# Clara Bow or Marlene Dietrich? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 16, 2018, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clara-bow-or-marlene-dietrich/814304 "2018-05-16T19:56:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rough\_Draft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@Rough\_Draft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rough_Draft)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2018, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clara-bow-or-marlene-dietrich/814304/21 "2018-05-16T23:52:22Z")
I voted other, mostly because I heard a reference to Louise Brooks the other day and wound up doing some reading and looking up pictures of her. She was extremely cute! ---
**Author:** ![SantaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/da6949/32.png) [@SantaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SantaMan)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2018, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clara-bow-or-marlene-dietrich/814304/22 "2018-05-16T23:58:16Z")
I chose Marlene, but then again I am a Gay man of a certain age. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clara-bow-or-marlene-dietrich/814304/23 "2018-05-17T00:03:40Z")
> [@Rough\_Draft](#): > > I voted other, mostly because I heard a reference to Louise Brooks the other day and wound up doing some reading and looking up pictures of her. She was extremely cute! The beautiful Miss Brooks: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMFKib\_Byb8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMFKib_Byb8) :o I love this song, too! ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clara-bow-or-marlene-dietrich/814304/24 "2018-05-17T00:25:12Z")
I’m choosing to answer based only on looks. I’ve never understood how Dietrich was considered attractive. I don’t see it at all. Bow was very pretty. Bow wins. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clara-bow-or-marlene-dietrich/814304/25 "2018-05-17T00:31:01Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Barbara Bain? > [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Marilu Henner. But Dietrich wore her top hat at a [jaunty angle](https://www.purpleclover.com/entertainment/8053-gay-stars-hollywoods-golden-age/item/marlene-dietrich/)! ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clara-bow-or-marlene-dietrich/814304/26 "2018-05-17T00:46:42Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > But Dietrich wore her top hat at a [jaunty angle](https://www.purpleclover.com/entertainment/8053-gay-stars-hollywoods-golden-age/item/marlene-dietrich/)! You’re moving the goalposts. Tilting them, at the very least. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clara-bow-or-marlene-dietrich/814304/27 "2018-05-17T00:48:56Z")
Louise Brooks or Josephine Baker, by far. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clara-bow-or-marlene-dietrich/814304/28 "2018-05-17T00:48:57Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > But Dietrich wore her top hat at a [jaunty angle](https://www.purpleclover.com/entertainment/8053-gay-stars-hollywoods-golden-age/item/marlene-dietrich/)! So did Fred Astaire: [https://www.biography.com/.image/t\_share/MTE1ODA0OTcxNTQ1NDI5NTE3/fred-astaire-9190991-2-raw.jpg](https://www.biography.com/.image/t_share/MTE1ODA0OTcxNTQ1NDI5NTE3/fred-astaire-9190991-2-raw.jpg) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clara-bow-or-marlene-dietrich/814304/29 "2018-05-17T01:04:16Z")
Of the two named, Marlene but, > [@WordMan](#): > > Josephine Baker Now you’re talkin’…! ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clara-bow-or-marlene-dietrich/814304/30 "2018-05-17T03:49:18Z")
Harlow (1911) missed the cutoff by a year and Theda Bara (1885) by fifteen, so that leaves Myrna Loy (1905). That’s fortunate, too, since I’ll take funny over perky OR sultry any day. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/weMlsReDzf8/hqdefault.jpg "Myrna Loy - Funny Moments V") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weMlsReDzf8) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clara-bow-or-marlene-dietrich/814304/31 "2018-05-17T04:42:27Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Harlow (1911) missed the cutoff by a year and Theda Bara (1885) by fifteen, so that leaves Myrna Loy (1905). That’s fortunate, too, since I’ll take funny over perky OR sultry any day. > > [https://youtu.be/weMlsReDzf8](https://youtu.be/weMlsReDzf8) Oh, you have excellent taste. I was thinking of Carole Lombard (who also starred with William Powell) or Greer Garson. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clara-bow-or-marlene-dietrich/814304/32 "2018-05-17T05:19:11Z")
