VLVL2 (2): Film as Metaphor -- Made-for-TV Movie Theory

[Toby G Levy]

Here's the All-Movie-Guide bios on Clara Bow and Pia Zadora

"Famous as the "It" girl of the Roaring 20s; Clara Bow was the flapper to
end all flappers. The daughter of a Coney Island waiter, she spent her
youth in poverty. At 16 she won a movie magazine beauty contest; part of
the prize was a trip to visit the New York studios and a bit part in a
silent, soon leading to other roles mostly in low-budget films. Under
contract to producer B.P. Schulberg, she went with Schulberg from New
York to Hollywood's Paramount, where the studio's publicity machine
helped mold her into a star, particularly after Mantrap (1926), her
first smash hit. Soon she became a symbol of the emancipated woman
during the flapper age: vibrant, liberated, energetic. Her bobbed hair,
bow lips, and sparkling eyes came to represent the era, and her bangled,
beaded "look" soon became imitated by women throughout America. After
appearing in the film It (1927) she became known as the "It" girl, a
woman with "something extra" which set her apart from the common herd.
While living the life of the Roaring 20s, however, she became the victim
of numerous scandals and quickly fell from grace with the public (which
in a 1928 poll had named her America's favorite actress). With the
advent of sound, her career ground to a halt. In 1931 she eloped with
cowboy star Rex Bell, who eventually became lieutenant governor of
Nevada. Bow retired from the screen in 1933."

"Actress/singer Pia Zadora (born Pia Schipani) launched her sporadic film
career at age nine in Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964). She made
her adult debut playing a young woman who gets into an affair with the
man she believes to be her biological father in Butterfly (1981)."

Clara Bow and Pia Zadora were both relentless self-promoters.  The
difference was that Clara Bow fouhgt and scratched her way to the top,
using the Hollywood star-making machinery as best she could.  Pia Zadora
married a millionaire and bought her movie roles.  Her films were
universally despised by critics and fans alike.

Toby

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