Celebrate Silent Film
Stop me if you’ve heard this one: a pretty shop girl falls in love with the boss but then schemes and circumstances force them apart. Will these crazy kids find love? Clara Bow and Antonio Moreno star in Bow’s signature film.
A Clara Bow vehicle released during the height of her popularity, “Hula” refers to the main character’s name, as well as a dance. She likes Clive Brook but his pesky estranged wife is in the way. What’s a flapper to do? Fancy a bit of light terrorism?
Welcome back! I’m cooking my way through the 1929 Photoplay cookbook but today, I’m taking a little detour to 1933 so that I can prepare a dessert contributed by Clara Bow. (You can catch up on all my past taste tests here.)
Continue reading “Cooking with the (Silent) Stars: Clara Bow’s Vanilla Marlow”
If you’re like me, you were pretty excited when Flicker Alley announced that they would be releasing Children of Divorce (1927), which stars Clara Bow and Gary Cooper. Well, it gets even better! How would you like to win a copy?
When is comes to silent film sass, no one can beat Clara Bow. Her films were often short on both budget and plot, so Bow had to carry the whole thing through sheer personality. It quite often worked.
So you have a friend from the city staying in the backwoods. What do you do to make him feel more at home? Throw a nasty party, of course! Do I have to tell you everything?
There were a lot of flappers in silent Hollywood. Hey, it was the twenties, after all. However, none of them seemed to have as much fun as Clara Bow.
Continue reading “You want frivolity? Clara Bow will show you the way of the frivol! Animated GIF”
Clara Bow goes Hawaiian in this Victor Fleming-directed rom-com. The target of Miss Bow’s affections is a very shocked (and very married) Clive Brook. The whole thing is pretty much an excuse to get Clara into grass skirts and wet frocks but she sells it.
Continue reading “Hula (1927) A Silent Film Review”
Clara Bow is the only thing that makes this faux French romance worth seeing. A gangster gal with a heart of pyrite, Clara’s boyfriend is kidnapped by an eccentric rich guy who is determined to make an honest man of him. Clara responds with staging a seduction of her own. None of this is as fun as it sounds. A low budget bore but Clara is a gem.
[toggler title=”How does it end? (click here for a spoiler)” ]Clara gets shot by her old gang on her wedding day (to the rich guy) but her old boyfriend recognizes her, there are tidy divorces and she turns out to be an aristocrat who was kidnapped as a baby and all ends with champagne and roses. Or something.[/toggler]
If it were a dessert it would be:
Faux Chicken Nuggets. Chicken or cake? Well, guessing is all the fun! Looks like one thing on the surface, is another inside. Guaranteed to disappoint or weird out anyone who tastes it.
You can read my full-length review of the film here.
Clara Bow gives a not-so-fond farewell to her castmates in the poverty row potboiler Parisian Love. As was the case in so many of her early films, the plot is thin but Clara sparkles.
If you ever have to make a not-so-glamorous exit down a fire escape, channeling Clara would not be a bad idea. I mean, it’s a good thing to keep in mind, just in case. I think it always pays to be prepared.
I mean, look at this helpless maiden. It’s no wonder that silent leading ladies were always ending up on the railroad tracks.*
Clara Bow is a French Apache in the low-budget pot-boiler Parisian Love. The movie itself is laughably bad but Clara is adorable and charismatic. She also knows how to handle herself in a fight. 20’s leading ladies showed spunk that has rarely been seen before or since and Clara was one of the spunkiest.
*Dripping sarcasm
Love Clara Bow’s tough girl roles! The film, Parisian Love, is no masterpiece but Clara is completely splendid. Admit it, you’ve wanted to do this to someone at some time or another.
More grooming tips from the silent era. We were previously encouraged to keep our skin creamy and soft, as it would then win over Bolsheviks and render us bullet-proof. However, we now learn that while our skin must be nice, it would be foolish to keep our nails too clean.
No word as to whether Clara Bow agreed with the observation.
(This is from Parisian Love. I am just wondering if a criminal-class harridan would really know about a stylish dandy from the court of a past English prince regent.)
Clara Bow is a Parisian Apache whose boyfriend is taken away by a do-gooder. Determined to show the goody-two-shoes a lesson, she decides to marry him. Yes, that is the plot they decided to go with. Bow’s frequent co-star, Donald Keith, is the purloined boyfriend.
Continue reading “Parisian Love (1925) A Silent Film Review”
Clara Bow is pretty much to only reason to watch Parisian Love. Was she ever spunky! She is a lady gang member with a flair for burglary and lungs like a fruit monger.
Enjoy the lip reading!
Clara Bow takes on both Ernest Torrence and Percy Marmont in this battle of sexes, classes and generations. City girl Clara has married backwoodsman Torrence in haste and is at the “repenting in leisure” stage. Things perk up when Marmont shows up and Clara shows him just what made her the IT Girl. Sassy, brash and funny as anything, this film is an ideal showcase for Bow, who manages to steal the show from everyone.
Think silent movies are dusty? Meet Clara! The divine Miss Bow is a pretty city girl who winds up married to a stodgy Canadian trapper. Then a city man shows up and starts a flirtation with our bored little flapper. He gets more than he bargained for. Basically, this is the most fun you can legally have at the movies.
Continue reading “Mantrap (1926) A Silent Film Review”