Jean Harlow- Do You Think She Would of Been a Has-Been in the 1940s?

[msladysoul]

I love Jean Harlow. She was a very talented woman. She prove she was more then just a pretty face but I just don't see her in the 1940s. I just can't see her in that generation. Most of all the 1930s actresses became has-beens and were coined Box Office Poison. I can't see her with Lana Turner, Ann Sheridan, Betty Grable, Rita Hayworth, Veronica Lake, Linda Darnell, and other top 40s actresses. Jean was just a 1930s actress. I don't know but the actresses of the 1930s possess a different movie image and style then the actresses of the 1940s. Two different generations. Most of the actresses of the 1940s copied Jean Harlow image and became famous with it. I just don't see her. In the 1940s Hollywood wanted a new crop of talent and beauty. What do you all think?

[classicsfan1119]

I don't know...it's really hard to day just how long Jean Harlow would have lasted into the 40's. She was very young when she died, and was extremely popular at the time, so I can visualize her still being a commodity into the early 40's at least.

[rosinryanz]

Even an eternal favorite like Jean Harlow would have eventually faded - the same way as with Betty Grable, Rita Hayworth, and Lana Turner - there was always someone younger to take their places.

[alix1929]

She was developing into a light comedienne, and might have settled into roles of this type, but generally speaking, sex symbols don't last forever.

[minatonga]

I don't think she would have lasted either but only because of the new stars that would take her place. Jean was a very good commedienne and I believe would have made a transition to the movies of the 1940's, but Lana, Ava, Betty and Rita would have have replaced Jean as a top star & sex symbol just as Marilyn replaced some of the sex symbols of the 40's.

 

Also, whenever I hear Jean Harlow's voice it reminds me so much of movies of the 30's. I can't imagine her in movies from a later decade.

[regman2]

I will have to part ways with those here who say that Jean Harlow probably wouldn't have stuck around. Everyone speaks of other sex symbols replacing her, which is true - this is a given, BUT, keep in mind that Jean Harlow had already left the platinum bombshell sex-symbol thing behind by the time she made "Riff-Raff" in 1936. The brassy platinum blonde had been retired. The films that followed it - Personal Prpoerty, Wife vs. Secretary, Libeled Lady, and the ill-fated Saratoga all catered to Jean as a comedienne and light dramatic actress (so much potential there in Wife vs. Secretary). The emergence of Rita, Lana, Betty, Veronica, and the others would've made little difference as Jean had already vacated the sex symbol position, and guess what? Her films made more money than they did when she was Vantine, Lola Burns, Lil Andrews, and Kitty Packard. Jean was immensely popular when she died, and I doubt she would've merely faded away as a has been..I just don't see it. What I possibly could've envisioned was here retiring after the war to settle down and likely raise a family which is what she really wanted anyway. Like Garbo, I believe Jean would've went out on top and would've been pursued well into old age. Jean was special - a goddess. I run into so many young people today who really like her, and I am always impressed how a sex symbol who died in 1937 could be so influential well into the 21st century. With singer Gwen Stefani playing her in Scorsese's fortcoming film, things can only get better. Excellent topic btw.

 

These are my thoughts,

 

Reg

[bansi4]

Reg I agree with you. Had she lived into the 1940s and 1950s I believe she would have had a blast in more comedy roles as well as in drama. And capped in off in some delicious character roles. Alas we'll never know.

 

Mongo

 

[jackpickford1]

Jean probably could've held on to her star status throughout the early 40's, maybe even into the mid 40's. As she grew older and more mature I would like to have seen try more serious dramatic roles.

 

If she had lived into the 50's I bet she would've had an early comedy show on television. It sort of seems like a of fading stars and character actors tried a stab at early television. Many of their shows only lasted a season or two.

[msladysoul]

I just don't see Jean Harlow being in the 1940s. The 1940s was a new era of acting. Jean Harlow in films played in sexy comedy and sometimes a screwball. In the 1940s actress were sexy but serious. Jean would have still been popular but I think she would have faded. No one could forget her of course. But to me she's the 1930s girl. She's the personification of the thirties gal. I think Jean probably would have been like most actors and actresses she probably would of gotten depressed or became an alcoholic or something, by the time she died she had so many tragedies, a person can only take so much in life.

[moviejoe79]

I don't think that Jean would've become a HAS BEEN, but I do think that the 1930's would've remained the high point of her career. As someone else pointed out, she was developing into a more serious actress, and I think she would've continued in that vein. Probably by the 50's her star would've faded, and she would've stayed out of the spotlight for many years, and then would've probably made a comeback, similar to the one that Mae West did in the early 80's - only I think Jean's comeback would've been a little more successful - like playing a spunky mother or something like that. But in spite of her untimely death, it is great that she's so well remembered.