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She's Got It: Creating Clara Bow

2023; University of Missouri; Volume: 46; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/mis.2023.a901089

1548-9930

Clara Bow,

Art History and Market Analysis

She's Got ItCreating Clara Bow Clara Bow Click for larger view View full resolution Clara Bow, ca. 1927, image courtesy of Photofest [End Page 115] Click for larger view View full resolution Clara Bow, ca. 1930, image courtesy of Library of Congress In 1926, B. P. Schulberg, the head of productions at Paramount Pictures, read British author Elinor Glyn's novelette It in Cosmopolitan. It is the story of a working-class shopgirl who flaunts her sex appeal to attract her wealthy boss. Schulberg found it to be a little clichéd yet potentially a good vehicle for Clara Bow. He had successfully promoted Mary Pickford as "America's Sweetheart," but promoting Bow as "the Brooklyn Bonfire" had not caught on. He was growing impatient; the studio needed a big star to bring in audiences. He hoped turning her into America's "It Girl" would do the trick. Jesse Lasky, vice president of production at Famous Players-Lasky Studio, had brought Glyn to Hollywood in 1920 to write screenplays. She had been a quick study. While she knew little about moving pictures, she managed in a matter of months to write several successful scripts, but if she hoped to stay employed, she needed a box-office hit. When Schulberg asked her to fashion It into a scenario for Bow, Glyn jumped at the chance. During a lull in Bow's shooting schedule on Wings, Schulberg arranged for the author and actress to meet. Each woman had a distinct [End Page 116] Click for larger view View full resolution Elinor Glyn, ca. 1908, image courtesy of Library of Congress [End Page 117] first impression of the other. Arriving swathed in purple chiffon veils to conceal a face-lift, the sixty-two-year-old author struck Bow as eccentric. Clara recalled that the author said to her, "So this is Clara Bow" and then put her hands on her head as if it were a crystal ball and she were gazing into the future. Click for larger view View full resolution Clara Bow and Elinor Glyn, ca. 1927, image courtesy of Photofest Elinor Glyn was equally uncertain about the starlet. Bow's appearance was untidy, her figure obscured by an oversized sweater and crumpled skirt and her flaming red hair swept up messily in a scarf. But Glyn appreciated that Bow seemed unaware of her physical beauty. As the two women chatted, Glyn was taken by Bow's warmth and candor. Moments after clasping the actress's head in her hands, Glyn announced, "You are my medium, child." Bow shrugged and smiled bashfully, pleased that the author liked her. Glyn agreed with Schulberg that Bow was the physical embodiment of "It," the word the author used to suggest an inexplicable inner magic and animal magnetism that attracted both sexes. Bow possessed these qualities in abundance. Since she didn't care about clothes, Glyn selected stylish dresses for her and tamed her unruly hair. She got Bow to curb [End Page 118] her habits of gum-chewing and swearing and worked with her on the dropped endings of her words, particularly gs. Click for larger view View full resolution Movie poster for It, ca. 1927, image courtesy of Photofest When Bow grew impatient with Glyn's constant corrections—calling her "Madame Shithead" behind her back—Glyn limited her efforts to the occasional suggestion. But she continued to encourage Bow to improvise for the camera, and, under Glyn's tutelage, the actress gained confidence in her comedic ability. Years later, Bow said that Glyn had been one of the few people in Hollywood who had tried to help her. Once Glyn saw the actress's work in front of the camera and her energy and sexual power, she left work on the film for a cross-country lecture tour instructing young women on how they too could cultivate "It." It was a box-office success. Variety declared that Bow ran away with the picture, and the New York Times said she could "flirt with a grizzly bear." As America's "It Girl," Bow became the new symbol of the roaring '20s, surpassing Colleen Moore, film's original flapper, as the "hottest...