Mantrap

this is one of clara bow's best movies. she plays a girl from the big city of minneapolis who marries a man from a small canadian town. they move back to canada in a town called "mantrap," where clara proceeds to flirt with just about every man she meets. the story is rather good for a silent film, but it is clara's personality and stunning beauty that are the main assets in this film. if you are a fan of clara bow, this is definitely a film to check out ( if ya can find it.)

I noticed that some folks (as well as the accompanying DVD notes) describe this as Clara Bow's best film. Well, it was cute and worth seeing but I still don't think it comes close to the quality and entertainment value of "Wings"--a film she made the following year.

The title clearly has a double meaning. First, it's set in the town of Mantrap in rural Canada. Second, Clara is clearly a mantrap--a woman who is so flirtatious that she can't seem to help attracting men.

The film begins with a man leaving Mantrap--he wants to visit the big city and perhaps meet a woman. He meets one--Clara--and soon they get married and move back to his tiny village. At the same time, a burnt out divorce lawyer leaves the big city to get away from it all. When he meets up with Clara's husband, they soon become friends. Unfortunately, Clara just can't help herself and she soon starts in on him--and it's obvious she wants him. What's to happen next? See this cute little film to see for yourself.

I noticed that another reviewer felt that the plot was decent but the film really was improved by Bow's performance as a lovable flirt. I would agree--it did make the film more entertaining. But, at its heart, it's still just a slightly above average film but a good feature role by this lovely actress.

What a delightful film - at its best when its comedy, a little weaker in the dramatic bits. Clara Bow is amazing - funny, sexy, completely liberated - she is a free spirit, having sex with whoever she wants to. Her two choices are a little dull though - country bumpkin Ernst Torrence or city lawyer Percy Marmont - both a little old for her, but hell, Hollywood has always put beautiful young women with stodgy older men (studio executive fantasy perhaps?).

It's a well directed film - Victor Fleming went on to direct "Gone with the Wind" and "The Wizard of Oz", and photographed mostly on location by James Wong Howe - so it looks great. But it's Clara that holds it all together - and what an ending! Incidentally she isn't the mantrap - it's the name of the town in Canada where most of the action takes place.

Clara Bow's favorite among her own films is, when seen today, an agreeable if inconsequential silent comedy showing the 'It' Girl in familiar form, impulsively marrying an honest but unexciting mountain man (Ernest Torrance) and soon becoming bored with the great outdoors. Her inability to resist any sort of flirtation leads to a dalliance with prim misogynist Percy Marmont, in the hope that he might return her to civilization. But despite a promising set-up the level of humor is almost too modest, content to provide the occasional lighthearted chuckle instead of the more satisfying belly laugh. Bow's natural vitality and charm carry the film, and the impressive location photography was provided by a fledgling James Wong Howe.

Should have been the title of this take on 'Mantrap', the rather unsuccessful novel by Sinclair Lewis. After having seen the picture, Lewis apparently claimed that the film did not have much to do with the book, but pleasing it certainly is. That's mainly because of the presence of Clara Bow, who is simply irrepressible: She just needs to hint at flirting and men fall for her left, right and centre. That's not to say the other actors are no good. It is nice to see Eugene Pallette, already displaying his typical mannerisms (though less weighty than in the 1930s), and Ernest Torrence is doing well, too. Percy Marmont came initially across as rather too misogynist for my taste, but he improves in the course of the film. Still, having watched it I was asking myself 'so what?'. In sum: nice enough but far from great.