The It Girl

Clara Bow

Today is the birthday of the original “It Girl”—Clara Bow.

Born in Brooklyn on July 29, 1905, Bow’s childhood was one straight out of a nightmare. Raised in poverty with a mentally unstable mother who threatened to kill her and a father who sexually abused her, the seventh-grade drop out’s one avenue of escape was the movies.

In 1921, Motion Picture magazine announced the Fame and Fortune Contest. First prize was a part in a movie. Bow’s father paid $1.00 for her to have two photos taken at a Coney Island studio, which she delivered in person to the publishers. The manager of the contest noted on her photos, “Called in person—very pretty.” Bow ended up beating out the other contestants and won. 

She was given a part in Beyond the Rainbow (1922) but her scenes ended up on the cutting room floor. Her next role as a tomboy in Elmer Clifton’s Down to the Sea in Ships (1922) proved more fruitful, earning her praise from the critics. Hollywood soon beckoned, and Bow would go on to become the biggest star of the 1920s with films that included The Plastic Age (1925), Mantrap (1926), Wings (1927), and It (1927), in which she played her most famous role—Betty Lou, a shop girl with plenty of “it” who sets her sights on her wealthy boss. 

With her bobbed red hair, expressive brown eyes, and sex appeal that seemed to radiate off the screen, Bow epitomized the fun-loving flapper of the Roaring Twenties. In fact, F. Scott Fitzgerald said, "Clara Bow is the quintessence of what the term 'flapper' signifies as a definite description: pretty, impudent, superbly assured, as worldly-wise, briefly-clad and 'hard-berled' as possible."

By the 1930s though Bow's flame had burned out. Overworked, mistreated by the studio, and suffering from scandals and ill health, she made her final film, Hoop-La in 1933 before retiring from acting. She moved to Nevada with her husband, Rex Bell, and raised two boys. As she got older, Bow suffered from schizophrenia and ended up living alone, separated from her family. She died on September 27, 1965 while watching a film from the 1920s.

If you've never seen a Clara Bow film, do so, now. She is brilliant on the screen—funny, adorable, heartbreaking, and well deserving of the title of "It Girl." Happy Birthday, Clara.

New York in the Twenties

A dear friend recently sent me a link to a 1961 episode from Walter Cronkite’s documentary series The Twentieth Century. Entitled “New York in the Twenties,” it features some amazing footage including Helen Morgan singing and George Gershwin rehearsing. There’s also a candid interview with Marc Connelly who discusses Dorothy Parker along with other members of the Algonquin Round Table. There are a few dry bits but try to watch the whole thing; it's worth it. 

The Brox Sisters

Lorayne, Bobbe, and Patricia Brox. Check out those bobs.

Before the Andrew Sisters, before the Boswell Sisters, there were the Brox Sisters. Little remembered today, they were a popular singing trio in the 1920s and early 30s whose sweet, Jazzy harmonies were perfect for the Roaring Twenties.

Born in the US but raised in Canada, the sisters began performing when they were teens, touring the vaudeville circuits. Around this time they changed their surname, Brock, to Brox, reportedly after a producer told them that it would fit better on the marquee. Their first names went as well: Josephine became Bobbe, Eunice changed to Lorayne, and Kathleen to Patricia.

Their big break came in 1921 when they sang "Everybody Step" and "the Schoolhouse Blues" in Irving Berlin’s Music Box Revue. For the rest of their careers, the sisters would be associated with Berlin. He cast them in two more Music Box Revues (1923 and 1924) as well as in the Marx Brothers musical Cocoanuts (1926) in which they sang the novelty song “Monkey Doodle Doo.” The following year they were in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1927 with Eddie Cantor and Ruth Etting, again singing Berlin's work—"Jungle-Jingle" and "It's Up to the Band."

A move to Hollywood led to their appearance in a handful of shorts and a few Hollywood films including King of Jazz (1930); Hollywood on Parade (1932), in which they do an impression of Marlene Dietrich singing “Falling in Love Again;” and most importantly The Hollywood Revue of 1929 in which they performed along with Cliff "Ukelele Ike" Edwards the song “Singing in the Rain”—the first time the song appeared on screen.

The sisters made a series of bestselling records and popular radio appearances before marriages for all three in the 1930s saw the break up of the act. They would reunite one last time in 1939 for a radio salute to who else but Irving Berlin.

