Dangerous Curves

There are only so many stories, especially stories of love.

This is rather ordinary. It consists of three threads.

The first is of a relatively plain girl who loves a star, but he loves another, a vamp who doesn't care for him but manipulates him. But our gal sticks with it, even though the guy is an unfaithful, lying drunk. Eventually she does something heroic and saves his reputation. Impressed, he falls in love with her. Ho hum. That someone once related to this is mildly interesting.

And then there's the spectacle of the circus. In 1929, this would have still thrilled, what with the risks and spectacular falls.

But the reason to watch this today is because the "plain" girl is played by Clara Bow! Only a couple years before, this was the sexiest woman in the world, our first redheaded film sex symbol. She, the IT girl. Here, she is absolutely the least attractive girl in a skimpy costume. Here, she lacks all the poised seduction she had mastered before. Its because she speaks, I think.

The stories are well known, how she froze with insecurity. How audiences abandoned her instantly when hearing her low class, Yiddish-tinged Brooklyn squeak. This, the sexiest woman in the entire world of media.

Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.