“Gary’s such a big
boy, so strong, so manly and so bashful, I always wanna rumple his hair an’ listen
to all his troubles.” Clara Bow
Clara Bow in Blu-ray high-definition and the clearest
possible view of her soon-to-be-stellar co-star, Gary Cooper; what could
possibly go wrong?!
Even in her annus mirabilis when every single film topped
the charts from Mantrap, Kid Boots to
It! – it was recognised that Miss Bow
needed better scripts to fully reach her potential. Sadly, much as it tries, Children of Divorce was not to be it...
Joseph von Sternberg was brought in to re-shoot and re-direct the ending and
whilst elements of the work received high praise – Clara’s soon-to-be-ex, Victor
Fleming saying that the final sequence was amongst the greatest in cinema –
overall the audience is left unsatisfied by characters with obscure motivations. The film tries to make a serious point about the
importance of family life and the damage done by un-committed parenting but… it feel half-hearted and more concerned with the big dramas of duty.
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| Clara |
All this said, what it does have is the magical realism of
Clara Bow – an “expression-engine” who could break the heart of the
most cynical viewer with a quicksilver intensity possessed by few other
performers. Next to her, the ridiculously handsome Coop struggles to get beyond
mildly forlorn or slightly distracted… he’s eye-catching alright but not really
enough to draw your focus from Clara.
Stories abound of Bow getting her beau-to-be the part in
this film and/or fighting for him to keep it after a stinker of a start. There
is still no denying his own potent star appeal but Clara’s was in full burn and
Coop was still learning the ropes alongside this sexual superpower. As he said in an
off-set interview: “…you couldn’t steal
scenes from Clara Bow. Nobody could… She just naturally walks away with every
scene she’s in.”
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| Mr Cooper |
He was also up against the equally lovely and capable Esther
Ralston.
Esther is so polished and focused and knows exactly how to
present face to camera whereas Cooper is often at unflattering angles. The big
galoot has charm to burn possessing what Colleen Moore called “that peculiar personality, that intangible
quality that communicates on camera…” Yet here, in terms of craft, he’s
miles behind Ralston who glides with effortless sadness through the film. Her Jean is the only character really sure of herself around whom Bow’s impulsive
Kitty and Cooper’s confused Ted struggle to make the right choices.
Ralston knows how to pose for intense close-ups and works
the camera so well throughout. There was a lot for Coop to learn.
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| Esther Ralston |
The film had five writers and it shows with a wayward
central message about damaging divorce and also the need for socially
convenient marriage getting in the way of emotional fulfilment: we – or rather
the upper set – marry for money and do not always follow their hearts. Sadness
and despair can be the only result.
The film starts in a de-facto orphanage for the sons and daughters
of divorced ex-pats living in Paris and it is here that a young Kitty (Joyce
Coad) is dropped off by her mother, (Hedda Hopper in her acting days), who
tells her she’ll see her in the Summer – that’s a long time out of the way. She
is befriended by the young Jean (Yvonne Pelletier) who provides the unqualified
affection her parents cannot. Soon they meet a fiery young boy, Ted Larrabee,
who forms a strong attachment to Jean…
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| Soul sisters |
Fast-forward some years to a party at a country house where
Kitty (now Clara) entertains the smart set including the titled but broke Prince
Ludovico de Saxe (Einar Hanson) who loves her but cannot afford to marry her.
Sailing impressively over a hedge on horseback is Ted (now Coop) who lands
impressively to gulp down a glass of champagne from Kitty. This scene took some
23 takes according to Bow biographer David Stenn and almost got Cooper fired.
Enter the grown-up Jean (Esther), now very wealthy and a
target for any cash-strapped socialite but wealth is the furthest thing on Ted’s
mind as is transfixed. Kitty bounds over, as she will many times, to push
herself between the two and poor Prince ‘Vito dies a little more inside.
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| Vito dying a little more... |
Jean still loves Ted but wants him to make something of himself
before they can consummate their childhood pledge to wed. Kitty loves Jean but
also wants to marry into success and if she can’t afford have the man she
loves, that’s the Prince, she’ll take the next best thing once Ted has become a
success as a bridge-building architect.
Kitty arranges a party starting at Ted’s office and ending
up the following morning with the biggest hangover imaginable for, even though
Ted struggles to remember, the two got married at the culmination of the
previous night’s revels.
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| WHAT a hang-over! |
It’s the worst of timings as Jean has written to Ted saying
that maybe they should marry but chance has gone and she sentences herself to
noble exile in Paris in order to give Kitty a chance at happiness…
Some years later Kitty and Ted along with their well-cast
daughter – the spit of a juvenile Bow - arrive in Paris and this convoluted quadrangle
of love is about to come crashing down around their sad heads.
There are some bold images in the closing segment – perhaps from
von Sternberg – but… no spoilers! Overall the main director Frank Lloyd works
competently with the narrative in spite of a repeated need to flash back to the
younger versions of Jean and Kitty as if to remind us that the child is mother
to the woman.
But the restoration is super quality and you can’t fail to
be moved by the three leads especially and of course, Clara Bow. When those sad
eyes open wide and Klieg lights giving her ample tears a powerful glow, you’d have
to be made of stone not to feel more than a little welling up of your own.
There a cracking score from the Mont Alto Motion Picture
Orchestra which incorporates contemporary songs within a carefully crafted
whole: for instance, JS Zamecnik’s Heart
of Dreams is a recurring theme beginning as the youngsters become friends
and returning for every key moment.
To top it all the set also includes the Discovering the It Girl documentary narrated by Courtney Love which,
if you haven’t seen it features contributions from David Stenn, Diana Serra
Cary (Baby Peggy) and Clara’s son, Rex Bell Jnr.
Children of Divorce in excellent production from Flicker Alley and is available direct. It deserves to do well and let's hope for more Blu-ray Bow in the near future!
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| Buy it! Buy it NOW! |
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