6’6” heavyweight champion Primo Carnera and 5’1” Hollywood superstar Jean Harlow posing on the MGM film set in the Fall of 1933, while Carnera was shooting the boxing film 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘢𝘥𝘺. The photo, taken in a boxing ring set, shows the striking contrast between the two stars – Carnera dressed in black boxing trunks, and Harlow in a black dress, black fur coat, and high heels. The pair are smiling affectionately at one another, with Harlow wrapping her tiny arms around Carnera’s enormous forearm. At the time, Harlow was having a high-profile affair with another boxer, Max Baer, who was co-starring in the film. Her visit to the film set was ostensibly to see Baer, but she posed for photos with Carnera as well. Less than a year later, Baer would beat Carnera to win the heavyweight title. The meeting occurred shortly after the tragic death of Harlow's second husband, Paul Bern, in September 1932. The scandal of his mysterious suicide was fresh in Hollywood's memory when she began her affair with Baer. By 1937, Harlow herself would pass away from kidney failure at the age of 26.
Heavyweight champion #PrimoCarnera (1906 – 1967) and #JeanHarlow (1911 – 1937) on the set of 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘢𝘥𝘺 (MGM, 1933)
At the time, Harlow was having a high-profile affair with boxer Max Baer, who co-starred in the film. Baer went on defeat Carnera for the heavyweight crown in 1934.
