Hal Roach was the first to spot Jean Harlow’s comedic talents:
Harlow (the real bathing beauty) is to the right of Charley Chase.
Harlow was seventeen when she made “Double Whoopee”, a Hal Roach short, with Laurel and Hardy. Leo McCarey, who went on to become a preeminent director of comedy wrote the story. McCarey in later life credited himself with teaching Cary Grant about savoir-faire and screwball style. It was said Grant copied many of McCarey’s mannerisms and speech patterns. Whether or not this is true he deserves a few posts of his own (please, remind me!) having directed such classics as: “Duck Soup”, “The Awful Truth”, “Love Affair”, and the remake of his own work (extremely faithful) “An Affair to Remember”.
Well, children — that was a tangent! Back to one of Harlow’s first screen appearances in 1926:
