Rising star Clara Bow had appeared in an astronomical 15 pictures in just one year (1925), a busy stretch by any measure during those heyday silent movie productions. But one movie of hers in particular stood out where Bow was the lead and became her first big hit in cinema, December 1925's "The Plastic Age."
Initially hired by the small film production company Preferred Pictures, the young 20-year-old actress had been making movies for the B. P. Schulberg-owned business as well as being loaned out to other studios during her three years with him. Schulberg bought the rights to Brown University English professor's 1924 best-selling book, 'The Plastic Age,' with Clara in mind. She plays the role of Cynthia Day, a college co-ed whose main focus is boys, partying, drinking and petting in the backseat of cars. Bow meets naive freshman Hugh Carter (Donald Keith), a future college football and track star. Through her wild lifestyle, she ensnares Carter, sending him into a downward spiral where his strict parents notice a slippage in his grades. They don't hold back in their disgust at his newfound bad behavior.
Adolph Zukor of Paramount Pictures fell in love with Bow (the version of her on the screen) after seeing "The Plastic Age." In a period where small production houses were being gobbled up by the larger outfits, Zukor made an offer to Schulberg to buy out Preferred Pictures. He agreed to merge with Paramount when the studio gave him total control over the type of pictures he could produce as well the actors, script, crew and wardrobe selection. Bow was now a Paramount employee.
"The Plastic Age" is also noteworthy for the actors appearing in the cast. Mexican-born and Texas-raised Roland Gilbert (birth name Luis Antonio de Alonso) received his first major role in this picture. He traveled to Los Angeles at 14 to be in film, getting his start in several movies as an extra. He's Hugh Carter's freshman roommate, and also has eyes for Clara. In real life, Gilbert had proposed to Bow after the production, to which she accepted. But both soon called off the wedding as Clara moved on to other numerous relationships. They remained lifelong friends, even when Bow reverted to becoming a recluse after she dropped out of pictures. Gilbert had a highly successful career in film, highlighted by his performance in 1952's "The Bad and the Beautiful," along with John Ford's 1964 "Cheyenne Autumn." His last appearance was in the 1982 western "Barbarosa," with Willy Nelson.
"The Plastic Age" also sees Clark Gable as an extra (noticeable in the locker room scene) and as well as his future wife Carol Lombard, also as a 17-year-old extra. The two starred in their only movie together in 1932's "No Man of Her Own,' directed by Wesley Ruggles, who by coincident directed "The Plastic Age."
