The Wild Party
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Dorothy Arzner
Clara Bow
Fredric March
Marceline Day
Shirley O'hara
Adrienne Doré
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Stella Ames, the most popular and wildest girl at Winston College for Women, sets her cap for handsome young anthropology professor James "Gil" Gilmore, with whom she once accidentally shared a berth on a train. Nothing seems to lower his professional demeanor, though, until Stella is abducted by some drunks one night at a roadhouse and Gil comes to her rescue. After they kiss and exhange confidences, Stella is certain that Gil will give her an "A" on the paper she turns in the next day, but instead she is subjected to a humiliating lecture about her lack of dedication. After storming out of class in tears, Stella decides to go to a wild "house party" at a neighboring men's college and takes her shy, serious friend Helen Owens, with her. Stella has a change of heart about Gil after hearing that he was shot by one of the drunks who abducted her, and when Gil returns to campus, they profess their love for each other. The next day, when Stella takes the blame for receiving some suggestive love letters that actually were sent to Helen, Stella is expelled. She is certain that she has lost Gil's love, but is happily surprised when Gil asks her to join him on an expedition to Malaya, where there will be no "morons," only savages.
Director
Dorothy Arzner
Cast
Clara Bow
Fredric March
Marceline Day
Shirley O'hara
Adrienne Doré
Joyce Compton
Jack Oakie
Jack Luden
Phillips Holmes
Virginia Thomas
Jean Lorraine
Kay Bryant
Alice Adair
Renee Whitney
Amo Ingram
Marguerite Cramer
Ben Hendricks Jr.
Jack Raymond
Crew
Travis Banton
Sid Brod
Doris Drought
Warner Fabian
Earl Hayman
Art Jacobson
Harvey Johnstone
Scott Joplin
Otto Lovering
George Marion Jr.
Victor Milner
Leo Robin
E. Lloyd Sheldon
E. Lloyd Sheldon
Richard A. Whiting
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Although intended primarily as a sound picture, The Wild Party was also released in a silent version for theaters which could not as yet accomodate sound. While most censorship boards throughout the U.S. approved the silent version, several made cuts, most notably of a scene (not in the sound version) in which the girls at Winston College prepare to go to a gym class by bowing their heads in mock prayer. In addition to being Paramount's first sound film, The Wild Party marked the sound film debut of director Dorothy Arzner and actress Clara Bow.
