Red-Headed Woman (1932) User Reviews

Has to be seen to be believed

[nnnn45089191 · 6/10 · 31 January 2007]

Jean Harlow as a home-wrecker of the worst kind delivers her first great performance in Red-Headed Woman.All the men in her lives are pushovers easily manipulated by the films central character. Made before censorship came into effect in Hollywood, this movie is able to shock viewers even today.The greatest entertainment value of this movie is how naughty all the principal characters are.Sex is out in the open and immorality is the name of the game. Harlow seduces and wins Chester Morris.The sucker has not a chance and which man has when a beautiful woman pursues you.Henry Stephenson is quite good as the moral hypocritical businessman. Nice to see him play such a part. Even a young Charles Boyer has a small important part in his Hollywood bow.The ending is really the biggest surprise.

Jean Harlow in a pre-code film

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 29 July 2006]

Jean Harlow is the star of "Red-Headed Woman," a precode film about a golddigger men can't resist. Irving Thalberg thought the audience didn't catch onto Harlow's character immediately, so the scene at the beginning, when Harlow asks if the dress she tries on is see-through, is his. And yes, it certainly does establish her character: Finding out that the dress can be seen through, her character, Lillian, announces, "I'll wear it." Lillian is a riot - completely obvious, with her tight-fitting, low-cut clothing, cupie-doll voice, and swinging hips - everything about her says "trash," and she makes sure she follows the perception up with action by showing her garters (one of which has a picture of the boss inserted) and not hesitating to remove them and everything else if the situation calls for it. It's in this way that she breaks up the marriage of the boss, the hapless Bill Legendre, Jr. (Chester Morris) and gets into the big money. When that doesn't give her the social standing she wants, she seduces the fabulously successful Charlie Gaerste and then blackmails him into making the socially acceptable crowd attend a party at her home. She continues from there.

This is precode, so don't look for any type of punishment or for the character to take the moral ground. The ground she's on is too lucrative. Harlow is a delight -- pretty, vivacious, sexy, and always likable as the outrageous Lillian. A great loss to the world that she died so young. No matter what type of role she played, there was something very lovable about her, as demonstrated by her tremendous popularity. She has been compared to Monroe for obvious reasons, and both left lasting legacies as sexy, funny, vulnerable stars.

Una Merkel gives Harlow good backup as her roommate, and Charles Boyer appears in a small role. Though it's not my favorite Harlow - I love her in films like Libeled Lady, Wife vs. Secretary, and Suzy, where she sparks more with the other actors - this is very good and a great example of a precode film.

A precode in reverse?

[AlsExGal · 8/10 · 4 May 2019]

Most films made for prohibition era audiences painted the poor as virtuous and the rich as those who were keeping them down. This one turns that mainly Warner Brothers model on its head. Here it is the poor but beautiful office worker, Lillian (Jean Harlow), who sets her cap for her rich married boss, Bill Legendre (Chester Morris). She is persistent, because Bill is hard to break down. He has known his wife, Irene (Leila Hyams), since they were kids, and is really in love with his wife.

Bill caves a few time to Lillian's sexual heat, but he would never have left his wife for her. Lillian gets that, and is counting on the wife's pride to do the rest. It works, Irene leaves Bill and leaves the field to Lillian. But Lillian's undoing is that she cannot leave well enough alone, even after she is the second Mrs. Bill Legendre.

Harlow just fills this screen with her presence. She had been in other MGM productions for the last year or so, but this was her star making role. It's more than her beauty. This girl has "It" as much as real red head Clara Bow had it in the silent era. Una Murkel plays Jean's pal who seems content to sit on the sidelines and watch, but you get the feeling if she could pull something like this off she would. Henry Stephenson has a great comical role in this film. And look for Charles Boyer in a very small but important role as Stephenson's chauffeur.

I can't help but notice how similar this plot is to the production code film "The Women" - rich man loves his wife but likes sex with poor social climbing homewrecker with a plot that turns on the pride of the wife. I wonder if there is any connection?

