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23 out of 25 people found the following comment useful :-
Call Me Amazed!, 4 March 2005
9/10
Author: Earl Roesel (Sanguinaire) from Northern KY, USA

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...

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12 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
Clara Bow Is Great, 29 January 2005
10/10
Author: drednm

Lurid-but-fascinating tale of wild half-breed Texas heiress has everything in it, including whippings, prostitution, extra-marital affairs, a neglected baby, and singing homosexuals. Pre-Code stunner boasts Clara Bow's great talkie comeback (after a bunch of so-so talkies) and she is WONDERFUL as well as Gorgeous. Playing Nasa Springer, Bow gets to whip a snake and Gilbert Roland, have a cat fight with Thelma Todd, beat Monroe Owsley senseless, smash a guitar over a servant's head, and run wild from Texas to Chicago to New York City. Clara Bow is great in this film. Too bad Bow made only one more film after this one (the underrated Hoopla).

Estelle Taylor, Weldon Hayburn, Russell Simpson, Fred Kohler, Dorothy Peterson, Margaret Livingston, Anthony Jowitt, and Mischa Auer co-star.

Great line as the father drives up and says "Why are you whipping that man?" Clara Bow answers, "I'm practicing in case I ever get married." Priceless!

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12 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
Rambling film, but star Clara Bow carries the vehicle., 3 November 1999
7/10
Author: Raymond Valinoti, Jr. (raymondva@comcast.net) from Murray Hill, NJ

CALL HER SAVAGE concerns the tumultuous adventures of a tempestuous, rebellious girl named Nasa Springer (Clara Bow). It is definitely not a film for everyone, as it contains some perverse elements such as a whipping scene. Indeed, CALL HER SAVAGE sometimes approaches high camp, such as in the film's prologue.

Despite the film's rambling storyline, however, it is never dull. This is chiefly due to Clara Bow's remarkable performance. CALL HER SAVAGE is proof that the silent star could easily handle talking films, using a low, throaty voice that matches the sensuality of her looks. Bow runs a gamut of emotions from anger to tenderness to elation to self-pity, and always with passionate conviction. Her performance conveys a well-rounded character who elicits the audience's sympathy and always remains credible, even if the scenario sometimes isn't. CALL HER SAVAGE is a must for Clara Bow fans.

*** out of ****

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10 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
A neglected masterpiece with a bravura performance from Clara Bow., 9 July 2001
10/10
Author: David Atfield (bits@alphalink.com.au) from Canberra, Australia

What a film! Daring to tackle issues few films would even look at today. Stunningly photographed and directed, and with greater style than many early talkies. And at its heart is one of the best film performances ever - Clara Bow proves herself to be a magnificent actress in a role that demands she go through every possible emotion. What a loss it was to cinema when she retired, as great a loss as Garbo. Please MOMA get that restored print out on DVD, so that this great classic can be seen in all its glory!

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12 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
Bizarre Film, 8 April 2003
9/10
Author: kensmark from Right Behind You

A good historical example, though, of how films were generally more puritanical during the middle of the 20th century than beforehand. In this movie, which veers from camp to slightly surreal melodrama, viewers are treated to a wide range of prominent details that they might not expect from such an old film.

For example, we see Clara Bow playing a promiscuous young woman (though this is eventually explained away with an excuse unlikely to be used today). Her nipples are clearly displayed (through a sheer blouse, no bra) for quite a long time, and there's an undeniable S&M scene in which she whips a forbidden love interest.

There's a frank, even casual approach taken to extramarital sex, adultery, interracial liaisons, and prostitution, and we even see a working-class gay bar complete with transvestite cabaret.

Most of these topics are treated so unjudgmentally that I was really curious if the director had any opinion at all, and I wondered how a contemporaneous audience, with both the Roaring Twenties and the stock market crash recently behind them, would have viewed the film.

An interesting film, very watchable (and frequently unintentionally amusing, to the modern eye), and, of course, historically important for being a Clara Bow talkie.

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8 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
Brilliant performance by Clara Bow, 20 April 2001
10/10
Author: melancholysugarcane (hickeyd@merr.com) from Wisconsin

Being a long-time fan of Clara Bow's, I have seen most of her surviving films. By far, this is Clara's best "talkie" performance. She has complete control on her emotions and her character which complete the story-line perfectly. Clara is able to show her amazing range of emotions in this movie and one cannot help but be greatly moved by her performance. All-in-all, a stunning and heart-stirring film--a must for anyone interested in Clara Bow.

