Parisian Love / Down to the Sea in Ships
Clara Bow is a firecracker as the sexy, sassy French apache (street crook) who plots an elaborate con on the society swell who reforms her criminal lover in 1925'sParisian Love. This is a silly but smartly fashioned trifle, crafted with deliciously designed sets and costumes, deftly played sight gags, graceful direction, and a happy ending. Hardly a masterpiece, it's a likable and highly entertaining little tale and one of the films that helped Bow earn the nickname "the It girl."Bow landed her first sizable role in the 1922 adventureDown to the Sea in Ships, playing a scrappy tomboy granddaughter of a Quaker whaling magnate. The film has little to do with her and everything to do with the thrilling record of authentically re-created 19th-century whaling. The story is a tired romantic melodrama, but the exciting footage on the high seas is utterly captivating, making this a one-of-a-kind document of a long-gone culture.--Sean Axmaker