Call Her Savage

1932 film

November 24, 1932 (1932-11-24)

Running time

82–92 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglish

Call Her Savage is a 1932 pre-Code drama film directed by John Francis Dillon and starring Clara Bow.^[1] The film was Bow's second-to-last film role. It is also one of the first portrayals of homosexuals on screen, including a scene in a gay bar.^[2]^[3] The film's copyright was renewed, and the film will enter the public domain in 2028.^[a]

Plot

A wild young woman, Nasa Springer, born and raised in Texas by well-to-do parents, rebels against her father. She is sent to school in Chicago, where her disruptive behavior marks her as a troublemaker. She marries a rich playboy, who then declares the marriage a ploy and abandons her. She is renounced by her father, who tells her he never wishes to see her again. She discovers she is pregnant and bears a child. Reduced to poverty, she moves into a boardinghouse with her infant, and struggles to pay for the baby's basic needs. Unaware that her grandfather in Texas has died and left her a $100,000 fortune, a desperate Nasa dresses up as a prostitute and goes out in the neighborhood hoping to earn some quick cash to purchase medicine for her child. While she is out, a drunken lout at the boardinghouse drops a match and accidentally sets the building on fire. Nasa's infant is killed in the blaze.

Upon learning that her mother is dying, she hurries home to Texas. There she learns that she is a "half-breed", half white and half Indian. The assertion is made that this explains why she had always been "untameable and wild." This knowledge of her lineage would supposedly allow her the possibility for happiness in the arms of a handsome young "half-breed" Indian named Moonglow, a longtime friend who has secretly loved her.

Cast

Clara Bow as Nasa Springer
Gilbert Roland as Moonglow
Thelma Todd as Sunny De Lane
Monroe Owsley as Lawrence Crosby
Estelle Taylor as Ruth Springer
Weldon Heyburn as Ronasa
Willard Robertson as Pete Springer
Anthony Jowitt as Jay Randall
Fred Kohler as Silas Jennings
Russell Simpson as Old Man in Wagon Train
Margaret Livingston as Molly
Carl Stockdale as Mort
Dorothy Peterson as Silas' Wife
Marilyn Knowlden as Ruth (as a girl)
Douglas Haig (uncredited) as Pete (as a boy)^[4]

Reception

The Film Daily praised Bow's performance, writing "Looking like a million dollars, acting better than she ever did, and playing a role that requires her to pretty near run the gamut of feminine moods and modes, Clara Bow makes a whirlwind comeback."^[5]

The film attracted an audience of over 900,000 when it was showcased in 42 first-run cities.^[6]

Preservation status

The film was restored in 2012 by the Museum of Modern Art and premiered at the third annual Turner Classic Movies Film Festival in Hollywood.^[7]

References

^ Mordaunt Hall (November 25, 1932). "Clara Bow as a Termagant in a Film of a Novel by Tiffany Thayer -- The Night Mayor". The New York Times. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
^ Jeffrey Friedman; Rob Epstein; Sharon Wood (August 17, 2012). The Art of Nonfiction Movie Making. ABC-CLIO. pp. 184–. ISBN 978-0-313-08453-9.
^ Screened Out.
^ Alan Gevinson, ed. (1997). American Film Institute Catalog. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520209640.
^ "Clara Bow in 'Call Her Savage'". The Film Daily. November 26, 1932.
^ "Bow Pulls 'Em In". The Film Daily. November 26, 1932.
^ TCM