While he was based on the East Coast, Muray took his fair share of excursions to Hollywood where he did this session with Harlow.

Muray excelled in early color and is the mastermind behind some of the most iconic images of Frida Kahlo; if you’re envisioning a particular color photo of her right now, Muray likely took it.

These were taken around the same time she was enacting hardboiled roles like Rose from IRON MAN and Gwen from THE PUBLIC ENEMY. What fun for Harlow, as both were in production simultaneously—can’t be a whole lot of fun to shuttle back and forth from Universal to Warner Brothers.

Landau accompanied Harlow to the Beverly Glen construction site this same day, where they were photographed by candid extraordinaire Hyman Fink. One of these photos was published in the Shulman bio, giving the impression that Landau knew Harlow more than he really did.

Just out of the frame is Arthur Landau, who briefly worked as her agent; he supplied the source material for Irving Shulman’s 1964 Harlow biography (bronx cheer). Never seen the uncropped version of this photo outside of the Hollywood Museum, for some reason.

Harlow and Louis B. Mayer, who she was obliged to pose with while explaining away her suspension from MGM. “You can’t fight with your friends, and Louis B. Mayer is the best friend any girl in the world could have.” Sure. His expression definitely says as much.

Harlow and a stable of mentors and comedy geniuses alike. From left to right: Hal Roach, Harold Lloyd, Harlow, Stan Laurel, Warren Stockes, and Oliver Hardy (whose expression is perfectly charming).

Hal Roach still remembered Harlow’s individuality when he discussed her with Harlow biographer David Stenn decades later, at age 99:

“She was different. Her hair was an odd type, and she had a beautiful face and body. There was nobody like her.”

The duo were among Harlow’s first mentors; she credited them with instilling her knack for comedic timing. “Stan and Babe realized my ignorance and did everything in their power to make me feel at home and at ease,” she recalled later, with a hint of characteristic self-doubt.

Roach helped give a teenage Harlow a head start in shorts like LIBERTY (1929), notable for her billing as Harlean Carpenter, and DOUBLE WHOOPEE (1929), in which Laurel and Hardy’s antics famously result in her half-nakedness.

She’s wearing a blue velvet gown with Rex rabbit fur sleeves, which are surprisingly extant and well-preserved in a private collection. Here they are as I saw them on display in Hollywood some time ago.

Maydelle was brought aboard the same year to help with the sheer influx of letters. The Harlow fan mail task force had previously consisted of only the actress’ mother, and her best friend, Bobbe Brown—Harlow’s meteoric rise to fame soon had the three women drowning in mail.

You don’t see Maydelle’s signature very often (she was only briefly employed) so this is a nice piece to have. The letter is addressed to Margaret Ewald of Chicago, one of Harlow’s pen pals; Miss Ewald was one of a handful of women that Harlow and her mother exchanged extended correspondence with.

From Halloween ‘33—yep! What a fun night for Harlow. She was discharged from Good Sam on October 30, just over two weeks after being stricken with appendicitis. So, how about you guys? Any plans, or will you be loafing like Harlow that and passing out candy?

Forgot to include one of the key images I was going to share 👍

I wrote about some other shots taken by Ted Allan on this day on the Harlow Heaven blog a few years ago. I actually acquired a cute pose from this same shoot and I’ve been meaning to share a scan. You can smack me if I haven’t posted it in a week. 😀 harlowheaven.wordpress.com/2019/04/13/f...

Although I don’t have the snipe on hand for these that would give us more detail on her warm, fur-lined ensemble, I do know that Harlow modeled a wardrobe furnished by I. Magnin for this session. My uneducated guess is that those are karakul accents on her coat, neck, and hat.