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8 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
Clara Bow - a Revelation!, 23 January 2005
9/10
Author: jacksflicks from Hollywood

Beautiful, in a modern way (contrast with co-star Thelma Todd), facile with her lines, natural with her mannerisms, this lady can act! And she has a fine voice, so the "couldn't make the transition to talkies" bit doesn't apply here.

And the off-screen items that supposedly led to her decline are pretty lame explanations. I mean, suing someone who embezzled her was supposed to be scandalous? Even back then? What was she supposed to do, sue by proxy? I smell a John Gilbert-style studio sabotage of a "difficult star" here.

Back to the film. Call Her Savage is a Bow vehicle throughout, showcasing her broad range. Though an interesting nature-vs-nurture yarn, with frank pre-Code allusions to sexual kink and promiscuity which give us a peek into the mentality of the age, the stagy mannerisms that are the baggage of the silent era make for a somewhat dated melodrama. And the direction is pretty awful, too. But Bow manages to isolate herself from these drawbacks; in fact, throughout the film, she distinguishes herself from her surroundings. Isn't this star power?

Ordinarily, this film would score a6 or 7, but I give it a 9 because it's a rare opportunity to watch an actress whose star never should have faded.

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8 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
Cool!, 5 April 2003
5/10
Author: Craig Gustafson from Illinois

Any film that contains:

1. Clara Bow and Thelma Todd in a catfight

2. Clara Bow in a tight silk shirt where it's obvious that (A) she's not wearing a bra and (B) the set was cold that morning is an instant classic, no matter how meandering the rest of the film is.

Also, after seeing the film, I'm at a loss as to why Clara Bow didn't succeed in talkies. She's a wonderful actress, even when the material veers back and forth between sub-par and bizarre.

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4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
The most extreme of the pre-code Hollywood talkies I've seen yet, 20 October 2008
8/10
Author: TimothyFarrell from Worcester, MA

It's a shame that the common film-goer doesn't realize that sexual innuendo existed prior to film in the 1960s. Before the production code was strictly enforced, all sorts of depravity was captured on film and barely veiled. And until "Convention City" becomes available (if that will ever happen), "Call Her Savage" has to be the most extreme of all the early pre-code films available. The film presents a delirious story of a wild Texas girl (played in what was supposed to be her sound comeback by Clara Bow) getting cast off into the city. The film is full of not exactly subtle depictions of incest, bestiality, pedophilia, and all around sordidness. One particularly memorable sequence takes place in a drag bar, another one involves a child dying in a burning building. I can't forget to mention the positively epic cat fight between Clara Bow and Thelma Todd.

Another factor to the delirious atmosphere of the film is how uneven its tone is. The film veers sharply between screwball comedy and melodrama without missing a beat. I'm not sure if this was to treat audiences in the low economy of the time with as much as they could ask for from a motion picture, but it makes this a camp classic as well. It also makes it a very quickly paced experience, as the film is never remotely dull because there's always something over-the-top happening. In all fairness, what holds the film together is Clara Bow. As the strong willed female protagonist, she manages to play off the comedic and more tragic aspects of the film, making her character believable no matter how ridiculous the screenplay is. Also, she's still strikingly beautiful in this day and age, so it's obvious why all the males in the film fall for her. "Call Her Savage" is a hard to find film, but anyone interested in early Hollywood really needs to seek it down. (8/10)

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4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Call her wonderful, 21 March 2004
9/10
Author: marbleann from Huntington, NY

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I just saw this movie on cable. The title is enough to make you think it is a horrible movie..BUT it actually is pretty good. I never saw Clara Bow in a talkie before and frankly I don't see how her talking voice was so bad. This was suppose to be one of the reasons she did not succeed in the talkies. I thought she was wonderful. She looked like she was having a ball. The movie obviously is Pre-code. SPOILERS AHEAD... It has a little bit of everything in it. Biblical prophacy, Inter-racial infidelity, prostitution, out of wedlock baby, father being fooled into thinking his so called daughter is his. A couple shacking up together, STD being passed on to her baby, baby dying in fire, divorce, escorts, suicide. A very weird scene that takes place in a resturant in Greenwich Village with obvious drag queens performing. Even though the crazy implication is that she is part indian so that is why she is so wild. I thought she was rather refreshing and was not some demure debutant. And of course if you are a independent free women in movies you must suffer for that. I liked the movie and I really liked Clara Bow. Too bad she was not in more talkies.

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