Call Her Savage (1932)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

John Francis Dillon

Writers:

Edwin J. Burke (screenplay)
Tiffany Thayer (novel)

Release Date:

27 November 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

The throbbing adventures of a woman who unleashed her heart...so revelatory...so courageous in its searching depiction of the secret things in a woman's life that its burning words left a trail of readers breathless and amazed.

Plot:

Sexy Texas gal storms her way through life, brawling and boozing until her luck runs out, forcing her to learn the errors of her ways.

Plot Keywords:

Texas | Thrown From Horse | Sexually Aggressive Woman | Childbirth | Mistress

Cast

Clara Bow	...	Nasa Springer
Gilbert Roland	...	Moonglow
Thelma Todd	...	Sunny De Lane
Monroe Owsley	...	Lawrence Crosby
Estelle Taylor	...	Ruth Springer
Weldon Heyburn	...	Ronasa
Willard Robertson	...	Pete Springer
Anthony Jowitt	...	Jay Randall
Fred Kohler	...	Silas Jennings
Russell Simpson	...	Old Man in Wagon Train
Margaret Livingston	...	Molly
Carl Stockdale	...	Mort
Dorothy Peterson	...	Silas' Wife
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Oscar Apfel	...	Doctor Treating Crosby (uncredited)
Frank Atkinson	...	Stevens - Crosby's Valet (uncredited)
Mischa Auer	...	Agitator in Restaurant (uncredited)
Symona Boniface	...	Gambling Lady (uncredited)
Edmund Burns	...	Jack Carter (uncredited)
Leonard Carey	...	Jackson - Randall's Butler (uncredited)
Lita Chevret	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Wallis Clark	...	Detective (uncredited)
G. Pat Collins	...	Male Nurse (uncredited)
Tyrell Davis	...	Charlie Moffett (uncredited)
John Elliott	...	Hank (uncredited)
Robert Ellis	...	Hotel Manager (uncredited)
Mary Gordon	...	Lady in Tenement (uncredited)
Robert Gordon	...	Bellboy (uncredited)
Betty Jane Graham	...	Babysitter (uncredited)
Douglas Haig	...	Pete as a Boy (uncredited)
Hale Hamilton	...	Cyrus Randall (uncredited)
Arthur Hoyt	...	Mr. Russell - Attorney (uncredited)
Marilyn Knowlden	...	Ruth as a Girl (uncredited)
George J. Lewis	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Ralph Lewis	...	Doctor (uncredited)
Walter Long	...	Man Who Tries to Pick Up Nasa (uncredited)
Wilfred Lucas	...	Child Welfare Official (uncredited)
Bert Moorhouse	...	Extra at Party (uncredited)
Pat O'Malley	...	Fireman (uncredited)
Katherine Perry	...	Maid (uncredited)
Eddie Phillips	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Julian Rivero	...	José - the Guitarist (uncredited)
Bert Roach	...	Man Who Picks Up Nasa (uncredited)
John Sheehan	...	Drunken Tenant (uncredited)
John St. Polis	...	Doctor Consoling Nasa (uncredited)
Ellinor Vanderveer	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Kathrin Clare Ward	...	Second Lady in Tenement (uncredited)
Eric Wilton	...	Hotel Steward (uncredited)

Directed by
John Francis Dillon

Writing credits
Edwin J. Burke		(screenplay) (as Edwin Burke)
Tiffany Thayer		(novel)

Produced by
Sam E. Rork	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Peter Brunelli		(uncredited)
Arthur Lange		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Lee Garmes

Film Editing by
Harold D. Schuster		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Max Parker

Costume Design by
Rita Kaufman		(uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jack Boland	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
E. Clayton Ward	....	sound recordist

Stunts
Audrey Scott	....	stunt double: Clara Bow (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Max M. Autrey	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Hal Phyfe	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
David Cox	....	wardrobe
Rita Kaufman	....	wardrobe (uncredited)

Music Department
Louis De Francesco	....	musical director

Production Companies

• Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

• Fox Film Corporation (1932) (USA) (theatrical)

Runtime:

88 min (FMC Library Print) (copyright length)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric System)

Certification:

USA:TV-PG (TV rating)

Company:

Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Co-stars Clara Bow and Thelma Todd were both born on 29 July, 1905.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Before Stonewall (1984)

Soundtrack:

Oh! Susanna

Call Me Amazed!

In the Golden Age of Hollywood, amid the storied eons of the great glamor stars, you had the Stanwyckian tough cookies, the Rogers-like high society sophisticates, and the Garboish fragile beauties - but no one was quite like the Jazz Age wild child Clara Bow. When she made an entrance, she burst onto the screen like a whirlwind and didn't look back, positively exuding earthy vitality. That she didn't have a significant sound career is truly unfortunate, for one's imagination plays happily with the notion of Clara bawdily defying the frigid censors well into the culturally stolid war years. Though we didn't get much in that way, CALL HER SAVAGE is fortunately a picture worth a thousand words.

Okay, the first ten minutes make it look like a dusty old western, but STAY WITH IT...otherwise you'll be missing one of the boldest and brightest pre-Code items this side of CONVENTION CITY. When Clara first appears on horseback, the wind blowing through her hair, you will be transfixed for the remainder of the show. The narrative opens in Texas, with a rich landowner punishing his tomboy daughter Nasa (Clara) by sending her off to Chicago for charm school. He also has latent motivation in wanting to marry her off to the man of his choice. Once in the big city, Nasa becomes known as "Dynamite" in the tabloids for her volatility and elopes with a slippery charmer instead of her intended beau. He strays, so to speak, as soon as their honeymoon, leading Clara to take her leave. From here, it's a road to ruin and back again for the young lady, with a startling secret in store for her at the climax. A free-form blend of western, romantic comedy, tragedy, and everything in between, CALL HER SAVAGE takes (sometimes jarring) turns from comedy to pathos, creating an absolutely unique experience.

I can only imagine how Joseph Breen and his ilk must have gnashed their teeth over this film - virtually every scene seems to have been calculated to drive them up the wall. For all its brazenness, it's surprising that CALL HER SAVAGE was a Fox production, for one would expect it more from Warner Bros. We first see Clara in a tight-fitting white shirt, enthusiastically whipping a snake - then a handsome ranch hand when he laughs at her! Clara then tears off a portion of her shirt to tend to his wounds (my, hasn't that one been appropriated time and time again!). Further mix in race relations, prostitution, and an attempted rape of Nasa by her STD-ravaged husband ("Don't get up" she cautions. "I GET UP every afternoon!" he answers). And don't miss the detour to cinema's very first gay bar where the waiters sing about sailors in pajamas (!). On a seedier level, there's a brief but unsavory taste of pederasty when a drunken old fool approaches a little girl.

But it's Clara who makes this movie. The early scenes of her scantily clad and writhing on the grass have a palpable erotic charge that no black and white vintage can dilute (remember, this was the woman who sat through a stage performance of Dracula dressed in a fur coat - and little else). I really hope that Clara is well remembered today, for she was TRULY a star and incredible personality. A lively, vital, and eternally beautiful free spirit. But there was always a touch of sadness in those big, childlike eyes, wasn't there...