The Wild Party

In fact, on some levels it is a fascinating look at college girls at play at the end of the roaring twenties. The year is 1929 and the place is mythical Winston College, an all-girl school. Stella Ames (Clara Bow) is the most popular girl in school and life of the party, Helen Owens (Shirley O'Hara) is the smartest girl in school, and Faith Morgan (Marceline Day) is a trustee of sorts in the dorm where the girls live who is given to lecturing Stella and has a very stern outlook on life. All of the girls get along pretty well with the exception of one who seems to delight in snooping and gossiping - her antics enter heavily into the plot. The romance here is an unlikely one between young professor of anthropology Dr. Gilmore "Gil" (Fredric March) and party girl Stella. The relationship starts out antagonistically due to an incident a few months before Gil came to the college. A mishap in the sleeper car of a train had a sleepy Stella getting up in the middle of the night for a drink of water and returning to the wrong berth - Gil's, in fact. She's determined to get even with him for teasing her at the time, and is surprised when he doesn't seem to know she's alive.

The college stag dance with girls dancing with girls in which Stella and her two buddies enter the stag dance in a sort of conga line dressed in sequined bathing suits, raccoon skin coats, and high heels is truly an iconic moment in late 20's film. The story should hold your interest although there is nothing truly unique about it, and I thought that the acting and direction were quite good for an early talkie. Sure, Bow has a very noticeable New York accent, but it suits her in this and the other early talkie roles I've seen her in as it accentuates her brashness. Director Arzner keeps things moving by not letting a dead camera just hang there while actors endlessly speechify as is common in other films from this same year. As for the plot devices, there's a rowdy roadhouse, a near-attempted rape, a shooting, dorm fire-drills and head counts at embarrassing moments, and one of the girls falling asleep on the beach with a man at a party until 4AM and then losing the page of a letter in which she is writing about the incident. Wherever did that piece of paper go? I'd definitely recommend this to early talkie fans.

Actress Clara Bow, so confident and frolicking in her silent films, looked upon talkies with trepidation. With no stage experience, Bow relied on her visual spunkiness to mesmerize the public. The Brooklyn born and raised actress felt her accent and a slight stammer had the potential of slamming her film career shut when she was placed before a recording device. One of Hollywood's top female silent movie stars faced an uncertain future when she appeared in a Paramount Pictures' early talkie, April 1929 "The Wild Party."

Dorothy Arzner was given the director's assignment to handle the skittish Bow. After her successful directorial debut in March 1927's 'Women of Fashion,' Arzner directed three more silents before Paramount offered her the "The Wild Party." When Bow heard herself on playback after she was given a brief screen test talking into a microphone, the actress said, "How can I be in pictures with a voice like that?" Assured she was fine, Bow was handed an 100-page script she had to memorize within two weeks before filming. On the set, the opening days were difficult for her. Today's viewers can readily witness her lack of confidence and uneasiness in the new medium. She immediately hated talkies. "They're stiff and limiting," Bow remarked. "You lose a lot of your cuteness, because there's no chance for action, and action is the most important thing to me."

She found herself on the sound stage more conscious about where the microphone was than delivering her lines. Arzner came up with the idea of suspending the microphone on the end of a fishing rod (one of many reports crediting a number of people, including Lionel Barrymore, of innovating the first boom mic) and having it follow her. The results were better, but the actress occasionally looked up to spot the mic. "We had quite a time in the beginning," Arzner remembered, "because to be aware of the pantomime which she was accustomed to, then have words to remember, was very difficult for her."

Playing opposite Bow was actor Frederic March, in only his second credited feature film. A banker turned actor, he first appeared on the Broadway stage, then turned to Hollywood in the late 1920s. In the film, he's a professor at an all-women's college who falls for Bow, even though her behavior is opposite of his. She's equally attracted to him, but several adventures occur placing roadblocks in their relationship. March ended up as one of cinema's most respected actors, nominated by the Academy five times for Best Actor, earning two wins.

Paramount premiered "The Wild Party" with a special public appearance by Bow at the 4,200 seat Brooklyn Paramount Theatre. Ever a comic, she said in a short speech before the movie played, speaking in her heavy New York City accent, "I hope youse all prouda me." Variety didn't see anything particularly wrong with her voice, stating "it was good enough to survive the transition to sound." But another critic lambasted her, describing her voice possessing a "harsh tonal quality that is not very easy on sensitive eardrums." Her talking debut, however, was a financial success as the public continued to envelop her engaging personality.

