THE GIRL FROM MISSOURI (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1934), directed by Jack Conway, stars Jean Harlow, the girl actually from Missouri playing the fictional girl named Eadie  from Missouri. In typical Depression era style story about gold diggers out to find rich husbands, THE GIRL FROM MISSOURI is no different from the others, but how it's played makes a difference from one movie to the next. While such gold digging types as Joan Blondell, Carole Lombard or many others might have handled similar assignment roles such as this, Jean Harlow does quite well in a light comedy with dramatic overtones. As the credits roll to the same underscoring that opened Harlow's earlier comedy success of BOMBSHELL (1933), the narrative opens at Mrs. Chapman's Hot Spot, the Best Beer in Missouri, where Edith "Eadie" Chapman (Jean Harlow) manages  to sneak away from her unhappy existence of her loose-morals mother (Esther Howard) and unsympathetic stepfather (William "Stage Boyd), by packing up and going away with Kitty Lennihan (Patsy Kelly), her closest friend, on the first train leaving town for New York City. Later, Eadie and Kitty acquire jobs as chorus girls, but that's not enough. Eadie's ambition is to better herself,  become somebody and marry a millionaire. Along with the group of chorus girls hired to entertain in the home of Frank Cousins (Lewis Stone) and his guests, Eadie makes a play for the elderly gentleman, unaware that he's broke and in desperate need of  money himself. Unable to acquire financial help from millionaire businessman, Thomas Randolph Paige (Lionel Barrymore), Cousins kills himself. Before he dies, however, Cousins has earlier agreed to both an engagement to a girl he hardly knows as well as giving her his expensive gold cuff links as a gift. In fear of being arrested for having the cuff links found on her, she has Mr. Paige, whom she earlier mistook for a butler, to hide it for her from the police. Most appreciative of helping her out of a jam and offering her money, Eadie goes after Paige, president of T.R. Paige and Company, but her presence becomes too much for the elderly gentleman. Going to Palm Beach on a business trip, Eadie, who takes Kitty as her chaperon, follow suit. While waiting outside his office, Eadie is spotted by Paige's son, playboy Tommy Paige (Franchot Tone), who becomes her aggressor. When Mr. Paige discovers his son's love for this blonde chiseler and intends on marrying her, he does everything possible to break their engagement.Other members of the cast featured are Alan Mowbray (Lord Douglas); Hale Hamilton (Charles W. Turner); Henry Kolker (Senator Ticombe); Clara Blandick (Miss Newberry, Paige's Personal Secretary); and in smaller roles, Charles C. Wilson, Fuzzy Knight and Shirley Ross. Look quickly for Nat Pendleton as the lifeguard whom becomes Patsy Kelly's latest male prospectSurrounded by such veteran MGM contract players as Lionel Barrymore and Lewis Stone, along with the studio's up and coming Franchot Tone, in his second of four movies opposite Harlow,  Patsy Kelly, as the second banana, gathers the most attention described as "the old-fashioned home girl like Mae West." Her wonderful presence and wisecracks are most welcome here. When she's not around in some long stretches, Harlow is on her own, ranging from finding herself a sort of Mae West situation making her presence known while on an all male yacht, to getting revenge on old man Paige for breaking up her engagement to his son. Franchot Tone, in one of his many millionaire playboy types, has his moments of keeping himself from "going cuckoo" from Eadie's charms before letting go and telling her how he really feels while both getting wet under a showerFollowing the box-office successes of RED DUST (1932), BOMBSHELL (1933) and DINNER AT EIGHT (1933), THE GIRL FROM MISSOURI (1934), although quite entertaining in its own way, is one of the most overlooked Harlow MGM movies in recent years. Interestingly her only 1934 release, she was to follow this with other developed classics, especially her finest, LIBELED LADY (1936), before her untimely death in June of 1937. Looking very much like a pre-code production, there's indication of how many scenes were changed and altered before the film would win the fade-in title card approval rating from the production code. One wonders how this 73 minute production might have turned out had it been released in theaters before the production code was strictly enforced. In present toned-down form, it's still enjoyable gold digger themed material after millionaire fluff story. Formerly available on home video in the 1990s, the decade when this long unseen comedy made it to some public television stations, THE GIRL FROM MISSOURI can be seen and studied either watching on DVD or whenever broadcast of Turner Classic Movies cable channel.(***)

