Reckless

A singer’s (Jean Harlow) agent (William Powell) sees her through a scandalous marriage to a wealthy playboy (Franchot Tone).

Reckless works well as a drama. Unfortunately, it’s also a musical.

This problem is readily apparent early on, when Franchot Tone’s character buys out an entire theater’s worth of seats so he can enjoy Jean Harlow’s character’s show, and his interactions with William Powell’s character prove to be far more interesting than the stage show, which just gets in the way.

According to the IMDb, the film was scripted and shot as a straight drama, and only turned into a musical after the fact, which explains a lot. Since producer David O. Selznick would have been the one to approve such a transformation, the resulting mess is his to bear.

Despite the intrusive musical numbers, all three leads, Harlow, Powell, and Tone, perform well, with Harlow giving a charismatic performance despite being reluctant to take the part due to the script’s similarities to her second marriage, and Tone turning in a surprisingly nuanced performance that’s lost amid the film’s would-be spectacle.

Maybe someday the original, post musical, cut will turn up in some Hollywood vault, but until then you’ll have to make due with the fast-forward button.