This is the 35th or so Fredric March movie I have seen to date...and the earliest one. I must say overall I was not impressed with it. Fred was handsome to be sure...but his part was not very challenging or deep for him. He was fine in the movie though...wonderful voice, got to see him in knickers again (other time in the Marriage Playground)...hey, if I were at a college and he was a professor, I would be like Clara and her pals; take his class just because he's such a swell guy!!

About Clara Bow...I didn't think she was so great,you could tell she was definately meant to be a silent actress with all her facial and eye expressions, and I have no idea why Fred fell for her instead of her friend Helen, who was more of a nice and sweet girl. I found Clara very boisterous, rebellious; I did not like her voice or manner or personality. I found the clothing styles in this film hilarious!! Did people actually wear that kind of stuff??? And it surprised me how Clara looked like she could be a modern person, a person of now, I think because her hairstyle was so different--more frizzy and loose.

This is not a film that leaves you sighing at the wonderful acting or story...it left me just thinking, "that was interesting..." It is in no way Fredric's best. For that, see him in The Eagle and the Hawk, The Best Years of Our Lives, Smilin' Through, Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, We Live Again...there are many others out there besides this one. Still and all, I am glad to have seen this, Fred's 2nd talkie.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed watching 'The Wild Party'. It is not a brilliant film, but it is much better than I expected after having looked at some of the reviews here and having tried a couple of other early talkies (though none as early as this one). So what did I like about it? First of all Clara Bow of course. She comes across just as well as on silent film; in fact, I think she managed the transition to talking pictures excellently. Some contemporary and later reviewers disliked her New York accent. I don't, though admittedly English isn't my first language and I am no good at recognising regional accents. Her voice itself - occasionally criticised too - is perfectly alright as far as I am concerned. Her acting style is natural, not overdone - at least after the first couple of scenes, where she looks a bit nervous. All in all she is credible as a college student. The other female actors do very well, too. Most dialogue (again, after the actors got the first one of two scenes behind them) sounds fine - far better than the stilted and unnatural lines in the few talking scenes in 'Lonesome' for example, which came out only one year before 'The Wild Party'. The plot is nice enough. There are some enjoyable twists and turns and a reasonably satisfying conclusion. I am saying 'reasonably satisfying' because this conclusion involves the male lead actor, Fredric March, who I think was miscast in the role of professor Gilmore. He is supposed to be very much focused on academia and research, but that does not mean that he absolutely has to be quite so stuffy, boring and downright unfriendly (he does not even greet, let alone welcome the students in his new course). It beats me why all the girls go crazy about him.

'The Wild Party' is of course also interesting because it shows, if not what all-women colleges were like in the late 1920s, then at least how the general public assumed students and professors to behave. My, how things have changed! There is this professor, Gilmore, who saves the character played by Clara Bow from being gang raped by a group of drunks. His reaction? He says he worries about his position at the college. A moment later he passionately kisses Clara. THAT is what would make him worry today. Evidently the general public thought it was fine for members of faculty to have romantic relations with students (even though the college is implied to have frowned upon this kind behaviour). Well, at any rate, I liked 'The Wild Party'. It is definitely the most enjoyable early (i.e. Pre-1933) talkie I have watched so far. I recommend it.

Wild party girl Clara Bow (as Stella Ames) has plenty of fun at the "Winston" college for young women. Parties and roadhouse jaunts are the college girls' preoccupation. On the train trip to "Winston", Ms. Bow recalls accidentally climbing into bed with fellow traveler Fredric March (as James "Gil" Gilmore). As it turns out, Mr. March is the school's new Professor of Anthropology. Bow and her housemates see the good-looking teacher arrive, and immediately become interested in anthropological matters. Eventually, Bow and March fall into each other's arms, which threatens their student and teacher status at the college.

Bow's first "talkie" was not unsuccessful, although it is sometimes recalled as a failure. Perhaps, detractors are recalling Bow's subsequent talking features. Strangely, she became more unnatural, hesitant, and uneven in later films. Possibly, she was rattled by negative reviews. However, by 1931, Bow's performances became more assured. By then, unfortunately, it was too late for the huge audiences attending "The Wild Party" to appreciate her efforts.

"The Wild Party" is a more than respectable talking film debut; while undeniably silly, it was a fun "college youth" film. Bow wasn't going to be young forever, obviously; but, she could still carry out the college hi-jinks. March and the supporting cast perform well. And, Paramount assigned a woman, Dorothy Arzner, to direct the film.

Watch for one notably silent word "mouthed" the film. When Bow and the women are in the back seat of the car, they see March walking in the street, and Bow exclaims, "----!"

****** The Wild Party (4/6/29) Dorothy Arzner ~ Clara Bow, Fredric March, Joyce Compton