"Clara Bow Running Wild," A Modern Moron Book Review

Once upon a time mainstream movies were silent and its mega stars included Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford, when sexuality in film was nonexistent for all intensive purposes. (Picture on the left of the book is also of Bow, who many say inspired the creation of the iconic Betty Boop in 1930.)

 Hollywood's B.C. films lacked the jubilant sexiness of youth, these were the years Before Clara. Bravo to David Stenn for B.C.ing Bow, blasphemous or not. Clara brought sex to American cinema in the early 1920s. 

Bow was born on July 29, 1905. Her movie idol was Mary Pickford and very soon in her life, she aspired to be a movie star. Winning the Fame and Fortune Contest at 16 ignited the flames of her explosive career, riddled with praise and harsh accusations about her personal life. Before she was 18, she appeared in her first movie in 1922, and by 1927, she was Hollywood's "It" girl who also starred in that years movie "It," written by Elinor Glyn.

"It," the quality possessed by some which draws all others with its magnetic force. With "It" you win all men if you are a woman-and all women if you are a man. "It' can be a quality of the mind as well as a physical attraction, Elinor Glyn said. 

Having read "Clara Bow Running Wild," I now want to read the 1907 book, "Three Weeks," by Glyn. It's an erotic romance empowering women. 

"Clara Bow Running Wild" is the reason I've seen 13 of Bow's silent films and five of her sound Pre-Code movies. I've watched 11 of the 13 silents multiple times, their solid stories, complete with today's lurid and lascivious storylines. Not nearly as blatant and and graphic as today's flicks, but it's all implied and complete with crime, violence, boozing, drugging, fornication and murder. 

The crazed  mixture of vices amid the human spirit were showcased in the nearly five dozen flicks Bow starred or appeared in. Clara Bow depicted female promiscuity with aplomb and humor. Bow was clever, sly, and delightfully devious on the big screen and officially deemed the "It" girl by Elinor Glyn. 

Bow was a pioneering actress who infuriated some and infatuated many. I've lost count of how many times I've watched "True to the Navy," and "Call Her Savage," Pre-Code gems. 

"She naturally walks away with every scene she's in, she's marvelous, she has everything," Gary Cooper said.    

If you want to know what Clara Bow said about Cooper's baby maker, read the book. 

"...Running Wild" details her bedroom antics in her own words and those of others without being pornographic. Incidentally, her sex life is a blip of the many things this book covers. 

"If you can't be good, be careful", Bow said. 

The 1928 movie "Three Week Ends," based on the book, "Three Weeks" was basically a disaster. Not because of Bow. She lights everyone up with her mere presence. She approached her role with gusto and professionalism in "Three Week Ends," but she could not cover for a plot that was as skimpy as her wardrobe, she said. 

In 1925, Bow made 16 feature films. "I'm jest a woikin goil," Bow said in her native Brooklyn tongue. 

Bow is chunky and spunky as a boxer in 1928s "Rough House Rosie," another missing movie. 

As of 1985, all of her 1928 movies are nowhere to be found. To this day missing silent films are found in attacks, salt mines and mis labeled studio vaults. "Three Week Ends" and "Rough House Rosie," are still MIA, along with two dozen more of her features. For nearly 12 years Bow starred or appeared in 56 feature films, 11 were sound movies. 

The least Hollywood could do is remaster her silents such as "Hula," "The Plastic Age," "Black Oxen," "Capital Punishment," and all five of the sound films I own including "True to the Navy," and "Call Her Savage." 

I must admit, the remastered silents of 1927s "It," "Wings," and my Blue-Ray of "Children of Divorce," are amazing. Surprisingly, "Children of Divorce" was subpar at the box office upon its original release, despite the presence of Gary Cooper and Clara bow. It's a four star flick for me.

When this book was originally released, there were no prints of 1930s, "True to the Navy." This is now one of the 18 DVDs features I have of hers. "True to the Navy" is a Pre-Code Hollywood film. She has multiple boyfriends in the film, very risque for it's time. 

When she was dating Gary Cooper in real life, she had six other boy friends including her then future husband Rex Bell who was one of the sailors in "True to the Navy." Bell knew about her wild antics, and his lack of jealously impressed her. The two married in 1931 and remained together until the mid 1940s. They spawned two sons. They remained close until his death in 1962. 

Bow sings very well in "True to the Navy." She had no training in music and she nailed the one and only song in the movie. She truly was a natural in front of the camera. 

1927 was her glory year, not only did she star in the box office sensation It.," she also co-starred in Hollywood's first film to win the academy award, "Wings." 

Clara Bow in the first best picture of the year, 1927s "Wings" 

She was the female equivalent of Charlie Sheen off the set, boozing, drugging and sexing. She was briefly committed to a mental facility in 1931 and fans and Hollywood movie mongrels were starting to black ball her. She rebounded extremely well in 1932s "Call Her Savage" despite harsh accusations of Bow participating in beastiality with dogs. Accusers point to the one scene in "Call Her Savage" in which she's affectionate with her pet dog. I own the movie, nothing what so ever to indicate animal perversion. 

She made her last movie in 1933s "Hoopla." She retired when she was 28-years-old. She immediately left Hollywood and moved to a Nevada ranch with her hubby Bell. Years before she made her last film, she felt alone and disliked the Hollywood scene. Movies no longer fascinated her and she preferred the company of children over adults. In the 1950s, she was reading several dozen books a month. Like her mother, she was a diagnosed schizophrenic and committed twice to mental facilities. The second time she was committed was in the 1950s, a mental wellness facility in Harford Connecticut for a few months.   

Her mother once put a butchers knife to her daughters throat and threatened to kill her. Her dad was an abuser of alcohol and women. He raped Clara when she was 16. Growing up, she lived in the slums of Brooklyn hiding from abusive Johns her mother brought home before she was 5-years-old. 

When she was only nine she lost her best friend Johnny in a fire. Johnny lived in the same building as her when the structure caught on fire. While Johnny was burning, Bow tried to save him by wrapping a throw rug around him. 

 The one bright spot during her childhood was her grandfather who died in front of her before her 6th birthday.   

"It's easy to cry on cue, all I have to do is think of home,"Bow said.

Movie directors have attested to this quote. The doctor who treated her for mental illness in the 1950s said her life should be told by a master of fiction and not a humble doctor such as himself. 

Mark Izzy Schurr