At any rate, highly recommended plus it has a great hummable theme song that is even performed by a crooner at its midpoint - "Red Headed Woman".

Jean Harlow's reputation

[jaykay-10 · 17 August 2004]

For those, like myself, who heard about Jean Harlow before viewing any of her pictures, the expectation was to see a glamor girl with somewhat limited performing skills, not unlike Marilyn Monroe at a later time. Not to take anything away from Marilyn, but Jean Harlow proved herself to be a very adept performer, an appealing combination of brazen sexuality and shameless manipulation, always with a comic touch. While sometimes getting her comeuppance (and appearing to enjoy it) at the hands of strong characters played by the likes of Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy, in "Red-Headed Woman" the men in her life are pushovers for her wily charms. Chester Morris earnestly tries once, twice, three times to resist her, and apparently comes THAT close to succeeding, but her persistence ultimately renders him helpless. The wealthy and distinguished (and elderly) Henry Stephenson doesn't have a chance: when Jean's pal Una Merkel suggests that she's aiming too high this time, that her plans have no chance of success, Jean replies, "He's a man, isn't he?"

This is the prototypical Jean Harlow character, done to the hilt by a very skilled performer who, in the final analysis, probably has more in common with Mae West than with Marilyn Monroe. If she played virtually the same character in almost every picture, she wasn't the first to do so. Her reputation as an actress deserves to be greatly enhanced.

From rags to riches

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 24 March 2020]

To me, it was very easy to see Jean Harlow's appeal. She had great comic timing, her wisecracks sizzling at their best, her looks were both sophisticated and daring and her later vulnerability was easy to be charmed by. Loved her with Clark Gable, who collaborated with her for six films, and it was clear that in her other work with 'Red Headed Woman's' director Jack Conway that he understood what her strengths were and used them to full advantage.

Evident here in 'Red Headed Woman', the film where her image and personality were properly established and continued to evolve in her later films. Is it one of Harlow's best? No. One of Conway's best? No. Does 'Red Headed Woman' do either justice? Yes it does, and as an overall film it is well worth watching providing that this is the sort of film that does anything for you. Really like to love many films from the 30s and many pre-code films are entertaining, which 'Red Headed Woman' is definitely in my view.

'Red Headed Woman' isn't perfect. The melodrama does get rather too over the top towards the end.

Chester Morris is also rather wooden in his role and doesn't have a lot of chemistry with Harlow.

Fortunately however, Harlow plays her amoral role (possibly the most amoral and least likeable character of her career) with spunk and fire. May Robson and Lewis provide distinguished veteran support, especially Stone, and Charles Boyer amuses in an early relatively small role. Harry Stephenson handles undignified situations with dignity and Leila Hyams is charming. Una Merkel is the biggest delight though, she sizzles. Conway directs with a good amount of energy while the film is stylishly photographed.

Moreover, the script is sharp and taut with some very amusing one-liners. Was amazed by its daring raciness, especially with Harlow. The story loses its way a bit in the latter stretches, but is mostly zesty with some nice tension in the character interaction. While the ending could have been a little more rounded off, it was appreciated that it was a pre-code film that didn't end too neatly or reeked of studio interference.

In a nutshell, worth a look for particularly Harlow. 7/10

Seeing this film is an understanding of why the code came in.

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 11 May 2020]

Playing a truly scary sociopath, Jean Harlow gives one of her greatest calculating performances as a tough gold digger who sets her mind on boss Chester Morris and is determined to win at every cost. It's a good thing that Morris and his wife Leila Hyams don't have a young daughter, otherwise they might find a bunny boiling in their kitchen. Having lately set her sights on her boss, Harlow, not even his official secretary, shows up at his house when he's sick to assist him, and from there, he's putty in her hands. her actions become more and more obsessive, and she rants and raves and makes threats, eventually causing Morris and his wife to divorce. Harlow really took a chance in playing a character so unsympathetic and sinister that she really gained the audience's attention from the start. "So gentlemen prefer blondes" she says, mentioning a book written by screenwriter Anita Loos, and indeed, as a redheaded woman, she's a walking time bomb.

