Wings is a 1927 American silent and synchronized sound film known for winning the first Academy Award for Best Picture. Due to the general public's apathy towards silent films, the film was quickly re-released in 1928 with synchronized sound. While the sound version of the film has no audible dialogue, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects. The original soundtrack to the sound version is preserved at UCLA.
Clara Gordon Bow was an American actress who rose to stardom during the silent film era of the 1920s and successfully made the transition to "talkies" in 1929. Her appearance as a plucky shopgirl in the film It brought her global fame and the nickname "The It Girl". Bow came to personify the Roaring Twenties and is described as its leading sex symbol.
Jean Arthur was an American Broadway and film actress whose career began in silent films in the early 1920s and lasted until the early 1950s.
It is a 1927 American silent film directed by Clarence G. Badger, and starring Clara Bow. It is based on the serialised novella of the same name, republished in "It" and Other Stories (1927), by Elinor Glyn, who adapted the story and appears in the film as herself.
Jean Harlow was an American actress. Known for her portrayal of "bad girl" characters, she was the leading sex symbol of the early 1930s and one of the defining figures of the pre-Code era of American cinema. Often nicknamed the "Blonde Bombshell" and the "Platinum Blonde", Harlow was popular for her "Laughing Vamp" screen persona. Harlow was in the film industry for only nine years, but she became one of Hollywood's biggest movie stars, whose image in the public eye has endured. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Harlow number 22 on its greatest female screen legends list.
Richard Arlen was an American actor of film and television.
The Plastic Age is a 1925 American black-and-white silent romantic comedy film directed by Wesley Ruggles and starring Clara Bow, Donald Keith, and Gilbert Roland. The film was based on a best-selling novel from 1924 of the same name, written by Percy Marks, a Brown University English instructor who chronicled the life of the fast-set of that university and used the fictitious Sanford College as a backdrop. The Plastic Age is known to most silent film fans as the very first hit of Clara Bow's career, and helped jumpstart her fast rise to stardom. Frederica Sagor Maas and Eve Unsell adapted the book for the screen.
Buron Rogers Fitts was an American lawyer and politician from Los Angeles who served as the 29th lieutenant governor of California, from 1927 to 1928, and Los Angeles County District Attorney thereafter until 1940.
Bombshell is a 1933 American pre-Code romantic screwball comedy film directed by Victor Fleming and starring Jean Harlow, Lee Tracy, Frank Morgan, C. Aubrey Smith, Mary Forbes and Franchot Tone. It is based on the unproduced play of the same name by Caroline Francke and Mack Crane, and was adapted for the screen by John Lee Mahin and Jules Furthman.
Frederica Alexandrina Sagor Maas was an American dramatist, playwright, screenwriter, memoirist, and author, the youngest daughter of Jewish immigrants from Russia. As an essayist, Maas was best known for a detailed, tell-all memoir of her time spent in early Hollywood. A supercentenarian, she was one of the oldest surviving entertainers from the silent film era.
Ladies of the Mob is a 1928 American silent crime drama film directed by William A. Wellman, produced by Jesse L. Lasky and Adolph Zukor for Famous Players–Lasky, and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film is based on a story by Ernest Booth. This gangster-themed romantic thriller about a criminal's daughter who tries to reform a petty crook whom she loves featured Clara Bow, Richard Arlen, Mary Alden, and Helen Lynch.
Paramount on Parade is a 1930 all-star American pre-Code revue released by Paramount Pictures, directed by several directors including Edmund Goulding, Dorothy Arzner, Ernst Lubitsch, Rowland V. Lee, A. Edward Sutherland, Lothar Mendes, Otto Brower, Edwin H. Knopf, Frank Tuttle, and Victor Schertzinger—all supervised by the production supervisor, singer, actress, and songwriter Elsie Janis.
Hermon Reed Howes was an American model who later became an actor in silent and sound films.
Wine is a 1924 American silent melodrama film directed by Louis J. Gasnier, produced and released by Universal Pictures under their 'Jewel' banner. The film, which featured Clara Bow in her first starring role, is currently classified as lost.
Kick In is a 1922 American silent crime drama film produced by Famous Players–Lasky, distributed by Paramount Pictures, and starring Betty Compson and Bert Lytell. The picture was directed by George Fitzmaurice, who previously directed a 1917 film version of the story. Both films are based on Willard Mack's 1913 play that was produced on Broadway in 1914 starring John Barrymore. The supporting cast features Charles Ogle, who had played the first screen Frankenstein's monster in the original 1910 version of Frankenstein.
Fascinating Youth is a 1926 American silent romantic comedy film directed by Sam Wood. It starred Charles "Buddy" Rogers, along with Thelma Todd and Josephine Dunn in supporting roles. Many well-known personalities made guest appearances in the film, judging a beauty contest in one scene, and Clara Bow makes a cameo appearance in her second film for Paramount Pictures.
Daughters of Pleasure is a 1924 American silent romantic comedy film directed by William Beaudine and starring Marie Prevost and Monte Blue. Based on a story by Caleb Proctor, the film features an early appearance by Clara Bow who plays a supporting role.
Clara Bow (1905–1965) was a 16-year-old living in the New York City borough of Brooklyn when she won the 1921 nationwide "Fame and Fortune Contest" advertised in Motion Picture Magazine. After submitting their autobiography with a completed entry form clipped from the magazine, finalists were given multiple screen tests. As the winner, she was cast in a small role in the silent era film Beyond the Rainbow. Although her part was eventually edited out, the contest inspired her to pursue an acting career. She relocated to Los Angeles and in 1923 signed with producer B.P. Schulberg. Over the next seven years, she would make more than 40 silent-era films, the majority of them under contract to Paramount Pictures. Her 1927 starring role in It, about an attractive and charismatic young woman, led the public to label Bow the "It girl".
David Stenn is an American television writer-producer, biographer, and film preservationist. His television credits range from Hill Street Blues to Boardwalk Empire. He is known for his biographies of Hollywood stars Clara Bow and Jean Harlow.
Merrill G. White was an American film editor and screenwriter. He also co-directed the 1957 film Ghost Diver and was an associate producer on Courage of Black Beauty (1957). During the 1930s he worked in Britain, including on several films made by Herbert Wilcox. For his editing of The Brave One, White received a Best Film Editing nomination for the 29th Academy Awards.
