Your Most Wanted Lost Films

[BettyLouSpence]

Btw, on the subject of She's A Sheik: I was searching up info on this film, and via another board I found a blog post from 2017 that indicates that Kevin Brownlow has a 16mm transfer of the film, and that he even did a showing of this film and Miss Bluebeard?

http://ithankyouarthur.blogspot.com/201 ... 7miss.html

What do you all make of this?

[donnie]

Hmm, very interesting. If Kevin Brownlow has a copy of this, and it "looked pretty fine partly due to the extensive repair work of the Bioscope’s ace projectionist Dave Locke," I wish they'd make it available on DVD or something. I'm trying to figure out who or what this "Bioscope" is—a private club of some sort for silent film screenings, maybe?

[BettyLouSpence]

Hopefully someone out there who has contact with Brownlow can ask him if he actually does have a copy of She's A Sheik, and we'll finally see if it's lost or not. I'm guessing that this line -

"...he delivered with a 16mm transfer of She’s a Sheik that hasn’t been projected in public since I was in short pants (no, even earlier than that troublesome New Romantic period…)."

- refers to the 1971 showing of the film. I wish I could find more info besides the fact it was shown at the National Film Theatre in London in that year. If Brownlow was the one who provided the print for the showing, it seems odd that he'd have possibly the sole copy of the film and never knew its survival status was in dispute all these years later...

[BettyLouSpence]

Ok, I've turned this thread into more of a lost film update thread, lol... but anyway:

Last night I watched the 2012 BBC documentary Clara Bow: Hollywood's Lost Screen Goddess with my household, and I was surprised to see what seems to be some pretty substantial footage from Rough House Rosie. Before, I was under the impression that only the trailer had survived (you can watch it here), but we see scenes that are definitely not from the trailer but I instantly recognized from the numerous production stills for the film.

I'm thinking that we have quite a few juicy fragments that have survived, but not a complete reel.

[Kitty]

Last night I watched the 2012 BBC documentary Clara Bow: Hollywood's Lost Screen Goddess with my household,

I had to read this part three times in shock. Your family will watch stuff like that with you? You are lucky, Sister.

What did you think about the documentary as a whole? Sounds interesting.

[BettyLouSpence]

Well, at the moment my household is me and my dad. He's game to watch anything I put on - yes, even silents! He watched the entire 1980 Hollywood documentary with me as well. If my mom were still in the state I think she would've watched too.

I think it's a great intro to Clara for people new to her. To me, it seemed a little barebones when it came to her personal life mid-way through the doc, focusing a bit more on her lasting influence. It talked about her relationship with Gilbert Roland a bit, but only in passing about her relationships with Victor Fleming or Gary Cooper. And it felt like it rushed through the years 1930 and 1931, but I chalk that up to the limited run time of 50 min or so. That, and to leave all the juicy details for the Runnin' Wild biography.

It does make a few claims that I kinda disagree with. Mostly stuff like, "she was the first actress to pursue her man on screen". Or that she introduced a naturalism to acting that "hadn't been seen before". Don't get me wrong - I love Clara, and I love her acting, which was very naturalistic; but from this doc you'd get the impression that everyone else in the silent era was wooden compared to her.

That being said, it's still a great documentary, and I recommend it for people wanting to learn more about her. It features interviews with her daughter-in-law, a neighbor across the street from her house in Culver City, portions of an audio interview with Richard Arlen, and the late Diana Serra Cary.

There's also the 1999 documentary Clara Bow: Discovering The It Girl. I don't think I've seen it; I wish it was on YouTube.

[donnie]

It features interviews with her daughter-in-law, a neighbor across the street from her house in Culver City, portions of an audio interview with Richard Arlen, and the late Diana Serra Cary.

Any interesting observations or anecdotes that stand out from these?

[Kitty]

It does make a few claims that I kinda disagree with. Mostly stuff like, "she was the first actress to pursue her man on screen". Or that she introduced a naturalism to acting that "hadn't been seen before". Don't get me wrong - I love Clara, and I love her acting, which was very naturalistic; but from this doc you'd get the impression that everyone else in the silent era was wooden compared to her.

One definitely gets into murky waters when one starts making claims like that. Better to leave those types of statements unsaid. Honestly, I don't know that much about Clara. I think I'll look for more stuff about her, because you seem to like her so much!

[BettyLouSpence]

Any interesting observations or anecdotes that stand out from these?

Her daughter-in-law mentioned that every Christmas they had to watch one of her movies. The Culver City neighbor was a kid at the time, and one of his memories was Clara showing him old pictures from her heyday. Richard Arlen remembered her fondly from the times they co-starred. I recall Diana mentioning that the only time she ever heard her father gossiping was when he was talking about Clara with someone else, illustrating the rumors about her personal life that were swirling around at the time.

They also interviewed someone who was at the Institute of Living in Connecticut (a residential psychiatric facility) at the same time she was there in 1949. He recalled that she looked much older than she actually was and that she didn't talk to anyone.

[BettyLouSpence]

One definitely gets into murky waters when one starts making claims like that. Better to leave those types of statements unsaid. Honestly, I don't know that much about Clara. I think I'll look for more stuff about her, because you seem to like her so much!

Agreed. If you wanna start with one of her movies, I think It is the best introduction to her acting. Plucky, sassy shopgirl falls for the new boss and goes after him - what's not to love?