This MGM comedy-romance drama has a wonderful cast with three big name leads of the day. Jean Harlow is Eadie, Lionel Barrymore is T.R. Paige and Franchot Tone is T.R. Paige Jr. The drama aspect is in a small-town girl leaving home to get away from an overbearing stepfather and escape a seedy lifestyle. The drama also comes in as Eadie tries to work her way into the circle of wealthy men. And in a short scene that ends with a broken businessman committing suicide. Eadie wants to find a rich man to marry, and not become a harlot in the process.It's that very drive to remain a good girl that makes for some of the comedy with T.R. Paige (Lionel Barrymore), who spots her as a gold-digger from the first. But it's also the allure that wins over T.R. Paige Jr. (Franchot Tone). The difference between a gold-digger and Edie, as Tom Paige Junior discovers, is that Edie doesn't want money and a good time. She wants marriage with the money – and a settled lifestyle. And for love to come with it – well, that's perfect."The Girl from Missouri," isn't a riotous or witty comedy. But it is a nice story with some very clever schemes and funny situations. I think Harlow is the funniest when she puts on airs and acts a snob – the exact type of person she dislikes. I suppose the writers and directors know that, and it's why she gets films such as this where she gets to play both roles.Lionel Barrymore is very good, as always. Franchot Tone is superb as the young banker-heir to his father's fortune. He's also a playboy, but well-liked by friends and acquaintances. Tom is smitten by Edie the moment he sees her, and he persistently pursues her. At first, she doesn't know who he is, and before she learns that he too is rich and heir to a fortune, they hit it off and she begins to fall for the guy. Of course, dad must try to dissuade the son and he tries everything to get him to see that she is a gold-digger.How it works out after their first encounters is all part of the fun of this entertaining film. It's not filled with laughs or witty dialog. But it is a fine comedy-romance with some drama thrown in for a good story. One character began to grate on me after a while. Patsy Kelly plays Kitty Lennihan, Eadie's best friend and companion – her chaperon, as Eadie calls her. But much of the time Eadie has to be chaperoning her. It might be funny once or twice, but after a few situations it becomes irksome.This film also has a number of top supporting actors of the day. Lewis Stone, Alan Mowbray, Hale Hamilton and others do well in their roles. This is a movie that most movie buffs should enjoy.This film came out in 1934, right when the motion picture industry began enforcing its "Hays Code" through the "Breen" office. So, I thought the opening script was interesting. It read, "This picture approved by the Production Code Administration of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America." It had "Certificate Number 91."

In this film, Jean Harlow comes from a low class childhood, when the death of her father led her mother to remarry and, under the stepfather's influence, her mother becomes a "hostess" and Jean is encouraged in entertain as well. But, when she has enough, Jean sneaks off to meet the world head on and tries to find herself love and a soft place to fall. By means of a job and connections, she meets Lewis Stone, but he has his own problems. Then she tries to latch on to Lionel Barrymore, but there's more to him than meets the eye, as he acts kind to her, but realizes, or so he thinks, that she is only mercenary. Enter his son Franchot Tone, as he sets his sights on Jean, but Lionel has his own agenda. Such sets up the story in this enjoyable Jean Harlow film. Her career began with characters that were purely out for money and rich men, but, with the movie studio trying to make sure their films could pass the Hays Production Code, they made her characters more with a heart of gold, instead of heartless. This film certainly entertains and at the same time is emotionally charged, as we see Jean trying to be a good girl despite her yen for Franchot. If you've never seen Jean Harlow, this is certainly one of her best, even though it's not as well known as other films of hers. Though "The Girl from Missouri" was made in 1934, the story and its lead actress are still fresh today. With good support and snappy dialogue from Patsy Kelly, this is must-see Jean Harlow material.

Girl from Missouri, The (1933) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Jean Harlow plays a Southern girl who goes to the big city to land a millionaire and she thinks she finds on in a lawyer (Lionel Barrymore) but soon his son (Franchot Tone) starts coming onto her. The film has a pretty weak screenplay and there's really nothing too original going on. Even Harlow seems a tad bit bored as she doesn't contain any of that spark or energy that made her a legend. We do get several shots of her body, which are nice but it's not enough to save the film. Tone makes for a good leading man but it's Barrymore who steals the show with his maniac like performance. What laughs the film does get are due to Barrymore but Lewis Stone also comes off well in his small role. Oh yeah, one of Harlow's sexual scenes includes her being thrown into a shower with her clothes on and then walking out with her nipples showing through her dress.