Clara Bow’s forty-first movie was Hula, produced between June 9 – July 8, 1927, released August 27, 1927. Clara played the title character.
Banned intertitles, lines spoken by Clara (of course): “Kiss me, love me, begin again.” “Oh, ya do love me, Saint Anthony.”
Hula is a formula post “It” Clara Bow movie: Clara basically plays herself; her leading man is nondescript; low budget; flash as much flesh as possible. Once again, Clara’s talent was sacrificed for the raking in of the mighty dollar.
While some men viewed Hula as nothing more than a sex object, women viewed her as a liberated woman. Clara’s performance complete with her trademark “triple-take” – each look designed to hook a particular section of the audience – had everything to do with that.
Mastodon 1970s Mega Movie Poll, Last Sixteen
Star Wars 70% v 30% Apocalypse Now
Mad Max 45% v 55% All the President’s Men
Monty Python’s Life of Brian 75% v 25% The Deer Hunter
A week ago, we published the eBook version of Tula, book one in the Golden Age of Hollywood. It’s been an eventful week. Tula is currently #12 on Amazon’s genre charts while Sunshine, book two in the series and scheduled for publication next April, is #6. Once published, Amazon does not count Tula’s pre-orders in its chart positions, hence the discrepancy of book two being ahead of book one.
We have three translations in production: Afrikaans, Portuguese and Spanish, with more planned. We also have the audiobook version in production and the print version due next week, ready for sale and distribution to the main libraries in Wales, Ireland, England and Scotland, including the Bodleian Library.
So far, most of the sales have been in America, followed by Canada and Britain. This we anticipated. We are hoping to increase sales in other countries as we progress.
Clara Bow’s fortieth movie was Rough House Rosie, produced between January 24 and March 11, 1927, and released on May 14, 1927. Clara played Rosie O’Reilly. Sadly, this film is now considered lost.
At this stage, Clara was working from 6 am until midnight, six days a week. Exhausted, she collapsed and was granted a three month vacation.
Romantically, Clara was torn between director Victor Fleming and actor Gary Cooper. Fleming, much older than Clara, was a ‘father figure’, whereas Cooper, basically a shy man, was trapped under his mother’s thumb. Cooper and Clara were well suited, but in the complex world of Clara Bow their relationship faded, although I strongly suspect that their affection for each other lasted until her final day.
Setting up a scene for Clara Bow’s Call Her Savage (1932), one of her eleven talkies. She also made forty-six silent movies.
The Mastodon 1970s Mega Movie Poll, Second Round
The Long Goodbye 30% v 70% All the President’s Men
Apocalypse Now 76% v 24% The China Syndrome
Taxi Driver 51% v 49% The Conversation
The Godfather 95% v 5% Twilight’s Last Gleaming
Last Sixteen
Monty Python and the Holy Grail 76% v 24% Network
M*A*S*H 65% v 35% Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Clara Bow’s thirty-ninth movie was Children of Divorce, a silent romantic drama produced between November 26, 1926 and January 15, 1927, and released on April 2, 1927. Clara played Kitty Flanders, a young flapper. The movie co-starred one of Clara’s lovers, Gary Cooper, who she met a few months earlier during the filming of Wings.
Gary Cooper was very nervous on the set (one scene required twenty-three straight takes; he was fired, but Clara made sure that he was rehired). He was especially nervous during the love scenes with co-star Esther Ralston. This was ironic because he developed a reputation as one of Hollywood’s great lovers.
Clara’s character died in this movie. Director Victor Fleming said, “Clara Bow’s death scene in Children of Divorce is the greatest ever done on the screen.”
At times, Clara Bow was ‘wild’ and ‘crazy’. She was also a great actress.
The Mastodon 1970s Mega Movie Poll, Second Round
Mad Max 51% v 49% The French Connection
Jaws 71% v 29% The Last Picture Show
The Deer Hunter 68% v 32% Slaughterhouse-Five
American Graffiti 32% v 68% A Clockwork Orange
Chinatown 65% v 35% The Taking of Pelham 123
Monty Python’s Life of Brian 71% v 29% The Sting
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory 53% v 47% Dog Day Afternoon
My latest movie article for the Seaside News can be found on page 40 of the magazine.
Clara Bow’s thirty-eighth movie was It, her career-defining film. Produced between October 7 and November 6, 1926, It was released on February 19, 1927. Clara played shopgirl, Betty Lou Spence.
Co-star Priscilla Bonner said of Clara: “Clara always ‘gave’ to me in a scene. She worked with the other actor, and she worked hard. Always on time, very businesslike, and absolutely no ‘star temperament.’”
Variety said: “This Bow girl certainly has that certain ‘It’ for which the picture is named, and she just runs away with the film.”
It broke box office records across America and made Clara Bow the icon of her generation.
From the backstreets of Brooklyn to the number one actress in Hollywood, Clara had been on quite a journey. Where could she go from here?
