It is unbelievable to me how little today's society knows about the golden years of Hollywood and the glamourous men and women who once inhabited that sparkling fantasy on the hill. So I have decided to start this blog so that these true movie stars and legends and their amazing fashions are not forgotten. I intend to wind my way through the golden years of Hollywood, when the silver screen truly was a silver screen, and I invite you to join me. Some of the stories are stranger than fiction and some of the 'true lives' of these celebrities and legends were nothing more than orchestrated false lives the old Hollywood studio heads constructed to make their stars look like fairy tale characters. Either way, it will be an adventure! I guess it would be appropriate to begin at the beginning, so I will begin with an actress from the silent era who has long been forgotten by all but a few of us: Clara Bow.
Clara Bow burst onto the scene in 1927 in the silent movie "It", forever branding her the immortal "It Girl". Beautiful, young and seemingly full of life, she seemed to have it all. But she was a conflicted girl, having worked her way up the Hollywood ladder as a child actress first and putting in alot of bit parts before she finally 'made it big' in Hollywood.
At the height of her stardom, she was the countries' top box office draw, her fans far outnumbering even the likes of Charlie Chaplan and Gloria Swanson. She was the queeen of the silent picture, her looks both sexy and girl next door; large expressive eyes and henna dyed hair that showed up dark in the black and white pictures. A perfect boyish figure to show off the new fashions of the day. She was the epitome of the flapper. Dresses with dropped waists to allow for the wild kicks and flips of the Charlston and bobbed hair to show off the wonderful close fitting cloche hats of the day. She was the girl every man lusted after and every girl wanted as her best friend. This combination of characteristics in a cinema star is very difficult to come by, you almost never see it. But she had it. She had 'It'. And every girl in America wanted to be her, emulating both her bohemian life style and her wild sense of style.
Her career was at an all time high, and she starred in the first motion picture to win the Academy Award for best picture of 1927, a war movie with a star studded cast called "Wings". She even had the honor of accepting the award on behalf of her castmates, recieving it from non other than Douglas Fairbanks. But beneath that happy, gay facade was a girl who had grown up with a mentally disturbed mother who once even held a knife to her daughters throat in an effort to stop her from going to Hollywood to live her dream.
As the era of silent films drew to a close and 'talkies' became the rage, alot of the silent film stars were left along the side of the road, unable to make the transition for one reason or another. John Gilbert, the top leading man of the silent era, was deemed 'inappropriate' for talkies because of his voice. It was a worry that Clara's heavy New York accent would also be a problem, but both her fans and the producers of the films loved it, and her career continued to flourish.
As the 1920's drew to a close, Clara was becoming more and more confused and conflicted, dropping out of movie roles and even spending time at a psychiatric ward, where she was given contriversial electro therapy. She suffered what would now be called a nervous breakdown and semi retired from Hollywood. In the early 1930's she married western star Rex Bell and went to live in Nevada, her 'desert paradise'. She made only a few movies at this time, mostly to make the money she needed to ensure that she would never need to make a movie again. And, a woman of her word, she quietly and without the crazy fanfare that used to mark every move she made, faded away from the Hollywood scene. It was not long before she was forgotten. There were new, young actressed more than willing to take her place in Hollywood.
Clara Bow, the legend of the silver screen, died in 1965 at the age of 60. I wonder how she would feel, after all she did for the silver screen, knowing that for the most part she is forgotten by the world. The girl who was like a bright star shooting across the sky, only to dim and quietly fall to earth. Never mentioned in any of the 'top 100' lists that Hollywood puts together to honor their own.
Hollywood is a shameful place these days, but mostly they should be ashamed that they have forgotten the original 'It' girl. The beautiful, vivacious and always fashionable screen icon Clara Bow.