Every element of this film promotes sin, even as it goes out of its way to show how rotten Harlow is. it shows the fun side and a dangerous side, and she truly is amazing even though she is a character that the audience would never like to meet in person. Una Merkel gets some very good lines has Harlow's pal, and May Robson is very funny as her life loving aunt. in fact, the cast of this film is universally superb, and look for a cameo by star to be Charles Boyer a few years before he became a household name. This film, along with Warner Brother's Barbara Stanwyck precode drama "Baby Face", represents a different side of the American woman, struggling yet determined to make it out of poverty any way they can. it may not have a modern sensibility, but it is certainly a fun look back at how Hollywood used to think.

The Love Affairs of a Sexy Red Haired Gold Digger

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 31 October 2014]

In Renwood, the promiscuous and hot golf digger Lillian "Lil" (Jean Harlow) lives with her friend Sally (Una Merkel) in a poor neighborhood. She works for the Legendre Company with the only intention of seducing her boss William "Bill" Legendre (Chester Morris). When his beloved wife Irene "Rene" Legendre (Leila Hyams) travels to Cleveland with her Aunt Jane (May Robson), Lil takes his correspondence from his secretary and uses it as a pretext to go to his house. Then she uses sex to seduce Bill, but Rene unexpectedly returns home and finds them together. Lil succeeds in destroying Bill's marriage and he divorces Rene and marries her.

When the powerful businessman of coal Charles B. Gaerste (Henry Stephenson) comes from New York to Renwood in a business trip, Lil has a love affair with him. Then she travels alone to New York and becomes his mistress. But Bill's father William "Will" Legendre (Lewis Stone) is not naive and plots a scheme to help his son.

"Red-Headed Woman" is an American comedy ahead of time, or Pre-Hays Code, the moral censorship guidelines that ruled Hollywood from 1930 to 1968. The plot is about the love affairs of a sexy and vulgar red haired gold digger. Jean Harlow is very funny in the role of an ambitious gold digger. Charles Boyer has a minor but also funny performance in the role of her lover Albert. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Mulher Parisiense dos Cabelos de Fogo" ("The Fire Haired Parisian Woman")

Jean Harlow's Star Shines Bright in this Sexy Romp

[movingpicturegal · 10/10 · 27 April 2006]

Terrific pre-code film starring Jean Harlow as the "red-headed woman" - a girl from the wrong side of the tracks who uses her sex appeal to seduce rich men in an attempt to improve her social standing (plus get ahold of their dough!). With her eye on her wealthy, handsome, happily married boss (not to mention his photo pinned to her garter) she aggressively pursues him, as he does his very best to try and hold her off and keep his marriage intact. But even when she gets him, she can't stop trying to get someone better (well, you know - richer, that is).

I love this film and I think Jean Harlow gives one of her best performances here as she whines, baby talks, swings her hips, and uses her charms to get the man she wants. Una Merkel is appealing, as usual, as her sidekick/gal pal, constantly feigning shock over the sorted schemes of her red-headed friend. I highly recommend seeing this one.

RED-HEADED WOMAN (Jack Conway, 1932) ***

[Bunuel1976 · 7/10 · 14 June 2007]

This one’s similar to BABY FACE (1933) in that star Jean Harlow – forsaking her traditional platinum blonde look for the titular hair color – uses sex as her ladder into high society. However, it lacks the former’s power: for one thing, because we know nothing of her character’s background (so that she comes off as more of an egotistical “home wrecker”, as her own companion Una Merkel calls her) and also because it basically treats the subject as a comedy (complete with a wink-at-the-audience fade-out). In fact, the original script submitted by F. Scott Fitzgerald(!) was subsequently reworked by Anita Loos – best-known for the play “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” (at which she even throws a dig in the film’s very opening line!).

