Clara Bow’s family has praised Taylor Swift for her “hauntingly beautiful” new song about the late silent film queen.
One of the reigning movie stars of the 1920s, Clara is perhaps best known for her 1927 film It, which popularized the term ‘It Girl.’
However, in the 1930s, she became a lightning rod for scandal, dogged by accusations that she was a drunken man-eater and gambler.
Taylor’s new song, Clara Bow, is from her eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, which she released to a voracious response from her fans at midnight on Friday.
Now Clara’s great-granddaughters, Nicole Sisneros and Brittany Grace Bell, have told it People They “love” the song, but added that they haven’t been able to “successfully connect” with Taylor’s team to communicate their feelings directly.
Clara Bow’s descendants have praised Taylor Swift (left) for her ‘hauntingly beautiful’ new song about the late silent film queen (right)
However, in the 1930s, she became a lightning rod for scandal, dogged by accusations that she was a drunken man-eater and gambler.
The lyrics include Hollywood ‘suits’ telling a young starlet that she looks like several showbiz icons, including Clara, Stevie Nicks and Taylor herself.
Nicole said she got “chills” when she heard the song and heard the way it “poetically draws parallels between Clara Bow and Taylor.”
He praised Taylor and Clara as “natural, incredibly talented artists” and gushed that “my family and I love the song and are grateful that Taylor connected to Clara’s legacy through her songwriting.”
Meanwhile, Brittany chose specific lyrics from Taylor’s song and made connections to her great-grandmother’s life and legacy.
The opening lines of the song are: ‘You look like Clara Bow in this light: extraordinary.’ Did you know all your life that they would pick you up like a rose?
Brittany explained: ‘Clara was a “rose” who was chosen by the men in Hollywood who capitalized on her fame and talent. “I think it perfectly sums up how she would feel as Hollywood’s ‘It’ girl.”
He also focused on the line, “This town is fake but you’re real,” which he interpreted as a reference to “how Clara Bow was unapologetically herself despite the media noise in Hollywood and the social norms of the 1920s.” and 1930″. The song seems ethereal and somewhat melancholic to me.”
In the preview for her upcoming music video Fortnight with Post Malone, Taylor wore a hair and makeup look that Nicole felt was a throwback to Clara.
Taylor’s new song, Clara Bow, is from her eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, which she released to a voracious response from her fans at midnight on Friday.
Now, Clara’s great-granddaughters, Nicole Sisneros and Brittany Grace Bell, have told People that they “love” the song Taylor has written about their famous ancestor.
Clara was one of Hollywood’s leading screen sirens of the 1920s, the original ‘It Girl’ who achieved sex symbol status playing the archetypal flapper.
She once told Photoplay that during her heyday she was “going crazy,” I guess, in the sense of trying to have a good time;” Pictured is a still from No Limit.
‘She has the same sensual look that was characteristic of Clara Bow. And there is no denying the precise application of lipstick,” argued Nicole.
Clara was one of Hollywood’s leading screen sirens of the 1920s, the original ‘It Girl’ who achieved sex symbol status playing the archetypal flapper.
She once told Photoplay that during her heyday “she was ‘going crazy,’ I guess, in the sense of trying to have a good time,” and her theory about her stardom was that “a lot of that excitement, that joie de vivre , appeared on the screen.’
However, she was scarred by childhood trauma (her father had raped her and her mother had been institutionalized) and began to give in to the pressures of fame.
When silent films went out of fashion, Clara was able to switch to talkies, but she disdained the new way of filmmaking as “rigid and limiting.”
In the preview (left) for her upcoming music video Fortnight with Post Malone, Taylor wore a hair and makeup look that Nicole felt was a throwback to Clara Bow (right).
Then, in the early 1930s, she became embroiled in a web of scandals that ultimately took their toll on her show business career.
One of the accusations he had to deal with was a persistent rumor that he had indulged in an orgy with the entire USC football team, a story immortalized in Kenneth Anger’s infamous 1965 book, Hollywood Babylon.
His private life came under intense scrutiny after he fired his secretary Daisy DeVoe and took her to court for embezzlement and blackmail.
When the case came to trial, Daisy aired a series of gossip about the star’s love life and accused her of gambling and drunkenness.
Although Daisy went to jail, the combination of Clara’s various problems led to a nervous breakdown and landed her in a sanatorium.
She left the movies and married a Nevada politician, and although she briefly returned to Hollywood for money, she finally retired permanently in 1933.