Clara Bow Double Feature: MANTRAP in 35mm + IT
Special Features: Live accompaniment by Andrew Simpson; intro and book event with author and screenwriter David Stenn
MANTRAP (1926) in 35mm
On a trip to Minneapolis, backwoodsman Joe Easter (Ernest Torrence) marries manicurist Alverna (Clara Bow) and brings her back to his trading post in Mantrap, deep in the north of Canada. When New Yorkers Prescott (Percy Marmont) and Woodbury (Eugene Pallette) arrive in Mantrap for a camping trip, Alverna, now tiring of married life in the sticks, sees in Prescott her ticket back to the big city. The frothy sex farce of MANTRAP was a sensation in 1926, a reputation-making hit for director Victor Fleming and rising star Bow, with ace cinematography by James Wong Howe. DIR Victor Fleming; SCR Adelaide Heilbron, Ethel Doherty, from the novel by Sinclair Lewis; PROD B. P. Schulberg, Hector Turnbull. U.S., 1926, b&w, 71 min. NOT RATED
Followed by:
IT (1927)
Clara Bow, forever after "The IT Girl," plays shop girl Betty Spence, a wise-cracking flapper who sets her sights on her wealthy employer, Cyrus Waltham (Antonio Moreno). Cyrus has lots of class, but Betty has lots of sass — or "it," helpfully explained by Cosmopolitan writer Elinor Glyn, playing herself, as, "self-confidence and indifference as to whether you are pleasing or not." DIR/PROD Clarence G. Badger; SCR Hope Loring, Louis D. Lighton, from a story by Elinor Glyn. U.S., 1927, b&w, 72 min. NOT RATED
AFI Member passes accepted.
Copies of David Stenn's book, "Clara Bow: Runnin' Wild," will be available for sale and signing.
About David Stenn
David Stenn is an American television writer/producer, biographer and film preservationist. His television credits range from HILL STREET BLUES to BOARDWALK EMPIRE. He is the author of two acclaimed biographies, "Clara Bow: Runnin' Wild" (1988) and "Bombshell: The Life and Death of Jean Harlow" (1993).
Run Time: 160 Minutes
Opening Date: Wednesday, March 15, 2023
Genre: Romantic comedy