Clara Bow - "True to the Navy" (1930)

[SugarCookietarian]

I love her. She's not the greatest singer, but it doesn't matter. She's still a joy to watch.

[Mrpotsable]

classic!

[vulcangrl13]

I am absolutely in love. Clara, you will always be better than ANY movie "star" today. <3

[schnitzal]

Oh Clara...what a tragic life...one of the greatest actresses ever. Anyone who's able to emote such raw and REAL emotion through silence is truly talented...

[julianallees]

Mon dieu, elle est absolument belle!

julianallees

le 25 Avril 2011

[buzzclick500]

I can see it now--Captain's Mast for petting my petty officer. ;])

[buzzclick500]

O.k., I give up--let all the women in the Navy you want to! Can I re-join? I'll PAY to join! ;])

[TheGranule]

If the movie 'Singin' in the Rain' was about Clara Bow being the singer with the harsh voice then this is not her voice.

Clara was known for her NOO YAWK accent.

[hellcaddie2002]

i love clara bow, but these military propaganda films, ("wings" sucks by the way), are pretty embarrassing. world war one really wasn't that long before this. didn't these people (clara included) have any friggin conscience?

[Inkofnight]

She's good

[Inkofnight]

She's good

[RhythmUniverse]

Here's one of Ethel Merman from 1930. I was blown away to see Ethel Merman's voice coming out of this waif of a girl!!

Search "Ethel Merman After I've Gone 1931"

[bonchatbonrat]

So in love with her. My Grandma got me into her when she told me I could be her twin. Now I get it all the time.

She seemed like a great lady!

[muxu89]

she really did kept looking up at the overhead mic

love her anyways

[ziggycat999]

Clara Bow was so photogenic in silent movies but the talkies exposed her heavy Brooklyn accent which wasn't agreeable to her looks. She worked with a voice coach to save her career.Like British singers whom don't seem to have a accent when singing may be the same with her. Or,if it wasn't recorded by her at all!

[Rouben19]

@ziggycat999 not true clara recorded on her personal recorder in the 50s ... I have heard some of them and she did sing just like this

[robcat2075]

wow, not a bad voice!

[prmass1]

Clara is something special. I wished I could have met her in my life time.

[melkitcedek2]

The video from Breton2Robert called: Colorful And Irresistible Clara Bow. Its very good and colorful

[LionGoddess1]

my friend runs when she sees a mic..... only heard her years and years apart twice ever brieflyl and took all night to get her nerve up to

[hotsickle]

that's not her voice...it's oboviosuly been dubbed over

[priscianusjr]

@hotsickle I think you may be the first person in history to make this "discovery," but actually you're incorrect, that is her voice.

[hotsickle]

is that so? I had read that she had this thick Brooklyn accent when she made her sound movie debut...thax 4 keeping me up-to-date

[priscianusjr]

If you serch on YouTube you will find clips from some of her sound movies and you can hear her speaking voice.

[hotsickle]

will do...

[SHIMMY956]

does anyone know where I can see some pics of Clara in her 50's and 60's

[4MaryAnna]

Clara Bow died when she was 60,so you might want to try for pics of her in her 50's.

[thesparklingdiamond]

If you check out the biography of her "Runnin' Wild," there are some pics in there. But if I am remembering correctly, she didn't want to be photgraphed then.

[philidor3]

I recently ran Clara through an old newspaper database and found that she didn't loose any popularity because of the 'talkies' . At the contrary, She grew an even bigger a star during -29, -30 & -31. She was the top box office draw in 'silent' -28 as well as in 'talkie' -29. Still. She hated talkies, primary because of the crude microphone Technic witch crippled her pantomime. In 1929 she whined to journalists that she wished it was 1931 so that her contract with Paramount would be finished.

[TheSerpentandTheSwan]

more people need to know about Clara Bow!

[mondotrasho]

clara bow was NOT the inspiration for betty boop, neither the voice nor the persona...that was helen kane!

[austinrules24]

@mondotrasho I've heard that it was a mixture of both. Obviously Helen Kane was the voice.

[anonybelle]

No, actually, it's pretty well documented that the upward glances are her looking at the microphone because she's unused to it and it's freaking her out.

And thanks for all the thumbs down, you losers. I have nothing against Clara, I just think that she was a much better silent actor and that the talkies threw her off her game because, as someone else said, she was untrained. Also, people did not approve of her heavy brooklyn(?) accent.

[mondotrasho]

@anonybelle:

people on this site with no opinions of their own tend to be generous with the thumbing down. that said, i have nothing against clara, either, but everything you wrote is true.

(don't worry, i received an unwarranted thumbs down just for pointing out to those on here stating that clara was the inspiration for betty boop that it was actually helen kane. oh well!)

[ncddd]

I know Bow had a difficult time with talkies, but I think her upward glances here are merely meant to be coquettish.

[imagineart]

as i have mentioned on other videos, i think it's a combination of flirting & unconsciously tracking the mic, which terrified her. it wasn't that her voice didn't record well - just look at clips from "hoopla" & "call her savage" - her voice was FINE. the early sound films required that actors stand near a mic, & clara's forte was unbridled ENERGY - she rarely was still, so this is VERY difficult for her...

[anonybelle]

poor Clara...she was never meant to be in talkies. She was such an amazing silent actor.

[stlgtrace]

Clara did fine in talkies! The problem was that Paramount threw her into sound films with virtually no coaching or training. It's no wonder she was scared to death! He voice is not bad at all and it actually suits her fine. Her charisma and charm shines through in either silents or sound.

[dasfmn1997]

I believe that Betty Boop (cartoon character) was patterned after Clara Bow, Brooklyn accent and all.

[Mr1920s]

Then you need to see a Helen Kane video.

[luverofcandi]

not true it was because she wanted to raise a family

[alyssagarivo07]

a popular actress in the 1920s who had not managed to survive the transition to sound because of her strong Brooklyn accent which nevertheless became a trademark for Betty Boop

[Rouben19]

the accent story is just that ,a story- Clara Bow was given a tremendous sum of money for her return to the screen in 32-33 after 9 talking films, over the many decades this is the re accuring story ,her accent, most of the time it is not even there out of the 9 talking films I have seen her in only a couple can you hear it, her speach patterns were wonderful!

[philidor3]

I have heard that among all the Paramount artists

who performed in this picture, only Frenchmen

Maurice Chevalier topped Clara!

Clara Bow , actress, sex symbol and singer?

[ericdeuce]

A great find of such a great performer. I glad there is a place for videos like this.

[XxHarmonicNightsxX]

clara was such a cutie and her singing sounds great in this

[calvinnme2]

"Paramount on Parade" is considered the best of the early-sound revues. However, most of us will never know because this and many of Paramounts films from the silent era to 1950 are never shown. They are either in Universal or Paramount's vault, and neither studio has any interest in them. Paramount's silents and precodes are considered some of the finest made, yet they show no interest in them. What a shame.

[Rouben19]

it takes push to get them released- it will happen some day I have a 70 min edit. of paramount on parade the only thing missing are the color segments