It’s interesting that the 3 titles in Warners’ Pre-Code collection all emanate from different studios: their particular style is immediately recognizable – this being an MGM production, it’s got none of the hard-hitting quality of Warners’ BABY FACE or even the stylized (yet delicate) Universal approach such as is evident in WATERLOO BRIDGE (1931). Rather it’s merely glossy, gratuitously naughty (witness Harlow’s fleeting nudity) and displays little cinematic inventiveness throughout!

While the spunky Harlow is undeniably alluring, her character is so brazen and vulgar that it’s hard to believe a level-headed businessman as Chester Morris could really opt to leave his gorgeous wife (perhaps Leila Hyams’ best role) for her – even if Harlow’s clearly not one to take no for an answer! The film does descend into high-strung melodrama towards the end when Harlow, exposed for what she is, shoots Morris (but only manages to wound him).

The supporting cast features established veterans May Robson (as Morris’ aunt), Lewis Stone (as his father) – both of whom are immediately suspicious of Harlow’s intentions – and Henry Stephenson (it was amusing to see him involved in undignified situations, for once, as a business associate of Stone and Morris captivated by Harlow’s wiles!). Also on hand is Charles Boyer in an early Hollywood role as Stephenson’s chauffeur: he promptly becomes Harlow’s lover, and the hilarious photo of the two kissing literally behind the back of his master/her husband is subsequently given much coverage! There’s even a delightful uncredited bit involving Henry Armetta (a much-used character actor of the day noted for playing flustered Italians) – here, he’s a complicitous waiter whom Morris bribes in order to hush up a chance meeting with Harlow in a phone booth!

By the way, this had been shown on local TV several years ago but I didn’t catch it – since, back then, I was unaware of the film’s ‘risqué’ reputation; I’m glad that I was able to remedy this eventually because, while RED–HEADED WOMAN is undoubtedly the least substantial of the 3 titles in this collection, it’s easily the most enjoyable...

Jean Harlow Triumphs In Salacious Tale

[Ron Oliver · 10/10 · 8 July 2000]

Lillian, a girl from the wrong side of the tracks, knows exactly what she wants & how to get it. Right now, she wants her young, handsome, rich & very married boss. Using her considerable - one might almost say ostentatious - physical charms, Lillian lets few obstacles stand in her way for long. After all, she's THE RED-HEADED WOMAN, and she always gets her man...

Jean Harlow was a sensation in this immoral tale, which practically shouts its pre-Production Code status. This film solidified her stardom and helped define her screen persona for generations of viewers to come. She not only had the looks, but she proved herself to be a fine actress, as well.

While the plot revolves around Harlow, the rest of the cast acquit themselves very well: Chester Morris, stern-jawed but very vulnerable as Jean's conquest; Leila Hyams, quietly sympathetic as Morris' wife; canny old Lewis Stone as Morris' father - one of the few men able to see through Harlow's tricks; Henry Stephenson as a millionaire who falls easy prey to Harlow's wiles. The story is helped considerably by the addition of two tart-tongued character actresses, Una Merkel & May Robson, whose lively lines help spark the fun. That's Charles Boyer, not quite yet a star, as Jean's chauffeur/boyfriend at the end of the story.

Movie mavens will recognize Henry Armetta in an uncredited bit as a comic waiter.

Notice that for all her outrageous behavior, Harlow's character remains unpunished & unrepentant - a situation not allowed a couple of years later with the adoption of the Code.

Red Hair Makes Harlow a Little More Attractive, But Not Attractive Enough

[evanston_dad · 7/10 · 17 May 2013]

Jean Harlow plays a gold digger determined not to get stuck on the wrong side of the tracks and goes through men like tissues in an attempt to land a sugar daddy in "Red-Headed Woman."

I've long since accepted that to watch a Jean Harlow movie you just simply have to agree to disagree with seemingly every moviegoer from the 1930s about Harlow's appeal. She was hot stuff back then, a fact that is nearly inexplicable to me now. In a role like this, when she's basically a slut, I can accept that men would want to have sex with her, despite the fact that she's actually quite ugly and uber-annoying to boot (ugh, that baby talk!) But that every man who comes across her would also want to dump his wife to marry her? That is pretty much impossible for me to get my head around.

