Starring Jean Harlow as Libby Holman (The Bisexuals, Part 3)
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This fall, You Must Remember This is going on tour. I will be traveling to repertory cinemas and historic movie houses around the country, showing films like Written on the Wind, The Misfits, Lifeboat, plus a number of deeper cuts, all discussed on the bisexuals. The new season of You Must Remember This, which debuts September 15th. I'll be going to Brooklyn, Houston, Boston, Chicago, Kearney, Nebraska, Savannah, Georgia, and hopefully a city near you. To see all of the locations and dates and to find links where you can buy tickets, go to you must remember this podcast.com slash events. That's you must remember this podcast.com slash events. Plus, we have new bisexuals merch, including shirts, hats, and a custom formulated unisex.
Fragrance inspired by Jungle Gardenia, the now obsolete perfume that was Libby Holman's signature scent. It all goes on sale or pre-order September 15th at you must remember this podcast.com slash shop. That's you must remember this podcast.com slash shop.
A kiss is just a kick.
Welcome to another episode of You Must Remember This, the podcast dedicated to exploring the secret andor forgotten histories of Hollywood's first century. I'm your host, Karina Longworth. And this is another episode of our ongoing series, The Bisexuals.
The most notorious torch singer in town. Selfish. Hard. Sure I am. Just like glass. So hard, nothing will cut it but diamonds. No, my face is fine. It's all healed up. It's just as good as a new. You would too recognize me. Look at that. Isn't she marvelous? Age one. People are gonna say things and all. It's gonna make you stop loving me. You can print this. I'm going to keep my baby and I'm going to support him with no help from anybody. But how? The only way I know on the stage. Can't you hear them jeering at you? If this is the last song I'm ever to sing for you, please have the decency to let me finish. No, I don't want you to lie to me. I don't want you to lie to yourself. Until death to them part.
How did Smith Reynolds’s death turn Libby Holman into a Pre-Code anti-heroine?
Before 1932, Libby Holman had been a national singing star with hit songs on the radio. But only in New York was she a true celebrity with an image to match. After the gunshot death of Smith Reynolds became public knowledge and international news, Libby acquired a new image, one matching the cinema of the era. Pre-code movies were full of sexy young things who committed crimes, usually out of desperation or self-preservation. In two of her films of 1931, My Sin and The Cheat, Libby's close friend Tolula Bankhead played glamorous young women of questionable morals who shoot a male predator in self-defense. It was irresistible for the media to craft a version of Libby Holman that matched these sorts of characters familiar from the movies.
The difference was, in the movies, the women who fired the weapon are believed when they tell their truth. Libby was soon to find out that, in that sense, real life was nothing like the movies. Less than two hours after the death certificate for Zachary Smith Reynolds was issued, Sheriff Transou Scott arrived at Reynalda and started his investigation by questioning Ave Walker, who said he was certain Smith had shot himself. When the sheriff asked him what motive Smith might have had for suicide, Ab said. Well, the truth of the matter is, Smith just thought too much of that woman. That woman at that moment was still in shock and was under both the influence of sedatives and also doctors' orders not to be disturbed, and so the sheriff was unable to question her.
This was spun by reporters, many of them no doubt fed by Sheriff Scott, as evasion rather than self-care. And so, less than three days after her husband was pronounced dead and mere moments after his funeral, Libby Holman was forced to welcome a coroner's inquest into her marital bedroom. In today's episode, we will talk about a Southern Sheriff's strenuous efforts to put Libby in jail. The media circus that aided those efforts while just barely refraining from outing Libby as queer. And finally, the first round of movies to dramatize Libby's story.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–3:05
2
How did Smith Reynolds’s death turn Libby Holman into a Pre-Code anti-heroine?
3:05–9:42
3
Why did Southern authorities target Libby Holman’s Jewish identity?
9:42–12:49
4
What did Libby Holman tell the inquest about Smith’s death and her pregnancy?
12:49–20:18
5
How did the media circus lead to Libby Holman’s indictment?
20:18–35:33
6
What happened to Smith Reynolds, and how did Hollywood dramatize the case?
35:33–41:55
7
How did the murder scandal damage Libby Holman’s stage career?
41:55–54:50
8
How did Jean Harlow’s film Reckless portray Libby Holman’s story?
54:50–1:25:00