Robert Taylor and Jean Harlow in Personal Property, 1937

I’m a sucker for this movie. I’ve watched it many times and never fail to enjoy the excellent visuals, the superior acting and just the general silliness of it all. Robert Taylor is wearing much too much makeup but looks great anyway, especially in the bathtub scene! Harlow’s cough is real and is a sad reminder of her fatal disease. The hat “business” with the bailiff is truly charming as is Raymond’s reaction to the news that the bailiff is expecting a baby that night. The centerpiece is, of course, the dinner party. The superb timing by all the actors pulls off a series of sight gags (pepper in the cocktail, the over-filled wine glass, the missing dinner, the dressing). I especially like the interaction between Raymond and his mother. It seems so natural. Highly recommended. Review I wrote for Amazon.com.

Promotional material:

Pajama Party:

Frame grabs:

Behind the scenes:

The director was W.S. van Dyke, known as “one-take Woody” for his fast paced work.

About giraffe44

I became a Robert Taylor fan at the age of 15 when his TV show, "The Detectives" premiered. My mother wanted to watch it because she remembered Mr. Taylor from the thirties. I took one look and that was it. I spent the rest of my high school career watching Robert Taylor movies on late night TV, buying photos of him, making scrapbooks and being a typical teenager. College, marriage and career intervened. I remember being sad when Mr. Taylor died. I mailed two huge scrapbooks to Ursula Thiess. I hope she got them. Time passed, retirement, moving to Florida. Then in 2012 my husband Fred pointed that there were two Robert Taylor movies that evening on Turner Classic Movies--"Ivanhoe" and "Quentin Durward." I watched both and it happened all over again. I started this blog both for fans and for people who didn't know about Robert Taylor. As the blog passes 200,000 views I'm delighted that so many people have come by and hope it will help preserve the legacy of this fine actor and equally good man.

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2 Responses to Robert Taylor and Jean Harlow in Personal Property, 1937

thebrughchronicles says:

July 9, 2016 at 12:39 am

Excellent, truly brilliant article. This is the fourth movie of his I had seen. I am a sucker for it as well. Poor Jean. She was such a bombshell, but so poorly towards the end. Still she performed magnificently.

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giraffe44 says:

July 9, 2016 at 1:27 pm

I thought the Taylor-Harlow chemistry was great. It’s a shame they couldn’t have worked together again.

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