Call Her Savage

Clara Bow, as Dynamite Springer, grows up among savages, her family has the stigma of mixed race relationships, and things aren’t quite right in her head either. Her youthful pastime is to ride horses, whip rattlesnakes, and wrestle with dogs. Given her nature, she is to be married into better circles, graduate from a women’s university and become a better person. Yet even the whirlwind of Chicago can't help her character and Dynamite has to go through more than one life test. The script is similar to that year's Blonde Venus with Marlene, but while von Sternberg's film is aesthetically refined and Marlene's singer has class, the Clara film hurtles towards its end like a hurricane. Dynamite is an absolute disaster and although she has great petticoats and negligees and toilets, she acts like a redneck in them regularly. That's what gives the film its charm. After she left, no one could replace her and Hollywood became a much more boring place. (30/10/2013)