Though I will say that Harlow looks much more attractive with red hair than she does with that awful platinum blonde thing she sports in most of her movies. And while I don't find her remotely attractive, there is something about her that commands the screen.

"Red-Headed Woman" is not the raciest pre-Code movie I've seen, but it does manage to give a newbie some indication of how pre-Code movies were different from the ones that would be released in the couple of decades following. A movie made even five years later would never dream of letting Harlow's character get what she wants in the end without atoning for her sins first.

Grade: B+

Red-Headed Woman

[Thrift_Store_Junkie05 · 10/10 · 31 December 2006]

Red-Headed Woman is a 1932 film of the Pre-Code era based on a novel by Katherine Brush. Though originally developed as a project for Greta Garbo, the film stars Jean Harlow as Lil "Red" Andrews, an unapologetic homewrecker who lacks "moral" sensibility. The sexually promiscuous Lil is determined to rise up the business ladder even if it means sleeping her way to the top. Chester Morris stars as Lil's boss 'Bill'/'Willie' Legendre Jr. and is successfully seduced, manipulated with sex and persuaded by the disobedient Lil to divorce his lovely wife, Irene, who's played by the sparkling green-eyed blonde ingenue Leila Hyams. Hyams, an attractive and always likable actress, implies a noticeable beauty but in a warm and endearing way as the innocent wife. Lil soon grows bored of Bill and plunges into an affair with a well-heeled businessman played by Henry Stephenson.

With marital infidelity; lots of implicit sex, violence, sadism and a plentiful of bare female flesh, Red-Headed Woman conforms absolutely to the description of the type of film that simply couldn't be made a few years later. Though far and wide from a great actress, Jean Harlow's overtly sexual portrayal and stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing is amongst one of her finest performances. Also here is Una Merkel in her trademark wisecracking best friend of the heroine and in one of his earliest Hollywood roles, Charles Boyer as the French chauffeur. Red-Headed Woman is a fast-paced, vulgar, humorous and excitingly appealing film that exemplifies the entertainment Hollywood could offer before the angry and offended moralists and the Production Code dropped a net of censorship over the studios.

Harlow Highlights Pre-Code Melodrama with Comedy Elements

[EUyeshima · 7/10 · 24 January 2007]

In full hellcat mode even without her platinum blonde tresses, Jean Harlow has her breakthrough role starring in 1932's more comically oriented "Red-Headed Woman", an obvious MGM product given its high production values. She plays Lil Andrews, an unapologetic gold-digger who seduces her boss Bill Legendre and steals him away from his staid fiancée Irene. Bored and tried of being looked down upon once they are married, she moves on to an older, wealthier man to ensnare but not before she tries to shoot her husband. But Lil's amoral behavior finds her being further rejected, especially when she is caught with a French chauffeur, played by a very young Charles Boyer with his trademark continental flair already established.

For all the pain Lil causes to the other characters in the story, she ends up happily unrepentant in Paris, a fact which really defines this as a pre-code movie. At only 21, Harlow is already confident and brassy, even though Anita Loos' script has her teetering precariously between comedy and melodrama. Chester Morris is rather stiff as Bill, but Una Merkel shines as Lil's best friend Sally. Take note of the forthright way the camera lingers on Lil and Sally as they change in and out of their negligees.

Interesting, But A Bad Message

[ccthemovieman-1 · 4/10 · 16 November 2005]

I almost gave up on this "soaper," but stuck with it and found it to be quite interesting. Jean Harlow stars as a woman trying to get ahead in the world by marrying her boss. Then, after becoming a millionaire, she starts fooling around with a young guy. Yeah, the storyline's been used many times since but Harlow was always pretty interesting to watch.

The ending of this film does NOT give a good message (I don't want to spoil it, but this gist of it is that immorality pays) and is another example of why a morals' code was instituted for American films shortly after this. It's just a really bad message, especially for younger girls.

