Deadly Illusions: Jean Harlow and the Murder of Paul Bern

Samuel Marx was a story editor in Hollywood and knew many of the people mentioned in this book. Joyce Vanderveen was a leading ballerina in Europe and an actress in Hollywood. On a September Monday in 1932 Marx received a phone call about the death of Paul Bern, who had married Jean Harlow in July. Chapter 2 tells how the Hollywood studios switched to talking films. The 'Saturday Evening Post' provided serials and short stories that provided sources for Hollywood films. Its "Red-Headed Woman" was adopted to a film and made Jean Harlow a star (Chapter 3). The next chapter tells how Bern's death was reported as a suicide, and the effect on MGM. In Chapter 5 we learn about Bern's "Phantom Wife", who had been placed in a sanatorium. The next week the body of Dorothy Millette was found in the Sacramento River; she had been Bern's common-law wife. In Chapter 6 Marx explains how "Gone With The Wind" was rejected by MGM; David Selznick, Mayer's son-in-law, bought the film rights. Jean Harlow died at 26, Marx says her life could have been saved by sulfa drugs (p.72). Chapter 7 tells of Marx's later career in films and with Desilu Productions. "The Thin Man" TV show was in the 1950s when Peter Lawford's brother-in-law was a Senator from Massachusetts (p.78). Irving Shulman's "Harlow" falsified many incidents. New interest in Bern's death resulted in a TV interview (Chapter 8). Joyce Vanderveen questioned the story of a coma (p.88). Chapter 9 has the early life of Paul Bern and Harlean Carpenter (Jean Harlow was her mother's maiden name). Baby Jean had been married to Charles McGrew from 1927 to 1930. Would Paul Bern have taken out life insurance just before his death if suicide would have invalidated it (p.110)? Marx and Vanderveen began investigating the probate records (Chapter 10). Quotations from the inquest are in Chapter 12. Can you believe Charles Higham's story (p.154)? How many scandals were covered up (pp.163-164)? Chapter 15 has different opinions as to Paul Bern's character. The censorship of Hollywood is discussed in Chapter 16. [Was the real reason not with morals but with any political criticisms?] Did the "talkies" have more influence on people than silent films? Chapter 19 tells of the long-hidden documents of the events after the body was found (pp.212-214). Who was the mystery woman seen that night (p.216)? After Dorothy Millette was found in the Sacramento River an inquest was held into her death (Chapter 21). The 'Epilogue' contains the final clue (pp.256-257). This is a very interesting book about life in 1930s Hollywood, where fantasies were concocted into reality so people could pay for this entertainment. Show business is the tranquilizer of humanity, for those whose mundane life needs a break from reality. This book reads like a detective mystery, but has no surprising ending. The details of life in those days reminds me of the novels of Raymond Chandler or Erle Stanley Gardner.

Fascinating, dark look at the beautiful movie queen and the strange his studio exec she married. The book lays out the story gwith lots of insight and empathy for MS. Harlow

Even Hollywood's earliest scandals are frequently raked over today: the infamous Arbuckle trials, the William Desmond Taylor murder case, and the questionable suicide of actress Thelma Todd are but a few examples of 1920 and 1930s scandals still being discussed into the new millenium. One of the most famous of these tales concerns Paul Bern, an MGM producer, who was found dead of a gunshot wound in his Beverly Hills some two months after his marriage to Jean Harlow. Word quickly spread that Bern was sexually inadequate and he had taken his life when even marriage to Hollywood's reigning sex goddess failed to arouse him. His death was quickly ruled a suicide and that was that.Or rather, that would have been that except for one little thing: the whispered rumor Paul Bern was murdered. Over the decades that whisper has enticed a great many writers, but none approach the subject with such dogged determination as Samuel Marx and Joyce Vanderveen. Making use of Marx's insider connections (he was an MGM story editor), the two piece together a somewhat speculative but extremely credible tale of insanity, bigamy, police corruption, studio power, murder, and suicide to considerable effect. The cast of characters in this 1930s scandal are fascinating in and of themselves, and although the style in which it is written is a bit simplistic DEADLY ILLUSIONS makes for a great rainy-day read; fans of true crime, Hollywood scandal, and Jean Harlow will find it a must have. Recommended.

Samuel Marx was hired at MGM by producer Paul Bern and became a close friend. He ultimately rose to the position of chief story editor during the busiest period of the industry. When Bern, who married MGM's blonde screen bombshell Jean Harlow, died of what was ruled a suicide, a skeptical Marx began sleuthing, unwilling to believe the conclusion that had been reached."Deadly Illusions" represents Marx's effort to solve what has become a longstanding mystery in Hollywood, with many unconvinced, as was the MGM story editor, that Bern had died of a self-administered gunshot wound. Marx concludes that MGM executive Eddie Mannix, operating as studio boss L.B. Mayer's troubleshooter, rigged the suicide attempt to cover up a dark secret about Bern's past, which resulted in his being murdered. To reveal more would be to give away the suspense which should be the reader's discovery. This is a book that depicts Hollywood during a glorious period of productivity. Marx was a busy on the scene participant and makes you as a reader feel that you were an intimate part of it as well.

Samuel Marx was there. He was a writer and producer at MGM when the lion really roared and was good friends with all the artists and stars and legends on the lot. One very good friend, the sensitive and talented producer Paul Bern, married Jean Harlow, and died under mysterious circumstances shortly after the wedding. Like a Beverly Hills Columbo, Marx solves the mystery. He has access to the real clues, not the ones that have become part of sensational myth, and he makes the case for the only credible version of what must have happened I have ever read in any of the overly sensational, salacious Harlow biographies out there (with the exception of Eve Golden's "Platinum Girl").