From Our Vaults
John Francis Dillon directed Call Her Savage, starring Clara Bow, in her second-to-last film role, and Gilbert Roland.
The tale centers on Nasa Springer, a wild young woman, born and raised in Texas by well-to-do parents, who rebels against her father.
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She is sent to school in Chicago, her disruptive behavior marks her as a troublemaker. She then marries a rich playboy, who declares the marriage a ploy and abandons her. Moreover, 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.
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 hoping to earn 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, where she learns that she is “half-breed,” half white and half Indian. The assertion is made to explain why she had always been “untamable and wild.”
Awareness of her lineage leads to meeting a handsome “half-breed” Indian named Moonglow, who has secretly loved her.
Well cast as fiery-tempered impulsive Nasa, Bow made sort of a comeback in this picture, looking glamorous (hard not to notice she is not wearing a bras), elevating the ultra-melodramatic material.
Curio Item:
The portrayal of a scene in a gay bar would become impossible in two years, due to the enforcement of the Hays code.
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
Credits:
Directed by John Francis Dillon
Written by Tiffany Thayer (novel) Edwin J. Burke
Produced by Sam E. Rork
Cinematography Lee Garmes
Edited by Harold D. Schuster
Music by Peter Brunelli, Arthur Lange
Distributed by Fox Film Corporation
Release date: November 24, 1932
Running time: 82 minutes