On a personal note, I never understood why men fawned all over Harlow. In the movie, she gets complimented by all the men on how beautiful she is....yet I don't see a lot of beauty. Is it just me? Frankly, Una Merkel, who also is in this film in her typical minor comedienne role, has a much prettier face.

Anyway, the film exhibits how men can make real saps of themselves over a younger woman, if sex is involved. Boy, ain't that the truth!! They (we) can be manipulated so easily. In this regard, this movie reminded me a lot of a better film of the same period: Baby Face, starring Barbara Stanwyck.

Never trust a red-head

[August1991 · 28 October 2004]

Harlow was about 21 years old when she made this film but she certainly seems older. In real life, she eloped at 16 and didn't have much of an education. Her accent here is flimsy. But her white skin was perfect for the period's bright lights and slow film. We see and understand well her expressions.

This film shows garters and a surprising morality. The gold-digger gets her gold, conniving and finagling all the way. It seems that a beautiful young woman, who confidently knows what she is, can get anything she wants from a man. Classic Jean Harlow (and I guess Anita Loos). Harlow's act is not ditzy coquette - she knows exactly what she's doing and so do we. It's fun to watch the story unfold.

The men are props but acquit themselves well. Charles Boyer, accent and all, plays the apparently genuine love interest. Watch for the scene where his character is accused of having an affair with a woman already having an affair. Only Boyer could get the right pause before answering matter-of-factly. This was one of his first American films.

Diamond Lil with red tresses

[didi-5 · 6/10 · 11 June 2007]

This pre-Code movie presents Jean Harlow with dyed tresses in another man-snatching role to go alongside her others. Lil Andrews is amoral and set on taking rich men for what she can get, starting with her boss (played by chisel jawed Chester Morris), and moving on upward.

Given this was 1932, and only two years later things were about to change, the Production Code would be implemented, and films would become a lot more sanitised, 'Red Headed Woman' is rather daring and leaves little to the imagination. There's a lot of spicy innuendo and some direct references to sex which would be unthinkable a few years later.

Una Merkel shines as Lil's pal Sally, who follows her everywhere and views everything. And Charles Boyer is memorable in a little supporting role.

This film can be found as part of the DVD set 'Forbidden Hollywood, part 1'.

Hardcore pre-code movie

[gridoon2024 · 7/10 · 11 August 2018]

This is why some of us love the pre-code era so much: only then (and not until much later) could you hear a line like "I'm so happy: I'm in love and I'm going to get married" - referring to two different men in a woman's life (who is already married to a third one)! This picture is fast, funny, raw, provocative and adult; in other words, pre-code to the bone. I personally consider Leila Hyams (playing the good wife) more beautiful than Jean Harlow (playing the floozy to end all floozies), but that's a matter of taste. Una Merkel is a joy, as always, as Harlow's pal. *** out of 4.

"When I Kiss Em, They Stay Kissed!"

[piedbeauty37 · 7/10 · 1 November 2013]

Enjoyable, often hilarious tale of on-the-make secretary Jean Harlow who sets her sights on the boss's son. She uses sex the way some people use bribery. Relentlessly pursuing Bill, (her first prey) Harlow intends to marry up and do it fast.

Considering the prudishness of most 1940's films, this 1932 offering is pretty frank. There is lots of sex outside of marriage and adultery within it; Jean's character enjoys being bad and doesn't apologize for it.

Harlow steamrolls her way through men, but will she get her come uppance. Watch this little gem and find out.

eating up men in her search for riches

[christopher-underwood · 9/10 · 8 February 2007]

Wonderful pre-code movie that races along with its amoral story as Jean Harlow chases about eating up men in her search for riches. Barely pausing this wild romp is as uncompromising as it is fast and funny. Harlow is at her best, in out of and almost out of her shimmering costumes and she is ably backed by an excellent cast who all seem to be enjoying themselves. I am indebted to another IMDb reviewer who points out that at the time of original release the States were in depression and the coal bosses and their 'society' entourage, getting rich and doing very little, would have been a welcome target for Harlow's exploits. An interesting and revealing extra dimension that makes me like it even more because I always had a slight feeling of sympathy for the duped guys and now I can happily share the joke, very much at their expense. Brave film making and one cannot but wonder where things may have gone had the code not clamped down.

