Hard to say, they're both pretty awful. If the Carol Lynley version ever had a chance, the bizarre filming technique of Electronovision ruined it before it had even begun. Used so they could shoot quickly (8 days!), it made the film look like a cheap television show shot on videotape. But with the script they used, it probably didn't matter much anyway.
I'm no expert on the personal life of Jean Harlow, but on screen she was a raucously brilliant comedienne who projected very overt sexuality, an unusual combination. Lynley's Harlow gives no indication of comedic ability, is petulant all the time, seems angry at the world for little reason, and yearns to be a serious actress. She's sexually frustrated, is broadly hinted to be frigid, and has no luck with men. Most of this has little to do with the real Jean Harlow, by all accounts a sweet, unassuming personality who seems to have been far from overwhelmed with sex and didn't take it all that seriously, wasn't especially ambitious, but did, indeed, have little luck with men. Her relationship with her mother (Ginger Rogers) is possibly accurate. Mama Jean was something less than a horror but did seem pushy and used her daughter to a degree. If one wants to get a real idea of Jean Harlow, better than these film biographies is a roman a clef that she made called 'BOMBSHELL', a very good self-referential comedy that has the added advantage of starring Harlow herself.
As for HARLOW, Carol Lynley seems woefully miscast (Carroll Baker seemed better cast and was a better actress, but it didn't help), while some of the supporting actors (Ginger Rogers, Hurd Hatfield, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Hermionne Baddely) do well under impossible circumstances. This was Ginger's last film role, though she worked steadily on stage for another 20 years. Seeing this great contemporary of Jean Harlow is the only reason I could give for watching HARLOW today.
I'm no expert on the personal life of Jean Harlow, but on screen she was a raucously brilliant comedienne who projected very overt sexuality, an unusual combination. Lynley's Harlow gives no indication of comedic ability, is petulant all the time, seems angry at the world for little reason, and yearns to be a serious actress. She's sexually frustrated, is broadly hinted to be frigid, and has no luck with men. Most of this has little to do with the real Jean Harlow, by all accounts a sweet, unassuming personality who seems to have been far from overwhelmed with sex and didn't take it all that seriously, wasn't especially ambitious, but did, indeed, have little luck with men. Her relationship with her mother (Ginger Rogers) is possibly accurate. Mama Jean was something less than a horror but did seem pushy and used her daughter to a degree. If one wants to get a real idea of Jean Harlow, better than these film biographies is a roman a clef that she made called 'BOMBSHELL', a very good self-referential comedy that has the added advantage of starring Harlow herself.
As for HARLOW, Carol Lynley seems woefully miscast (Carroll Baker seemed better cast and was a better actress, but it didn't help), while some of the supporting actors (Ginger Rogers, Hurd Hatfield, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Hermionne Baddely) do well under impossible circumstances. This was Ginger's last film role, though she worked steadily on stage for another 20 years. Seeing this great contemporary of Jean Harlow is the only reason I could give for watching HARLOW today.