The Mastodon 1970s Mega Movie Poll, First Round
Taxi Driver 69% v 31% Don’t Look Now
Twilight’s Last Gleaming 74% v 26% Go Tell the Spartans
Round Two
Monty Python and the Holy Grail 62% v 38% Young Frankenstein
Some exciting news. Nelmari Marais, who has already done an excellent job translating a number of my books, will translate Tula into Afrikaans. More translations will follow, but I’m especially pleased that Nelmari will translate the Afrikaans version of the book.
One of the highlights of my writing career to date, the Bulgarian version of The Hermit of Hisarya, Sam Smith Mystery Series, Book Five. In 2021, The Hermit of Hisarya was included in academic lectures in Bulgaria, discussing cultural studies and world literature, and the interrelation between cultural identity and the imagination.
Clara Bow’s thirty-sixth movie was Kid Boots a silent comedy produced between June 14 and July 26, 1926, and released on October 4, 1926. Clara played Clara McCoy. Eddie Cantor co-starred in his first film.
Clara was a very generous actress who assisted her fellow players. An example of her generosity can be found in Kid Boots. In one scene, Clara’s character was supposed to quarrel with Eddie Cantor’s character. They played that (silent) scene as a quarrel, but in reality, while conveying anger to the camera, Clara was offering Cantor words of encouragement.
Cantor offered this insight: “She told me, ‘be yourself’. She is. She is never camera conscious and acts on the set as she would in her home. While the camera ground away and caught all her pretty frowns, she was saying, ‘Eddie, ya doin’ fine! Just flash them banjo eyes and there ain’t nothin’ to it!’”
When Kid Boots opened in Manhattan, police were needed to control the crowds. Clara Bow, superstar, had well and truly arrived.
Through my 9 x great grandmother, Barbara Aubrey, I’m connected to the nobility. Meet my noble ancestors: Anne Dennis, the daughter of Sir William Dennis of Dyrham, Gloucestershire, and his wife Anne Berkeley, daughter of Sir Maurice, 4th Lord Berkeley. Anne married Sir John Ragland of Carnllwyd. They had at least two sons and three daughters, including Alice, my ancestor.
In 1555, with her second husband, Sir Edward Carne, Anne moved to Rome. The couple lived there until 1561, when Sir Edward died.
🖼️ Rome 1575
Meet my noble ancestors: Sir William Dennis
William Dennis was born c1470 in Gloucestershire, England. In 1494 he married Anne Berkeley, daughter of Sir Maurice Berkeley. The couple had six sons, two of whom were knighted, and seven daughters. Four of the daughters married knights, one married an esquire while the seventh became a nun at Lacock Abbey.
Sir William died on 22 June 1533, probably in Dyrham, Gloucestershire.
📸 A latticed window in Lacock Abbey, photographed by William Fox Talbot in 1835. This may be the oldest extant photographic negative made in a camera.
It’s December 1937 and Hedy Lamarr has arrived in Hollywood. One of her first tasks is to becoming familiar with the American way of driving by taking lessons at MGM’s driving school.
February 1938 and Hedy Lamarr is making her way in Hollywood. Meanwhile, five years after its release, the media focus is still on her controversial movie Ecstasy. However, many censors have decided to unban the film, so the media coverage of Hedy is, slowly, becoming more mainstream.
Mid-December 1933 and the newspapers were carrying reports that Cary Grant was in a nursing home. He’d travelled across the Atlantic in pursuit of Virginia Cherrill in an attempt to persuade her to marry him. She was very reluctant and kept pouring cold water over their romance. Randolph Scott, Grant’s housemate, had also arrived in London and the trio planned to spend Christmas together.
Early January, 1934. Cary Grant and Virginia Cherrill were to wed. Then their wedding was postponed. Grant was still in a nursing home. A rumour circulated that he was recovering from nervous exhaustion. Their on-off marriage was still on-off and mystery surrounding one of Hollywood’s most peculiar relationships continued.
The Mastodon 1970s Mega Movie Poll Round One Continued
Annie Hall 22% v 78% Monty Python’s Life of Brian
Star Wars 74% v 26% Logan’s Run
Dog Day Afternoon 72% v 28% Klute
Rocky 42% v 58% Mad Max
Network 76% v 24% Airport ‘77
Blazing Saddles 49% v 51% Young Frankenstein
The Godfather Part II 59% v 41% Diamonds Are Forever
I watched this movie this week. Golden Salamander is a decent thriller with moments of genuine suspense. Trevor Howard, as an archeologist who stumbles upon gunrunning, is as solid as ever while Anouk Aimee in an early role is an attractive heroine. The location filming in Tunisia adds to the atmosphere. Wilfred Hyde-White features as a bar pianist (did every thriller c1950 feature a bar pianist?! 🤔). Capital entertainment, as they used to say.
Hannah Howe 