her memory. It may not shed new insight and some aspects of Harlow's life are not as detailed as it could have been (for instance, the section dealing with her death, I found Stenn's account far more compelling), I still found this book riveting and it kept me entertained throughout. It is also interesting to read one woman's views of another. Golden does not sugar-coat some aspects of Harlow's life, personality or work. While other biographers go nuts in praising Harlow's sex appeal, this one is more restrained, sometimes a bit more critical, but Golden keeps it respectful and with so many great pictures (almost at every turn of the page), I simply have to recommend this to Harlow's many fans or fans of this Golden era of Hollywood.Overall, Golden's book may not be as good as David Stenn's work but it is definitely better than Irving Shulman's sensationalistic bio-trash and David Bret's "Jean Harlow: Tarnished Angel". I definitely recommend this to Harlow's fans (even if they may disprove of some of the content) as it remains, in my opinion, a great collector's item.

VERY ENTERTAINING READING, HOWEVER SINCE THE BOOK WAS WRITTEN THERE APPEARS TO BE A NUMBER OF ERRORS, HAVING SAID THAT, NEW THINGS HAVE COME TO LIGHT ALSO. IT IS STILL A MUST READ FOR MOVIE AND JEAN HARLOW FANS, UPDATES CAN EASILY BE FOUND BY OTHER AUTHORS ON THE INTERNET.