The Plastic Age (film)
Encyclopedia
- For the album by The BugglesThe BugglesThe Buggles were an English New Wave band consisting of Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes . They are remembered chiefly for their 1979 debut single "Video Killed the Radio Star" that was #1 on the singles chart in 16 countries. Its music video was the first to be shown on MTV in the U.S...
, see The Age of PlasticThe Age of Plastic-Chart performance:-Personnel:The Buggles*Geoff Downes – keyboards, drums, percussion*Trevor Horn – vocals, bass guitar, guitarAdditional musicians*Paul Robinson - drums*Richard James Burgess – drums...
.
The Plastic Age (1925
1925 in film
-Events:*November 5: The Big Parade holds its Grand Premier*December 30: premier of Ben-Hur the most expensive silent film ever made costing 4-6 million dollars -Top grossing films :...
) is a black-and-white silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
starring Clara Bow
Clara Bow
Clara Gordon Bow was an American actress who rose to stardom in the silent film era of the 1920s. It was her appearance as a spunky shopgirl in the film It that brought her global fame and the nickname "The It Girl." Bow came to personify the roaring twenties and is described as its leading sex...
and Gilbert Roland
Gilbert Roland
Gilbert Roland was a Mexican-born American film actor.He was born Luis Antonio Dámaso de Alonso in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico and originally intended to become a bullfighter like his father. When the family moved to the United States, however, he became interested in acting when he was...
. The film survives today not only on 16 mm film, but also on video
Video
Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
. The film was based on the best-selling 1924 novel The Plastic Age
The Plastic Age
The Plastic Age is a novel by Percy Marks, which tells the story of co-eds at a fictional college called Sanford. With contents that covered or implied hazing, partying, and "petting", the book sold well enough to be the second best-selling novel of 1924...
by Percy Marks. It was adapted for the screen by Frederica Sagor Maas
Frederica Sagor Maas
Frederica Alexandrina Sagor Maas is an American playwright, screenwriter, memoirist and author, the youngest daughter of Russian immigrants. Maas is best known for a detailed, tell-all memoir of her time spent in early Hollywood. She is one of the rare supercentenarians known for reasons other...
and Eve Unsell
Eve Unsell
Eve Unsell , was an American screenwriter. She wrote for 96 films between 1914 and 1933.She was born in Chicago, Illinois and died in Hollywood, California.-Selected filmography:* The Test of Honor...
.
Plot
Hugh Carver (Donald KeithDonald Keith (actor)
Donald Keith born Francis Feeney was an American silent film actor remembered for costarring with Clara Bow in several films in the 1920s...
) is an athletic star and a freshman at Prescott College. During a hazing initiation by his fraternity brothers, he meets Cynthia Day (Clara Bow
Clara Bow
Clara Gordon Bow was an American actress who rose to stardom in the silent film era of the 1920s. It was her appearance as a spunky shopgirl in the film It that brought her global fame and the nickname "The It Girl." Bow came to personify the roaring twenties and is described as its leading sex...
), a popular girl who loves to party and have a good time. She introduces him to the pleasures of illicit drinking, dancing at illegal roadhouses, and necking in the back seats of cars. A love-triangle develops between Day, Carver, and Carver's roommate, Carl Peters (Gilbert Roland
Gilbert Roland
Gilbert Roland was a Mexican-born American film actor.He was born Luis Antonio Dámaso de Alonso in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico and originally intended to become a bullfighter like his father. When the family moved to the United States, however, he became interested in acting when he was...
), who also likes Day. Eventually, Peters gives up his crush on Day and reconciles his friendship with Carver.
Carver's grades, athletic performance and moral character begin to suffer as a result of his late nights and wild partying, and on a visit home, his strict father tosses him out of the house and tells him not to come back until he's 'made good'. After almost being arrested at a roadhouse raid, Day and Carver escape in her automobile, and Day realizes that her lifestyle is bad for Carver, so the two stop seeing each other.
Carver's school performance then improves greatly, and he leads his teammates to victory at the big football game at the end of the year. Peters tells Carver that Day still loves him, and that she has changed, becoming less wild and more mature. Day and Carver are reunited at the end.
