Neal Hefti - Carroll Baker as Harlow (1965; 2015) [Hi-Res]

Joseph E. Levine’s production of HARLOW, a Paramount Pictures release, dramatically unfolds the fabulous legend of Jean Harlow, one of the most exciting and fascinating love goddesses ever to appear on the motion picture screen. The platinum-blonde bombshell from Kansas City, Missouri, rose to stardom in the Thirties as Hollywood’s – and the world’s – reigning sex queen.

In the nearly thirty years since her tragic death at the age of twenty-six – she was then at the peak of fame – Jean Harlow has grown into a legend. Everyone who delighted in her unique flair for comedy in more than two dozen films has wondered about her private life: What were the personal misfortunes that culminated in her untimely death in 1937? What was the real Jean Harlow like? Was her wise-cracking, brashly self-confident screen image he real Harlow? What were her warm, human qualities that only close friends knew and cherished as fond memories after her passing? What real-life roles did her family – her ambitious mother and her handsome, opportunistic stepfather = plain in her life? And how did her trusted agent-discoverer, Arthur Landau, try to protect Jean from the pressures of fame?

HARLOW searchingly dramatizes key events and personalities in Jean’s life, outside and inside the studio sound stages, in a fascinating attempt to solve the riddle of one of the entertainment world’s most beautiful, controversial women. The film introduces Jean Harlow (Carroll Baker) in the late Twenties, as Hollywood was on the brink of becoming the world’s movie capital. This was the era of which Jean herself would soon become a vital, unforgettable part. A youthful aspirant, she haunts Hollywood studios looking for a part, however small, that will carry her on the road to fame and fortune. She lives with her mother, Mama Jean Bello (Angela Landsbury), and her stepfather, Marino Bello (Raf Vallone), who plunges Jean’s earnings into shady money-making schemes. Life takes on a hopeful note when, at work on a movie set one day, she is seen by Arthur Landau (Red Buttons), a Hollywood agent.

„Jean Harlow, the 1930s sex symbol and movie star, had a tragic and scandal-filled life that included marriage to a studio executive who committed suicide and an early, mysterious death herself. When author Irving Shulman teamed with her former agent, Arthur Landau, to write the book Harlow: An Intimate Biography in the 1960s, it became a bestseller (although its more lurid speculations were debunked by later biographers). Naturally, Hollywood took an interest, and two competing film projects resulted. Director Alex Segal's Harlow, starring Carol Lynley, got out of the gate first, by way of a live television broadcast that was kinescoped and released to theaters. The supposedly more upscale version, which appeared two months later, was directed by Gordon Douglas and starred Carroll Baker. It really wasn't any better. Neal Hefti handled the score of this one (Nelson Riddle did the other), and he brought to it his usual '60s jazz-pop style, without worrying much about period accuracy. Hefti, of the same generation as Henry Mancini, similarly gave his music elements of contemporary pop and cocktail jazz that included electric and acoustic guitars, as well as a vocal chorus cheerily singing the lyrics of Jay Livingston and Ray Evans to illuminate Harlow's personal difficulties. But the music was no worse than the film itself or, for that matter, the salacious and inaccurate book on which it was based. The 2003 CD reissue on DRG adds an alternate vocal version of the main theme, 'Lonely Girl,' that is almost a minute longer than the original.“ (William Ruhlmann, AMG)

Produced by Joseph E. Levine

Digitally remastered

Tracklist:
01. Neal Hefti - Lonely Girl (Theme Song) (1:57)
02. Neal Hefti - The Right One (3:01)
03. Neal Hefti - Blues for Jean (3:38)
04. Neal Hefti - Bathtub - Saturday Night (2:51)
05. Neal Hefti - Waltz for Jeannie (2:16)
06. Neal Hefti - Scrambled Eggs (2:29)
07. Neal Hefti - Girl Talk (2:55)
08. Neal Hefti - Show Time (1:53)
09. Neal Hefti - Lonely Girl (4:02)
10. Neal Hefti - Voila! (2:27)
11. Neal Hefti - Carroll Baker a Go-Go (1:57)
12. Neal Hefti - Lonely Girl Bossa Waltz (2:29)