Great Romances of the 20th Century (1999)

William Powell and Jean Harlow's story sounds like one of their screwball comedies: She was the wisecracking stunner, he the urbane sophisticate who thought himself ''too old to be married to a blond bombshell.'' Want details? You won't get them in this slim history, which profiles the lovers' careers more than their coupledom. Still, there are glimpses: When Harlow died at 26 of a cerebral edema, Powell buried her with a love note. With such touches, Great Romances of the 20th Century recalls another uniquely '30s notion — that behind every good leading man is a great broad. B