Jean Harlow... Yep

[gavin6942 · 6/10 · 1 April 2013]

Lillian Andrews (Jean Harlow) works for the Legendre Company and causes Bill to divorce Irene and marry her. She has an affair with businessman Gaerste and uses him to force society to pay attention to her. She has another affair with the chauffeur Albert.

While the lead character here is not quite as promiscuous or cunning as Barbara Stanwyck was in "Baby Face", the controversial nature remains much the same: a woman who sleeps around in order to move herself up the food chain.

I think what was most amusing about this film is that it was called "Red-Headed Woman" but is in black and white. I have no idea if Harlow really had red hair in this picture or not.

Amorality has never been so much fun!

[catmommie · 9/10 · 4 December 2001]

Spoiler alert!!



Lil Andrews (Jean Harlow) is a working class gal with the ambition of Napoleon and the body of...well...Jean Harlow. Lil wants to climb the ladder of success, and the first wrong on that ladder is mine-owner Bill Legendre (Chester Morris). Bill isn't much of a catch--he thinks with the little head and is prone to wallowing in not very deeply felt remorse--but he does have a couple of personality traits in his favor. He's very, very rich, and he's the local version of an aristocrat. Before you know it, Bill is divorced and Lil's wearing Adrian and scooting around town in a snappy roadster with matching dog.

Lil figures out pretty darned quickly that the old home town isn't big enough for her, so she hitches a ride on the nearest millionaire and hot-foots it to New York, a town that provides a little scope for her genius. Along the way she picks up a hunky French chauffeur (accessories are so important) and finally loses patience with her wimp of a husband. He returns to his sexless wife, who seems to have nothing better to do than take him back. (She couldn't have taken up quilting?) The unrepentant Lil moves on to bigger and better things. Crime may not pay...but sex does, and Lil is a gal who knows how to make a profit.

Red Headed Woman was Harlow's first foray into comedy, and she's a vulgar, brassy delight. The critics--previously unmoved by the Bombshell's charms--sat up and took notice. So did The People Who Want to Mind Your Business For You. This film, along with several other naughty pre-code offerings, sent them into tailspins of moral outrage.

What bit the Guardians of Public Morality in the butt (and bit hard) was not so much Lil's success as the spectacular failure, moral and personal, of her victims. They're a reprehensible bunch of wienies who richly deserve the treatment Lil gives them. You have to wonder how many of the Guardians saw themselves in Bill Legendre and were terribly afraid that others might make the same connection. It's OK to be a wienie as long as no one else notices you're clothing-free.

Harlow went on to make the pre-code classics Red Dust and Bombshell before the Moralistas finally managed to clip her bawdy wings. She made many films in her regrettably short career, but she's never better than she is in her pre-code days, and the pre-codes don't come any better than Red Headed Woman.

If you've never seen a Harlow film, you're in for a treat. If you think Hollywood didn't know about sex until the 70s, you're in for a surprise. Whether you're a Harlow neophyte or a veteran, Red Headed Woman is an amoral delight. See it.

A Pre-code comedy starring JEAN HARLOW

[jaybob · 7/10 · 23 June 2007]

Now I was too young to see Miss Harlow in this riotous comedy in 1932,I was all of 4 years old.

I finally did see it when I was a teen at the MOMA in NYC. I am sure I liked it,

I saw it again last night as part of a double bill with Waterloo Bridge (1931). it was part of the Forbidden Hollywod collection from NETFLIX.

It is still a very funny albeit very very stupid, using todays films as a guideline.

This was one Jean Harlow's first films, What an comic she was, It was & still is a shame that she left us in 1937 at only 26 years old. We lost a bright comet then. She is great as a gold-digger who uses men as her playthings.

