Page 5 - CR31R.pdf

WHEN SILENTS WERE GOLDEN

A Memory Of Yesteryear's Stars Of The Pre-Sound Era

Clara Bow by Denzil Howson

Eleanor Glynn, a torrid English novelist of the early 20th. Clara Bow made a total of 55 films, 47 of which were
Century, dubbed her .. The IT Girl". made before "sound". Her strong Brooklyn accent spelt
the death knell ofl1er sound career.
"lr' was Miss Glynn's euphemism for "Sexy", and it was
indeed an appropriate appellation for one of the screen's The titles of some of her silent films lend credibility to
scintillating stars of the silent screen, the beautiful Clara Eleanor Glynn's appraisal of her and her free-wheeling
Bow. Clara was born in 1905 and died in 1965, in her relationships. Note these titles!
60th year.
"The Daring Years", "Poisoned Paradise", "Daughters Of
Pleasure", "Helen's Babies", "The Adventurous Sex", "My
Ladies Lips", "Eve's Lover", "Kiss Me Again" and so on,
and on, and on.

One might ask, where was the indomitable Will Hays of
the Hays Office during the outpouring of these salacious
scenarios? He was possibly toiling over the wording of
his famous dictum:

"No scene featuring G double bed is permitted unless lhe
occupants of the bed each have one foot on the floor".

It would seem that any artist in a double-bed scene had
not only to be a good "method" actor (that is they must be
familiar with the method), but also needed to be a con-
summate contortionist!

There is a story which could be apocryphal but which is
pertinent to Clara's life style. When she was offered a life-
time membership of the Brooklyn Dodgers, someone pro-
tested to her,"But you can't be a member of the Dodgers
unless you've made the team!".

Clara simply raised her eyebrows to them, and in her most
provocative tone she murmured ''Well?"

But although at the height of her fame the clouds all had
silver linings, in the following years life lost some of its
The vivacious and adorable Clara Bow took Hollywood ecstasy.
completely by storm in the twenties, at the height of the
silent era. Towards the end of her life she wrote the following, it
could be her epitaph:
Paul Rotha, film historian, in his encyclopaedic work "The
Film Till Now" described her as a symbol of the American "Being a sex symbol is a heavy load to cany,
Drama ofYoutb. especially when one is tired, hurt and bewildered."

Adolf Zukor, famed American film mogul, once said of Clara Bow - the "IT" girl
her, "She danced even when her feet were not moving".
A Silent Star When Silents Were Golden
We believe Adolf had been in a position to observe her
feet from several evocative viewpoints more than once!

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