Background
The Plastic Age was based on a 1924 book of the same name written by Brown UniversityBrown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
professor and popular novelist of the time, Percy Marks. Professor Marks' novels were about his students, the 'flaming youth in rebellion' of the twenties, who danced to wild jazz, drank from silver flasks, and had petting parties. It was shot on location, Pomona College
Pomona College
Pomona College is a private, residential, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. Founded in 1887 in Pomona, California by a group of Congregationalists, the college moved to Claremont in 1889 to the site of a hotel, retaining its name. The school enrolls 1,548 students.The founding member...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in the summer of 1925.
The film was a huge hit and Clara Bow's greatest achievement so far. It has been suggested that Adolph Zukor
Adolph Zukor
Adolph Zukor , born Adolph Cukor, was a film mogul and founder of Paramount Pictures.-Early life:...
, head of Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
, the biggest studio in Hollywood at that time, offered to merge with Preferred Pictures (a much smaller studio), and make Preferred's head B.P. Schulberg an associate producer at Paramount to acquire her. Zukor was looking for star talent, as he had recently lost many of his biggest stars.
The copy reviewed is the Image Entertainment
Image Entertainment
Image Entertainment, Inc. is an independent licensee, producer and distributor of home entertainment programming and film & television productions in North America, with approximately 3,000 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 250 exclusive CD titles in domestic release, and approximately 450...
DVD version produced by David Shepard and his company Film Preservation Associates, offered as a double-feature DVD with The Show Off
The Show Off
The Show Off is a 1926 silent film comedy produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Mal St. Clair and starred Ford Sterling, Lois Wilson and Louise Brooks. It is based on a 1924 Broadway play that had Lee Tracy in the cast...
(1926). It was mastered from a 16mm print. The music score by Eric Beheim uses original arrangements of authentic music of the period.
Cast
- Clara BowClara BowClara Gordon Bow was an American actress who rose to stardom in the silent film era of the 1920s. It was her appearance as a spunky shopgirl in the film It that brought her global fame and the nickname "The It Girl." Bow came to personify the roaring twenties and is described as its leading sex...
as Cynthia Day - Donald KeithDonald Keith (actor)Donald Keith born Francis Feeney was an American silent film actor remembered for costarring with Clara Bow in several films in the 1920s...
as Hugh Carver - Mary AldenMary AldenMary Maguire Alden was an American motion picture and stage actress. She was one of the first Broadway actresses to work in Hollywood.-Career:Born in New York City, Alden began her career on the Broadway stage...
as Mrs. Carver - Henry B. WalthallHenry B. WalthallHenry Brazeale Walthall was an American film actor.-Career:Walthall began his career as a stage actor, appearing on Broadway in a supporting role in William Vaughn Moody's The Great Divide in 1906–1908. His career in movies began in 1908, in the film Rescued from an Eagle's Nest, which also...
as Henry Carver - Gilbert RolandGilbert RolandGilbert Roland was a Mexican-born American film actor.He was born Luis Antonio Dámaso de Alonso in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico and originally intended to become a bullfighter like his father. When the family moved to the United States, however, he became interested in acting when he was...
as Carl Peters - David ButlerDavid ButlerDavid Butler may refer to:*David Butler , first governor of Nebraska*David Butler , UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball player...
as Coach Henley - Gwen LeeGwen LeeGwen Lee was an American film actress from Hastings, Nebraska. Her given name was Gwendolyn Lepinski.-Acting career:...
as Carl's girl
Also appearing in otherwise minor, uncredited roles are future film stars Janet Gaynor
Janet Gaynor
Janet Gaynor was an American actress and painter.One of the most popular actresses of the silent film era, in 1928 Gaynor became the first winner of the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performances in three films: Seventh Heaven , Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans and Street Angel...
, Clark Gable
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable , known as Clark Gable, was an American film actor most famous for his role as Rhett Butler in the 1939 Civil War epic film Gone with the Wind, in which he starred with Vivien Leigh...
, and Carole Lombard
Carole Lombard
Carole Lombard was an American actress. She was particularly noted for her comedic roles in the screwball comedies of the 1930s...
.