This fascinating first person account was written by a friend of Paul Bern named Samuel Marx.

Paul Bern died from a gun shot in 1932, two months after marrying film star Jean Harlow.

According to Mr. Marx, the studio executives (including Irving Thalberg and Louis B. Mayer) conspired to attribute Mr. Bern's death to suicide caused by impotence.

Bern's death was publicly attributed to suicide, but that was not consistent with the facts or with what Mr. Marx, the writer of this book, witnessed. He was called to the death scene, being a close friend and colleague of Mr. Bern's and spent the rest of his life trying to figure out what really happened.

The book draws conclusions and it is up to the reader to decide what went on. Only Jean Harlow comes out of this in a heroic way and maybe that is the way it should be.

Paul Bern appears to have been caught in a web of his own making. Maybe he led one woman on while loving another. It's hard to tell and I am not convinced that his "other" wife was the killer.

If this was so and it was obvious then why did Jean Harlow pay for the woman's tombstone? My suspicions tend toward another shadowy figure, Jean Harlow's stepfather. But this is a mystery that will never really be solved.

The book is sad - Mr. Bern was responsible for some very fine movies, including Grand Hotel and he gave Jean Harlow a boost when she needed it most. There is an element of mystery and sense that we will never know and I think this writer was smart enough to "get" that.

I'm glad I read the book and know more about Paul Bern and Jean Harlow - more than I did before I started reading. It was worth it for me.

Interested in buying this? Support Writing.Com by making your purchase of Deadly Illusions: Jean Harlow and the Murder of Paul Bern by Samuel Marx (1990-09-19)   from Amazon.Com!

Created Sep 29, 2019 at 11:11am • Submit your own review...