61: MGM Stories Part 6: Jean Harlow

61: MGM Stories Part 6: Jean Harlow

61: MGM Stories Part 6: Jean Harlow

You Must Remember This - October 20, 2015 - 41:31

As part of the publicity campaign for his film Hell’s Angels, Howard Hughes made Jean Harlow a star, branding her “The Platinum Blonde.” But after Hell’s Angels, Hughes couldn’t figure out what to do with Harlow, so she ended up signing a contract with MGM, at the urging of Paul Bern, who became Harlow’s new impresario and husband. Despite the fact that Louis B. Mayer had dismissed her as a “floozy”, Harlow had five years of super stardom at MGM. But during that time, Bern died under mysterious circumstances — as did Harlow herself, in 1937, at the age of 26.

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60: MGM Stories Part 5: William Haines and Hollywood’s First Openly Gay Marriage

October 13, 2015 - 37:10
The rare silent star who made a relatively smooth transition to sound films, William “Billy” Haines was one of the top box office stars...

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62: MGM Stories Part 7: MGM's children: Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland

October 27, 2015 - 40:57
After Irving Thalberg’s death in 1936, Louis B. Mayer doubled down on "family entertainment" at MGM. To support this new wave of...

About The Show

You Must Remember This is a storytelling podcast exploring the secret and/or forgotten histories of Hollywood’s first century. It’s the brainchild and passion project of Karina Longworth (founder of Cinematical.com, former film critic for LA Weekly), who writes, narrates, records and edits each episode. It is a heavily-researched work of creative nonfiction: navigating through conflicting reports, mythology, and institutionalized spin, Karina tries to sort out what really happened behind the films, stars and scandals of the 20th century.