Joan and Constance Bennett. Hubba-hubba! 🆒 [https://www.bestmoviesbyfarr.com/static-assets/images/articles/2017/09/joanbennett2.jpg](https://www.bestmoviesbyfarr.com/static-assets/images/articles/2017/09/joanbennett2.jpg) [![](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/6f/36/b0/6f36b0ab93af76809d5396551d5c77ee--hollywood-glamour-hollywood-stars.jpg) ](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/6f/36/b0/6f36b0ab93af76809d5396551d5c77ee--hollywood-glamour-hollywood-stars.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clara-bow-or-marlene-dietrich/814304/33 "2018-05-17T05:31:45Z")
Bette Davis, when she was hot! :o [![](https://media.vanityfair.com/photos/57042822b882b4b37d40af6a/master/pass/t-bette-davis-birthday-post.jpg) ](https://media.vanityfair.com/photos/57042822b882b4b37d40af6a/master/pass/t-bette-davis-birthday-post.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clara-bow-or-marlene-dietrich/814304/34 "2018-05-17T05:55:53Z")
I totally could choose in the _Firefly_ quiz, but I can’t here. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clara-bow-or-marlene-dietrich/814304/35 "2018-05-17T06:08:35Z")
Louise Brooks forever! ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clara-bow-or-marlene-dietrich/814304/36 "2018-05-17T09:32:38Z")
I picked “other,” because my all-time favorite actress from the Golden Age is Irene Dunne, and from the silent Era, I like Lillian Gish. When I was 17, I wrote Gish a letter, and she wrote me back. However, I do like both Bow and Dietrich a lot. But I think the edge goes the Dietrich. First, no one else could have managed to capitalize on sounding on sounding sexy while singing so off-key, no one. And Dietrich was a fervent anti-Nazi. That’s how she came to be a Hollywood actress, if you get my meaning. She was also the very first Hollywood star to push US War Bonds. So, call her a one note actress is you want, it still took some guts for her to play the character she played in _Judgment at Nuremburg_. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clara-bow-or-marlene-dietrich/814304/37 "2018-05-17T12:10:25Z")
Marlene, hands down. Clara Bow seems ordinary, at best, to me. I remember reading that her career ended when the talkies began because she had a really thick (Brooklyn?)accent and I thought “she \*looks \*like she’d have a really annoying voice” (not that I find all Brooklynites to have annoying voices but hopefully you know what I’m getting at). ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clara-bow-or-marlene-dietrich/814304/38 "2018-05-17T16:00:35Z")
Well, hell, if we’re going for slutty I have to vote for Tallulah Bankhead. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clara-bow-or-marlene-dietrich/814304/39 "2018-05-17T16:19:24Z")
> [@Ashtura](#): > > Well, hell, if we’re going for slutty I have to vote for Tallulah Bankhead. LOL, I read slutty instead of sultry. :D:D ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clara-bow-or-marlene-dietrich/814304/40 "2018-05-17T18:14:25Z")
Anna May Wong (b. 1905), as sultry as she wanted to be… [https://www.google.com/search?biw=1760&bih=921&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=LsT9WuDlKo\_YzgLF2Y7IDA&q=anna+may+wong&oq=anna+may+wong&gs\_l=img.3..0j0i67k1j0l8.111758.112780.0.113586.17.9.0.0.0.0.188.1006.1j7.8.0....0...1c.1.64.img..14.2.278....0.I9HLVCByXXA#imgrc=KSxMHM7JerTQTM:](https://www.google.com/search?biw=1760&bih=921&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=LsT9WuDlKo_YzgLF2Y7IDA&q=anna+may+wong&oq=anna+may+wong&gs_l=img.3..0j0i67k1j0l8.111758.112780.0.113586.17.9.0.0.0.0.188.1006.1j7.8.0....0...1c.1.64.img..14.2.278....0.I9HLVCByXXA#imgrc=KSxMHM7JerTQTM:) With Dietrich in _Shanghai Express_ (1932) [https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fimg21.mtime.cn%2Fpi%2F2011%2F09%2F16%2F171631.42180710\_1000X1000.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fmovie.mtime.com%2F19919%2Fposters\_and\_images%2F7012393%2F&docid=y25ePgLUk5oFHM&tbnid=b0K\_AiGzqI5YfM%3A&vet=10ahUKEwjgtIbWqo3bAhUPrFMKHcWsA8kQMwgmKAAwAA..i&w=800&h=528&bih=921&biw=1760&q=anna%20may%20wong%20marlene%20dietrich&ved=0ahUKEwjgtIbWqo3bAhUPrFMKHcWsA8kQMwgmKAAwAA&iact=mrc&uact=8](https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fimg21.mtime.cn%2Fpi%2F2011%2F09%2F16%2F171631.42180710_1000X1000.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fmovie.mtime.com%2F19919%2Fposters_and_images%2F7012393%2F&docid=y25ePgLUk5oFHM&tbnid=b0K_AiGzqI5YfM%3A&vet=10ahUKEwjgtIbWqo3bAhUPrFMKHcWsA8kQMwgmKAAwAA..i&w=800&h=528&bih=921&biw=1760&q=anna%20may%20wong%20marlene%20dietrich&ved=0ahUKEwjgtIbWqo3bAhUPrFMKHcWsA8kQMwgmKAAwAA&iact=mrc&uact=8) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clara-bow-or-marlene-dietrich/814304.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clara-bow-or-marlene-dietrich/814304.md?page=3)