With the Brox Sisters there were no solos, no show offs—just three young women harmonizing as one. Although their high voices can sometimes come across as cloying, there is still something appealing about them. Perhaps it’s their air of innocence that allowed them to get away with singing what would have been considered some rather naughty lyrics. Or maybe it's the Southern twang they used. What's clear is that their sound combined with their youthful vitality made them a perfect fit for the 1920s.

To hear some examples of their singing, visit the LOC's National Jukebox here. And to see them perform "Singing in the Rain," watch this. By the way, if you're wondering why Ukelele Ike sounds familiar it's probably because he was the voice of Jiminy Cricket in Pinocchio.

The Bob

Image: Photoplay Magazine, June 1924

When it comes to hairstyles, for me the bob is the best. I've tried wearing my hair different ways but always wind up returning to the bob. According to this chart, I currently have the boyish bob with bangs although I've had the Dutch cut and the horizontal clubbed bob in the past. The bob is chic and classic. In other words, just perfect.

A Well-Dressed Flapper

Isn't this outfit gorgeous? I love it, from the adorable chiffon tam to the chic black silk faille coat with matching top and skirt to the rose beige shoes. And having Clara Bow as the model is a bonus. But the total cost, $346.50, makes it sound like an outfit the average flapper would not have been able to afford, especially if everything was purchased all at once. For some perspective, in today's money the outfit would cost $4,530. That's a pretty hefty price tag. But oh how I would love to have every item.

Wonder what other items from the 1920s would cost today? Check out this inflation calculator from the Bureau of Labor Statistics here. 

Colourful Women

A young flapper in Baden-Baden, Germany. Photo: Wilhelm Tobien.

Normally when we think of women in the 1920s or 30s, we think of them in black and white. But check out these lovelies from the pages of National Geographic in gorgeous colour. 

The images seen here are Autochromes, an early type of colour photography. National Geographic was a champion of the process and featured an Autochrome—"A Ghent Flower Garden" by Paul G. Guilumette—for the first time in their July 1914 issue. One of the handful of photographers creating Autochromes for the publication was German photographer Wilhelm Tobien who took these images all over Europe.

Two young girls in the Canary Islands. Photo: Wilhelm Tobien.

Striking a pose in Bucharest, Romania. Photo: Wilhelm Tobien.

All smiles in the Azores. Photo: Wilhelm Tobien.

I am especially fond of the photo from the Azores as some of my family immigrated from there. I love the green and white dress one of the women is wearing and how happy they look. And seeing them in colour just makes them seem more real.

To see more Autochromes and other wonderful images check out the National Geographic Image Collection here.

On Broadway

A scene from Nice Work If You Can Get It. Photo: Joan Marcus.

I recently took in a couple of Broadway shows set during the glory days of the 1920s and 30s that feature classics from the Great American Songbook.

First up was Nice Work If You Can Get It by Joe DiPietro with music and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin. Nice Work takes place in Prohibition New York where Jimmy Winter, a carefree playboy preparing to marry for the third or fourth time (he isn't sure which), meets a pretty bootlegger named Billie Bendix who's avoiding the law. Billie decides that Jimmy's empty Long Island mansion is the perfect place to stash her latest supply of gin but her plans are foiled when she and her two cohorts, Cookie McGee and Duke Mahoney, are interrupted by the arrival of Jimmy with his fiancée (the “finest interpreter of modern dance in the world”) and her senator father and teetotaler aunt, the Duchess Estonia Duckworth. Throw in some party revelers, a suspicious cop, and Jimmy’s mother and chaos ensues while Jimmy and Billie fall in love.

The plot has all the elements of a screwball comedy, which is not surprising as the book’s based loosely on Oh, Kay! by P.G. Wodehouse and Guy Bolton. Yet the book is the main problem with the show. You get the feeling that DiPietro decided to throw in every plot twist he could think of along with corny jokes that are just that, corny.

And yet it’s really hard to be displeased when you're listening to Gershwin tunes and Nice Work is filled with some of their best songs, including the title song, “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off,” and “Fascinating Rhythm.” The music makes up for a lot of the show's shortcomings and reminds us just how brilliant the Gershwins were.

Kelli O'Hara and Matthew Broderick. Photo: Joan Marcus.

