Clara Bow Festival Set at Film Forum: ‘Wings’ and ‘My Lady of Whims’ to Screen

Silent film star Bow has been a muse for everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Taylor Swift.

The iconically seductive silent film star Clara Bow is being further immortalized courtesy of a festival at New York City’s Film Forum.

1920s superstar Bow, who recently inspired a track named after her on Taylor Swift’s “Tortured Poets Department” album, is at the center of a career retrospective screening series at the New York City indie theater. Deemed the very first “It Girl,” Bow starred in films such as “Wings,” “The Saturday Night Kid,” and short “The Pill Pounder” which was recently rediscovered and subsequently restored after 101 years.

Bow’s turn in silent comedy “It” also inspired the very term “It Girl,” which refers to “sex appeal” as coined by British author Elinor Glyn, who also appears in the feature as well as a young Gary Cooper.

The festival will run on most Mondays at Film Forum from October 7 to December 30, with an additional screening on Thursday, October 17.  Most shows in the festival will be introduced by David Stenn, author of the definitive biography ”Clara Bow: Runnin’ Wild.” Stenn has previously written and produced series such as “Boardwalk Empire” and “The L Word.”

Silent films for the festival will be accompanied by a live piano played by Steve Sterner.

Bow’s legacy began as she reached movie stardom at the age of 20 amid the Jazz Age. F. Scott Fitzgerald applauded Bow for being “someone to stir every pulse in the nation,” and while her career was essentially over by age 28, her fame continued for decades. Marilyn Monroe even posed as Bow for a LIFE magazine spread photographed by Richard Avedon in 1958. “Babylon” writer/director Damien Chazelle later based Margot Robbie’s character Nellie LaRoy on Bow as well. And that’s all before Swift included her among her “Tortured Poets” muses.

The Clara Bow festival has been programmed by Film Forum Repertory Artistic Director Bruce Goldstein and David Stenn. 

Check out the full lineup below.

IT
U.S., 1927 
Directed by Clarence G. Badger 
With Clara Bow, Antonio Moreno, Gary Cooper  
Based on the novel by Elinor Glyn
Approx. 72 min. Restored DCP. 

with

THE PILL POUNDER 
U.S., 1923 
Directed by Gregory La Cava 
With Clara Bow, Charles Murray
Approx. 20 min. Restored DCP courtesy San Francisco Silent Film Festival. 

Monday, Oct 7 at 6:00
♪ With live piano accompaniment by Steve Sterner

THE SATURDAY NIGHT KID 
U.S., 1929 
Directed by A. Edward Sutherland 
With Clara Bow, Jean Arthur, Jean Harlow, James Hall 
Approx. 63 min. 35mm. 

Thursday, October 17 at 6:00

MY LADY OF WHIMS 
U.S., 1925 
Directed by Dallas M. Fitzgerald 
With Clara Bow, Donald Keith 
Approx. 70 min. Restored DCP courtesy UCLA Film and Television Archive.

Monday, October 21 at 6:00
♪ With live piano accompaniment by Steve Sterner

THE WILD PARTY 
U.S., 1929 
Directed by Dorothy Arzner 
With Clara Bow, Fredric March 
Approx. 77 min. 35mm. 

Monday, October 28 at 6:15 

HER WEDDING NIGHT 
U.S., 1930 
Directed by Frank Tuttle 
With Clara Bow, Ralph Forbes, Charles Ruggles 
Approx. 75 min. 35mm.

Monday, November 4 at 6:00 

CALL HER SAVAGE 
U.S., 1932 
Directed by John Francis Dillon 
With Clara Bow, Gilbert Roland 
Approx. 88 min. Restored 35mm print courtesy MoMA.

Monday, November 11 at 6:00

KICK IN 
U.S., 1931 
Directed by Richard Wallace 
With Clara Bow, Regis Toomey
Approx. 75 min. 35mm. 

Monday, November 18 at 6:00

WINGS
U.S., 1927 
Directed by William A. Wellman 
With Clara Bow, Charles “Buddy” Rogers, Gary Cooper 
Winner of first Academy Award for Best Picture (then called “Best Production”)
Approx. 114 min. Restored DCP. 

Monday, November 25 at 7:00
♪ With live piano accompaniment by Steve Sterner

MANTRAP 
U.S., 1926 
Directed by Victor Fleming 
With Clara Bow, Ernest Torrence
Based on the novel by Sinclair Lewis 
Approx. 86 min. 35mm print courtesy UCLA Film and Television Archive.

Monday, December 2 at 6:20
♪ With live piano accompaniment by Steve Sterner

THE PLASTIC AGE 
U.S., 1925 
Directed by Wesley Ruggles 
With Clara Bow, Donald Keith, Gilbert Roland, Clark Gable (bit part)
Approx. 73 min. 35mm print courtesy UCLA Film and Television Archive.

Monday, December 9 at 6:30
♪ With live piano accompaniment by Steve Sterner

KID BOOTS 
U.S., 1926 
Directed by Frank Tuttle 
With Eddie Cantor, Clara Bow
Approx. 77 min. Restored DCP courtesy the Film Preservation Society. 

Monday, December 16 at 6:00
♪ With live piano accompaniment by Steve Sterner

DANCING MOTHERS 
U.S., 1926 
Directed by Herbert Brenon 
With Clara Bow, Alice Joyce. 
Approx. 65 min. Restored DCP courtesy San Francisco Silent Film Festival. 

with

RED HAIR Fragments 
U.S., 1928 
Directed by Clarence G. Badger 
With Clara Bow
Approx. 35mm print courtesy UCLA Film and Television Archive.

Monday, December 23 at 6:00
♪ With live piano accompaniment by Steve Sterner

HOOPLA 
U.S., 1933 
Directed by Frank Lloyd 
With Clara Bow, Preston Foster, Richard Cromwell 
Approx. 85 min. Restored 35mm print courtesy MoMA 

with

SCREEN SNAPSHOTS 
short featuring the last footage of Bow
U.S. 1949 
Approx. 10 min.

Monday, December 30 at 6:30
♪ With live piano accompaniment by Steve Sterner