Platinum Blonde

Although finally saddled with a somewhat banal message about the value of good hard work and the evils of inherited wealth, this lively comedy is infinitely preferable to the turgid, reactionary sermonising of the director's later Capracorn epics (Mr Deeds Goes to Town, Mr Smith Goes to Washington, etc). The plot - Williams' journalist falls for a wealthy but fickle socialite, rather than his tough colleague, only to discover the error of his ways - is predictable but fast-moving, with some delightfully cynical wisecracks contributed by Capra's regular writer Robert Riskin. But it's finally Williams, in his last performance before dying from a ruptured appendix, who steals the show; though both Harlow and Young are efficient and ravishing, they are strangely miscast - Harlow as the heiress, Young as the down-to-earth news hound.