Jimmy is played by Matthew Broderick who injects a dry sense of humour into the role. Broderick is not a song and dance man by trade. His singing is fine (think Fred Astaire), especially in the quieter scenes like when he sings “Do, Do, Do” while strumming a ukulele. The dancing though is another matter. When Broderick is in a number with the other dancers, his lack of dance skills are noticeable but his charm makes up for it.

Kelli O’Hara on the other hand has no such problems. Her dancing is effortless and her soprano voice quite beautiful and a nice contrast to her tomboy outfits. She also gets one of the best scenes of the play when she sings the heartbreaking “Someone To Watch Over Me” while lovingly cradling a gun.

Yet the musical is owned by some of its other players. Michael McGrath, who plays Cookie, gives a convincing impression of a 1930s sidekick and got some of the biggest laughs of the evening, and Judy Kaye as the Duchess whose discovery of alcohol leads her to literally swing from the chandelier was a standout. Not surprising, both took home Tonys. There’s also the end of show entrance by the venerable Estelle Parsons as Jimmy’s mother.

Despite its weaknesses I enjoyed the show because let’s face it, spending a few hours listening to Gershwin tunes in a theatre ‘s wonderful.

Reno Sweeney and the sailors in Anything Goes. Photo: Joan Marcus.

A much better musical was Anything Goes, which I saw a few weeks later. Based on an update by John Weidman and Timothy Crouse of the original book by P.G. Wodehouse and Guy Bolton with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, it’s another screwball musical but this time set on the high seas in the 1930s. Reno Sweeney is a nightclub performer who is headed to England for a job. The man she’s in love with, Billy Crocker, stows away to be near the girl he loves, Hope Harcourt, who’s headed to England with her mother and fiancée, Lord Evelyn Oakleigh. Along for the ride is Billy’s drunken boss, a couple of Chinese men recently converted to Christianity, a gangster’s moll, and Public Enemy #13, Moonface Martin. Like in any good screwball, all misunderstandings are ironed out in the end and everyone ends up with the right person.

As with Nice Work, Anything Goes’ songs are hard to beat. The best of Cole Porter is here, starting off with “I Get a Kick Out of You” and including “Easy to Love,” “It’s De-lovely,” and “You’re the Top.” Act I ends with a huge production of the title song with the entire cast singing and tap-dancing. That one scene alone was worth the cost of the ticket. Act II keeps the action moving with a red-hot production of “Blow, Gabriel, Blow,” which had me practically bouncing in my seat.

Jessica Stone performs "Buddie, Beware." Photo: Joan Marcus.

The night I went Stephanie J. Block, who normally plays Reno, was out sick so her understudy, Kiira Schmidt, went on. She made a valiant effort and despite stumbling over a few lines was still enjoyable. Yet I couldn’t help wondering what Block’s performance would have been like. The impish Joel Grey as Moonface Martin, who’s disguised as a priest while on board, was a favourite of the crowd. A natural ham, Grey played his scenes for every last laugh and was very sweet as the man who’s upset he’s so far down on the FBI’s most wanted list. 

The rest of the cast were great but one of my favourite performances was by Jessica Stone who was spot on as Moonface’s wisecracking partner-in-crime Erma. Her performance of “Buddie, Beware” with the ship’s sailors was hilarious.

And let’s not forget the set and costumes. The ship, which dominated the stage, was a great Art Deco backdrop for the antics of the characters whose costumes were elegant and perfect. Besides, how can you not love a bunch of singing and dancing sailors? The whole show was just delovely.

Nice Work If You Can Get It plays at the Imperial Theatre. For more information, visit their website here.

Anything Goes plays at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre through September 9, 2012. For more information, visit their website here.

Gone Baby Gone

In 1924 the Oakland Tribune, in conjunction with the  American Theater, held a contest in which people were asked to submit their most unusual dreams. The winner would receive $25 and have his or her dream turned into a short film. Mrs. L.L. Nicholson of Oakland submitted the winning dream— a picnic outing that goes awry when someone turns up missing. The resulting film is a joy to watch—from the street scenes of Oakland and San Francisco to the stucco house (many of these types of houses can still be found in Oakland) to the 1920s clothing and bobbed hair of the wife. And the scenes with the fish add a great surrealist quality to the film. What fun.

To view this and hundreds of other early films for free, visit the Prelinger Archives website.