CLARA BOW vintage portrait in costume for WINGS 8" x 10"

Description: A vintage Clara Bow black and white portrait/studio publicity still from the 1927 movie Wings. Movie produced by Paramount Pictures. The first picture to be awarded an Academy Award (then known as Outstanding Picture later to become known as an Oscar). Clara plays Mary Preston. Two young men from the same town but different social classes end up as fighter pilots in WWI. Jack Powell (played by Charles "Buddy" Rogers) is a keen auto mechanic, building and modifying cars. David Armstrong (played by Richard Arlen) comes from a wealthy family. They are both in love with the same woman, Sylvia (played by Jobyna Ralston). Her heart belongs to David but she doesn't let Jack know and plays along with his infatuation. Meanwhile, Jack's neighbour, Mary, is deeply in love with him but he just views her as a friend. WWI interrupts the romantic entanglements as Jack and David enlist in the US Army Air Service (Air Service of the AEF at the time). They are initially bitter enemies, due to them both vying for Sylvia's affections. Over time, however, they become very good friends. They are both posted to the same fighter squadron in France, where being a fighter pilot means every day could easily be your last. The film also features an early appearance by Gary Cooper. This is a gloss photograph measuring 8" by 10" (20cm x 25cm). The reverse is blank other than a pencilled "Clara Bow". In very good condition with a small loss of paper on the bottom right border (please see image). Photograph contains the number 1017 70. Please see video with images. Guaranteed to be 100% vintage. Postage free to the UK and £13.00 to North America. I am based in the UK and am told that photographs shipped to the US are not normally charged with import duty if valued below $2,500 but any import charges to North America will be the buyer's responsibility. Posted "Tracked 48" to any address in the UK and "Tracked" to North America. Fully insured. IMDb Mini Biography by Denny Jackson Clara Gordon Bow, destined to become "The It Girl", was born on July 29, 1905 in Brooklyn, New York, and was raised in poverty and violence. Her often absentee and brutish father could not or did not provide and her schizophrenic mother tried to slit Clara's throat when the girl spoke of becoming an actress. Bow, nonetheless, won a photo beauty contest which launched her movie career that would eventually number 58 films, from 1922 to 1933. The movie It (1927) defined her career. The film starred Clara as a shopgirl who was asked out by the store's owner. As you watch the silent film you can see the excitement as she prepared for her date with the boss, her friend trying hard to assist her. She used a pair of scissors to modify her dress to try to look "sexier." The movie did much to change society's mores as there were only a few years between World War I and Clara Bow, but this movie went a long way in how society looked at itself. Clara was flaming youth in rebellion. In the film she presented a worldly wisdom that somehow sex meant having a good time. But the movie shouldn't mislead the viewer, because when her boss tries to kiss her goodnight, she slaps him. At the height of her popularity, she received over 45,000 fan letters a month. Also, she was probably the most overworked and underpaid star in the industry. With the coming of sound, her popularity waned. Clara was also involved in several court battles ranging from unpaid taxes to being in divorce court for "stealing" women's husbands. After the court trials, she made a couple of attempts to get back in the public eye. One was Call Her Savage in 1932. It was somewhat of a failure at the box office and her last was in 1933 in a film called Hoopla. She then married cowboy star Rex Bell at 26 and retired from the film world at 28. She doted on her two sons and did everything to please them. Haunted by a weight problem and a mental imbalance, she never re-entered show business. She was confined to sanatoriums from time to time and prohibited access to her beloved sons. She died of a heart attack in West Los Angeles, on September 26, 1965 at age 60. Today she is finding a renaissance among movie buffs, who are recently discovering the virtues of silent film. The actress who wanted so much to be like the wonderful young lady in It (1927) has the legacy of her films to confirm that she was a wonderful lady and America's first sex symbol.

Price: 110 GBP

Location: Bathgate

End Time: 2024-11-16T21:44:23.000Z

Shipping Cost: 16.71 GBP