Chester Morris was her co-star,He already was a veteran actor and was a much better one than many believe. When his contract at MGM was over he went to Monogram & made the Boston Blackie , private eye series of films,. They did nothing to help his career,

Jack Conway directed & Anitra Loos wrote a witty screenplay based on a novel.

Also appearing are Una Merkel, May Robson & Lewis Stone.

Slickly produce by Irving Thalberg (no title credit)

Rating: *** (out of 4) 82 POINTS (OUT OF 1) IMDb 7 (out of 10)

Frightfully Blatant - the best!

[gmzewski · 10/10 · 27 April 2006]

I was captivated watching this, not only is Harlow's acting superb, but its blatant overt sexuality jumps right off the screen. She's a shameless whore and home wrecker, always just on the edge of losing control of her emotions and physical desires, with a fate-be-damned attitude toward it all. The storyline was indeed shocking for its time, in fact, films like this one, right along with Barabara Stanwyck's NIGHT NURSE and BABY FACE show the reasons the Hayes Code came to exist in the first place. This was way over the top, in-your-face immorality, something that Mae West only alluded to in her work in a comic fashion. It's on my list of "best of" features in the pre-Hayes code era. Watch this one if you want to be shocked and astounded! Simply a great film!

Were this a curry, it would be a vindaloo.

[1930s_Time_Machine · 6/10 · 23 July 2022]

Strong and intense but lacking any delicate flavour.

This film has aged reasonably well and is still quite entertaining. However unlike Warner's very similar Baby Face, made a few months later, this one lacks that film's depth and layering. That's not to say that this is not a good film, it's ok and it manages to effortlessly capture the authenticity of the early thirties and it's witty script, like Miss Harlow 's boobs, keeps it bouncing along.

Although she was a lovely person (nothing like her character), I've never understood why Jean Harlow became such a sex symbol let alone a star. Comparing this with Baby Face and particularly with Barbara Stanwick, you can see how much better and believable Stanwick is in conveying such determination and alchemistic allure. With regard to her acting talent she is very much a one trick pony. Fortunately this role is the one role she can play well but she's still no great actress.

After seeing it, straight laced Louis Mayer was outraged with the lack of morality - the British censor was even more disgusted and banned it in the UK. Irving Thalberg however, who's project this was, knew what the audience wanted and how to make money. This and Baby Face seem quite tame these days but it's fascinating to see how attitudes have changed.

The Red-Headed Woman Was a Pre-Code Red Herring

[strong-122-478885 · 3/10 · 13 September 2013]

OK. Back in 1932 Red-Headed Woman, starring "Blonde Bombshell" Jean Harlow (her hair now dyed red in order to match the apparent raciness of her character), may have thrilled the naive movie-going audience to pieces with its somewhat spicy sexual innuendo (which is now painfully dated) - But, today, 80 years later, this decidedly irksome "adult" drama pretty much amounted to being a frickin' bore when it came to the genre of Hollywood Chick Flicks.

For the most part, I found actress Jean Harlow (clearly a light-weight actress) to be grossly miscast in her role as Lillian "Red" Andrews, an over-the-top, gold-digging, home-wrecking tramp (sans the heart of gold).

From my perspective, Harlow managed to chew up way too much scenery (left, right & center) for her own good and the good of her character.

Even at its fairly short, 80-minute running time, Red-Headed Woman seemed to drag on with its trivial nonsense forever. And with each new conquest facing the Lillian Andrews character (who was always dressed to the absolute nines), she got more and more annoying and absurd until, of course, she finally became a laughable parody of herself.

As the viewer, I could only wish the worst for this nasty, despicable character - But, alas, Lillian (who only found herself temporarily daunted by a few minor set-backs) repeatedly managed to triumph, again and again, in her ruthless scheme to snag herself one millionaire husband after another.

I honestly have to admit that after potential-husband #2 was callously ditched by "Red", this ridiculous crusade of hers became utterly preposterous beyond words.

All-in-all - Red-Headed Woman may have worked its apparent charm on its audience back in the days of early talkies - But, in these modern-times of ours, it was basically just a pile of empty-headed crap of the highest order.