My Lady of Whims

For the first film venture of his Dallas M. Fitzgerald Productions, Mr Fitzgerald has made over a short story that seems ready made for the talents of Clara Bow. The role requires her to look sexy, titillating, carefree and Bohemian, with lots of pouting and come-hither, but little of actual delivery. You see, she's actually a nice girl at heart, even though she's led her indulgent but worried Dad to believe she's kicking up her heels and living life to the full in the madly arty-tarty surroundings of Greenwich Village.

So Dad hires a muscle man (Donald Keith playing a Chester Morris type and actually enacting it rather well) to track down his "wayward" daughter and bring her flying heels to heel.

That's the story in a nutshell, and even in this abbreviated form, it doesn't sound too interesting. True, the writer has fleshed it out with a caddish but ineffectual rival to romance our heroine. And, of course, he's given our hero a comic sidekick, and our heroine a bosom pal too (even though she has precious little to do).

As a director, Mr Fitzgerald seems to wear a Charles Lamont rather than a Frank Capra mantle; and as a producer, he is certainly no Cecil B. DeMille. But he seems competent enough to get by. In a better print, this picture may well have offered fair-to-average entertainment for rabid Clara Bow fans. But in this 5-reel, ex-Kodascope version—no way!

Aspiring author, Clara Bow (as Prudence "Prue" Severn) leaves her staid home for the wild life in New York's artistic Greenwich Village community. So, her concerned family hires two thrill-seeking ex-dough-boys to look after Ms. Bow, and, hopefully, persuade her to come home. The soldiers of fortune are: cute bow-tied Donald Keith (as Bartley "Bart" Greer) and his comic buddy Lee Moran (as Dick Flynn); they move into Bow's apartment building, where she lives with sculptress Carmelita Geraghty (as Wayne Leigh). Mr. Keith is attracted to the vivacious Bow. Although interested in Keith, Bow senses he is being paid to "watch over her"; so, she decides to elope with handsome Francis McDonald (as Rolf).

Bow is sexy and splendid, in this "youth" comedy. Her often commented on "personification" of the 1920s "flapper" is on full display. Her masquerade party costume and make-up are terrific. Bow, with her light touch and young years, is flush with material that made many contemporary actresses appear foolish. Boyish Keith, a frequent co-star, plays very well with Bow; they were a great romantic team. Bow also brings out the best in Mr. McDonald and Ms. Geraghty. But, the most valuable supporting player has to be the quick-on-his-feet Mr. Moran. He's a rubbery-legged Buster Keaton. "My Lady of Whims" features its star in fine form, with a smart cast.

******** My Lady of Whims (12/25/25) Dallas M. Fitzgerald ~ Clara Bow, Donald Keith, Lee Moran, Francis McDonald

One of Clara Bow's early movies casts her as a rich woman who moves to Greenwich Village in search of an artistic life. Plenty of wacky things ensue. "My Lady of Whims" isn't anything particularly special, but the zaniness makes up for any shortcomings. Moreover, is there anything not to love about the sight of Clara Bow?

I recommend it.

My Lady of Whims (1925)

** (out of 4)

This was the last of fifteen movies Clara Bow released in 1925 so one can understand why she and her screenwriters would be tired. Originally this ran seven reels but the only version available today is a Kodascope version running 42-minutes. In the film Bow plays Prudence Severn, a rich girl who runs off to Greenwich Village so that her writing can have more spirit to it. Her rich father fears that she's up to no good by partying too much so he hires a man (Donald Keith) to keep an eye on her and bring her home. He eventually falls in love not knowing that she knows who hired him. This so-called comedy is very short on laughs and it's not charming, sweet or very entertaining. At just 42-minutes there's really nothing overly awful about it but at the same time there's really nothing to recommend in it. As with most of these films I'm sure the main reason people are going to tune in is for Bow and she's pretty much what you'd expect. She's certainly lively enough and you can easily see why men would be drooling all over her but at the same time her performance really isn't anything to write home about. Yes, she's decent enough playing the party girl but I just never really felt anything else from her. I certainly never laughed at any of her actions. Keith is pretty bland here as he doesn't have a bit of energy in him and not once did I ever feel any chemistry between him and Bow. Lee Moran steals the film with the few scenes that he's in. The screenplay is pretty much by the numbers and there's not a single thing that happens that makes you like the characters or feel for them. Perhaps something was lost in this shortened version but apparently reviews of the original weren't that good either.

clara's father hires a man to follow her to see that she stays out of trouble. clara catches on to her father's plans and toys with the man for the majority of the film. this is just a so so clara movie. it actually starts out pretty well, but the ending is not very satisfying. she has to make a decision between 2 men. neither one of them is at all appealing. reccomended only for true clara fans.