Red-headed manicurist Clara Bow (as "Bubbles" McCoy) enjoys the company of older men for their gifts, and then gets lucky when attractive young Lane Chandler (as Robert Lennon) reveals his possessions are greater. "Red Hair" featured Ms. Bow at the peak of her popularity - she was the #1 box office star for 1928, according to the industry standard's "Quigley Publications" poll. After the success of "It" (1927), Paramount wisely found another story to adapt, from original novelist Elinor Glyn; she wisely forgot about promoting previous young women as having "It", after Bow arrived on the movie screen...
No full print of the popular "Red Hair" is presently available, but small fragments seem to keep turning up. Seen together, they suggest an average Bow vehicle. The film was once thought completely lost, and these bits and pieces suggest more is possible. The original contained some color footage of Bow's red hair. A color clip of Bow in "Red Hair" has turned up, though it looks (to me) like this may be an outtake or camera test. Additional fragments include the scene where Bow suns herself on a raft and the notable "lily pond" scene, where she seems to be in her altogether - except for a lily-pad on her head.
***** Red Hair (3/10/28) Clarence Badger ~ Clara Bow, Lane Chandler, William Austin, Lawrence Grant
