Call Her Savage (1932)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
"It" girl Clara Bow made her comeback with this at times raunchy Pre-Code that features the actress turning up the sex level. In the film she plays a wild child who goes through various up and downs throughout her life. This starts with stealing a husband (Monroe Owsley) from his wife (Thelma Todd), which turns into a disaster but these two will pop up again later in her life. As with Bow's characters life, this film is up and down from start to finish. At times the film comes off very sexy, at times it's funny, at times it's heartbreaking but there are other moments where the film comes off as pure camp. Since this is a Pre-Code we get all sorts of scenes where Bow is showing off her sexuality, which includes scenes showing off her legs and one memorable scene with her nipples showing through her clothes. Before we get to all the sexual stuff we have a prologue that tells us Bow's character is cursed by God due to her grandfather's bad doings behind the back of his wife. These religious elements come off very campy and really put the movie at a slow start. The reason to see this film is due to Bow's terrific performance. She was always great at being the wild child and her funny side has always been good and that continues to be the case here. What really works is her dramatic turns, which includes one heartbreaking scene that I won't ruin here. Bow's comeback would only last one more film, which is a shame because it's clear she hand more punch than a lot of the actresses of this era, which went onto have long careers.
