Clara Bow

This is an honest, heart-breaking portrayal of 1920s film star Clara Bow. Not only does the author do a fabulous job of writing about her filmography, other notable Hollywood people, and motion picture history, but he also clears up many rumors that have been floating around about Clara's life for the past 80 years. The author's style is easy to grasp, not because it is written in a dumbed down way, but because it makes you feel as if you are talking to an old friend, who just happens to be an expert on old Hollywood. Highly recommended.

This is an excellent thorough look at one of the most fascinating moviestars of early cinema, Clara Bow. Instead of writing a highly sensationalised account, Mr. Stenn uses a lot of solid research and facts, not rehashing and keeping alive the same old trashy rumors and character assassinations. He even disproves the most infamous urban legend of them all, the one about Clara and the USC football team. What does emerge is the portrait of a very sad vulnerable tragic person. Clara came from dirt-poor Brooklyn roots, with mental illness running in her family, moving often in childhood, picked on by her peers and terribly abused at home. And like many abused children, she made excuses for it, believing they did it for her own good, that it was in her own best interest that her mother tried to kill her, that her father often beat her and once raped her. Her luck really began changing when she went west and broke into movies, after winning a local talent contest at the age of sixteen, and for a time enjoyed a semblance of happiness. However, her career began to decline in the early Thirties after a number of scandals (contrary to another urban legend, it wasn't really because of the coming of sound, although she did have a terrible case of microphone-phobia), and she finally left Paramount, feeling it in her own best interest. During this time, she married Rex Bell, who for a time provided her with a very happy secure life, as well as the two sons she adored and tried to be the ideal mother to. However, her past caught up with her and she eventually had to go to a number of doctors and psychiatrists, falling victim to the same schizophrenia that her mother and other female relatives had suffered from, and died at the relatively young age of sixty. It would be too easy for a biographer to paint a picture of Clara as a sleazy party-crazy bed-hopping woman of loose morals and ill repute who just got lucky, but Mr. Stenn instead paints a picture of a woman who was just a sweet scared vulnerable person who never really had a childhood, who just wanted love, security, and acceptance, and tried to get it in all of the wrong ways. She deserved so much better than abusive parents, a manager who exploited her, a studio that rarely put her in anything but predictable formula pictures instead of more serious dramatic roles, a press that repeatedly made up disgusting allegations against her (whether of a sexual nature or not), people who still believe these ridiculous stories that were manufactured decades ago, and a society that didn't fully understand the schizophrenia she suffered from, the disease that fully began showing itself after she was no longer acting.

I had seen several of Clara Bow's films and the TCM documentary before reading David Stenn's book, so I knew something about Clara and had forgotten some things as well. Mr. Stenn's book is well-written and researched. It does not turn Clara Bow's life into the tawdry tale, filled with just sex and scandal, which a lesser writer would use to sell the book. Instead, Mr. Stenn has written a well considered biography of a very unhappy and insecure life. The information he provides on her upbringing in the slums of Brooklyn, her winning the "Fame and Fortune Contest" and life in 1920's Hollywood is as complete as one would want. Her films are nicely profiled with detail given for the most important of them: It, Mantrap and Dancing Mothers. He also deals with her later mental problems with great sensitivity and clarity so one come away with knowing exactly made Clara the woman that she was. Ultimately, Clara's was an unhappy life punctuated with moments of happiness. I came away from the book feeling that I had a new perspective about Clara Bow and a renewed interest in seeing films of hers that I had missed. The book has an excellent filmography and contains a good set of photographs of Clara and the people in her life.

I had no idea who Clara Bow was, I had already read the equally great Jean Harlow biography also by David Stenn, so ordered the Clara Bow one along side it. So for me not being a fan to start with, I was reading about a star I didn't know from scratch. What a read, I was buried in the book, believe me Clara Bow had "IT" and David Stenn captured this hollywood Star beautifully. The research done for this book is clear to see, great care has been taken to sift through the facts, sorting out the scandal and rumours which spun itself out of control. The great little attributes to this book are the written lines as to how the star would sound if you enter into a conversation with Clara Bow herself. (Old New York, New York Slang) Looking for a page turner you got "IT" Clara Bow had her own fair share of naughtiness, but the fact is you just can't help liking her for it. Clara Bow was a stronger person than she ever believed. I am amazed by her staying power once a crisis a day had hit. The sympathy you feel for this women is overpowering. "A life no it ain't" but she knew what needed to be done to survive it. A star, Clara Bow certainly was.

Clara Bow's life and career are remembered as a series of lurid rumors about her sex life and inability to suceed in sound pictures. Stenn presents a great story about Bow's rise from a disfunctional family in the slums of Brooklyn to being one of the biggest stars in silent films. Sadly her problems didn't end once she made it in Hollywood.This is a well written and researched biography of an almost forgotten Hollywood star, the precursor of Jean Harlow and Marilyn Monroe. It is a wonderful look into the world of silent movies and I recommend it highly.

Clara Bow's incredible journey through life --- the child abuse, boundless energy, ambition, heartbreak and ostracism ---- is enough for any five soap operas. But it all happened to her, and David Stenn's flawless writing brings it all to life. Even hardcore film mavens who THINK they know Bow's story need to read this book. Bow was a highly complex, yet simple, person used by Hollywood's machine then cast aside when she seemed ill suited for talkies. Stenn iss particularly good at covering Bow's many valleys and how the tinsel town users almost zeroed-in on her. Unlike any bio I've ever read, RUNNING WILD truly blends outstanding research, often minute facts (there are many additions in this updated version), and a deep feeling for the Bow the public never saw. I HIGHLY recommend this book to teenagers! My 16 year old was fascinated with Bow's story, one which could have happened yesterday. Congratulations to David Stenn for a magnificent bio that no film buff --- or teenager --- should miss.