Evening star., 1932-07-10

A
~ written in to say, when is
"A Clara Bow coming back?"
This patron modestly
doesn't sign his name, but judg-
ing from. the heavy, bold scrawl,
the invisible signature belongs to
a male-possibly an adventure
some male possibly, too, sailor.
The return of Miss Bow to the
screen is one of those events which
is being awaited with awe. Ladies
are curious because they have
heard that the premier exit"
girl Is not as trim as she was
once, and gentlemen are anxious
because Miss Bow represents a
type of womanhood rarely seen
on the screen these days. Then,
too, there are the children who
have come of age" since Clara
left the screen and who in the
days of her glory were not al
lowed to watch her playful ca
vortings and who now will pour
into picture pavilions to see what
they have missed.
Miss Bows announced return to
the fold-which is to take place
any minute now-is probably one
of the most important of Mid
summer items. A number Of
things will be decided. In the
first place, can La Bow renew that
invigorating hold on her public
which made her at one time an
outstanding personality Of the
screen? Secondly, has retirement
on a Western ranch won for her
more of an idea about acting? And
third, has, perhaps, the silken
glamour of Miss Harlowe or the
trenchant maneuverings of Miss
Garbo destroyed Miss Bows
chances of attaining the 'it' peak
again?
Unquestionably, acting has i'm
proved on the screen since Miss
Bow was swept into retirement.
A mere smile, a fetching" laugh,
and an ability to rotate the ocular
lenses does no longer mean star
dom. Miss Bows talent of clos
ing one eye and yawning wide
with the other was very great. So
was her insight into how to wear
clothes. But, when it came time
for her to rant and roar with the
best of the tragediennes, she was
found to be lacking.
Wisely, from her home ranch,
comes word now that she will at
tempt DO more roles beyond her
reach, that she will conf1ne her
self to the modest attainments
that are within her grasp, that
she will, in other words, be her
self
Miss Bow is not landing with a
thump back in pictures. She has
not been snapped up by the Para
mount forceS-which, curiouSly
enough, began to slide downhill
soon after their flrst-place money
winner was dropped from the lists.
A long series of Ifs" and ''hows"
precede her entrance back into
FINLAND.
Two months have been given
her to scatter TO the winds some
of that surplus avoirdupoiS which
the ease and repose Of ranch life
won for her. If, in fact, she does
not weather the weight scales with
the assurance of prizefighter
she may find herself no more, no
less, than the wife of cowboy
actor Rex Bell.
Then again, she has delivered
an ultimatum herself which is
drawn up in the inevitable con-
tract. If she cannot have hand
in the choosing and writing of her
own roles then she won't have a
hand in anything at all.
This last statement is a trifle
disconcerting, since heretofore it
has not been common knowledge
that Miss Bow fancied herself as
q penwoman-or as a word Jug
gler at all. She felt, of course,
that Paramount was not giving
her the right kind of stories, but
1t was never suggested las far as
we know that she hankered after
the written word herself. If. now,
Miss Bow is to be a kind of Anita
Loos as well as her new self, the
results should have a double sig
nificance.
Will Clara write herself up as a
Camille, Sadie Thompson, or a
Juno? Will she prefer to remain
salty red, or will she turn plati-
mum blond? Will she be funny
tragic, or a plain modern hood
lum-the kind of role which used
to suit her best? These secrets
reNain to be solved. But what
ever, and however, we predict that