Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Two Blondes

Grace Kelly, "To Catch a Thief," 1955.
Grace Kelly only starred in about a dozen films; three of them were for Hitchcock.  I prefer her roles in "To Catch a Thief" and "Rear Window," where she gets to play something of an accomplice to the main male characters, as opposed to "Dial M for Murder," where she is the target.  But in all of these films she is smart, beautiful, and of course "classy."  I don't know how else to put it. 

Jean Harlow, "The Public Enemy," 1931.
"The Public Enemy" was a big film for Harlow, as it was for Cagney.  His big scene is where he shoves the grapefruit in his girlfriend's face.  He's coming up in the (gangster) world; all she does is nag nag nag.  So he ditches her.  Why not?  He's got Jean Harlow waiting in the wings.  They make a good on-screen couple.  Both brash and photogenic, with similar penetrating eyes. 
Something I forget about "The Public Enemy" - it takes place in Chicago.  Except for a few stock footage shots of the El, streetcars, and a stockyard, though, and a reference to Kedzie street here and there, it's hard to tell.

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