Acteurist oeuvre-view – Clara Bow – Part 10: THE SATURDAY NIGHT KID (1929) & TRUE TO THE NAVY (1930)

Jun 4, 2021

In this week of our (slightly-out-of-order) Oeuvre-view of Clara Bow's career, The Saturday Night Kid (1929), directed by A. Edward Sutherland, is paired with True to the Navy (1930), directed by Frank Tuttle. We see two starkly contrasting Claras separated by just seven months: in Sutherland's working-class drama, she's heroic but bad-tempered, burdened with a flighty love interest, a manager who has it in for her (Edna May Oliver), and a snake of a sister (pre-stardom Jean Arthur interpreting realism as "shrill and whiney"). In Tuttle's comedy, she's a soda fountain girl who scams sailors with her boss, which leads to complications when she falls for a handsome gob played by Fredric March (who decides to introduce Method acting into this broad slapstick comedy for some reason). Elfin Clara gets involved in some satisfying brawls and tells off gangsters with a temerity that equally tiny Barbara Stanwyck would soon make her trademark. Obviously, this is what you had to do in Brooklyn. Also of note: a brief but impactful appearance by an uncredited Louise Beavers.

 

Time Codes:

0h 01m 00s:                  The Saturday Night Kid (1929) [dir. A. Edward Sutherland]          

0h 19m 47s:                  True to The Navy (1930) [dir. Frank Tuttle]

                                       

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* Marvel at our meticulously ridiculous Complete Viewing Schedule for the 2020s

*Intro Song: “Sunday” by Jean Goldkette Orchestra with the Keller Sisters (courtesy of The Internet Archive)

* Find Elise’s latest film piece on Billy Wilder and 1930s Romantic Comedy

*And Read lots of Elise’s Writing at Bright Wall/Dark Room, Cléo, and Bright Lights.*

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