When I ordered this movie, I really wasn't expecting a whole lot after reading all of the tepid reviews it received here. However, having seen it, I do think that it is a fine little film, with lots of funny and cute moments within that make it a really good watch.
If you want to see a Clara Bow movie, you'd probably fare better with her trademark film, "It", as she is not as present in "The Plastic Age". However, she makes the most of her on screen time, and I was really taken with her character. She is undoubtedly one of the most underrated actresses of all time, and also one of the most lovable.
I would definitely watch this movie again, because it was never boring and never slow. Nothing about it was particularly astounding or brilliant, but who says that every film has to be controversial and ground-breaking? There have to be a few simple, fun films out there to balance everything out! By the way, for those of you who were wondering about Clark Gable's appearance in the film, I can tell you where to look. My sister and I are HUGE Gable fans, and we'd recognize him from a thousand miles away with a bag over his head. He is in the following scenes:
-In the locker room scene, he makes his first appearance, which is pretty obvious, as he is sitting on a bench and is very well greased. Guffaw.
-In that same scene, when the coach comes in to talk to them, you can see Clark over the coach's shoulder, without his shirt on, about to get into the shower. He has an intense farmer's tan, by the way, and he reacts really cutely to everything the coach was saying. Good job, Clark.
-In that same scene again, when the coach is giving that big motivational speech, the camera cuts to two men smiling, and the one on the left with the rouge all over his face is our Clark.
-When Clara and Donald go for their moonlight walk, and a woman's shoe falls out of the tree, that is Clark up there holding the girl in his arms. I thought that was a pretty cute scene, because he got to talk! Of course, we didn't hear it, but reading his lips, he turns to the girl and says: "Is this yours?" Brilliant!
-When Donald hurts his ankle at tryouts, two men come to help him off the field. Clark is the one on the right.
-And finally, at the big game at the end, Clark is the man wearing the helmet, who is sitting next to Donald, and then Gilbert, on the left. He even gets all excited during the last few minutes of the game, and starts bouncing around and cheering.
There, that got that straight. For those scenes alone, this movie is worth getting for all of you Clark Gable fanatics.
