Dear Reader #208

Dear Reader,

The cover for Dana, book three in my Golden Age of Hollywood series, scheduled for 2024. This noirish 1920s story is about a young woman employed by a Hollywood studio who becomes embroiled in a murder mystery.

My latest translation, the Italian version of Love and Bullets, Sam Smith Mystery Series book two.

*****

Clara Bow’s forty-seventh movie was The Wild Party, produced between 2 – 29 January, 1929, and released on April 26, 1929. Clara played Stella Ames an extrovert student.

The Wild Party was a landmark movie – the first Clara Bow talkie. Also, it was directed by Dorothy Arzner, at that time the only female director working in Hollywood.

Unlike Greta Garbo, for example, Clara was given no time to prepare for the transition from silent movies to talkies. She was thrown in at the deep end, and she struggled. 

Clara was nervous about her Brooklyn accent. She had no reason to be – her accent was natural and wide in range. She could deliver everything from high-pitched giggles to low, somber tones in the sad scenes. 

Clara was also nervous about the sound system. This was understandable because she relied upon spontaneity and the freedom to move around the set. Now, she was pinned to a mark, under a microphone. Dorothy Arzner tried to assist by devising the first fishpole microphone. This microphone offered flexibility and allowed Clara freedom of movement and expression.

In January 1929, Clara received 45,000 fan letters, more than twice as many as any other actor in movie history. Theatre owners voted Clara the top female box-office draw of the year. She received 2,700 votes, twice as many as anyone else.

With careful management and encouragement, Clara could have made the transition to talkies. At the dawn of this revolution in the movies, Clara was still box-office gold. But she was becoming disenchanted.

Favourite Movie Quote of the 20th Century, First Round

Result: 31% v 69%

Result: 5% v 95%

Second Round

Result: 69% v 31%

Result: 25% v 75%

Result: 42% v 58%

Result: 27% v 73%

Result: 67% v 33%

Social media https://toot.wales/@HannahHowe

As ever, thank you for your interest and support.

Hannah xxx

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