In Hoop-La (1933), Clara Bow played Lou, a carnival hoochie-coochie dancer whose life changes when she falls in love with a young man who disapproves of her world. Directed by Frank Lloyd, the film was Bow’s final screen appearance, and it closed a remarkable career that had begun in the silent era.
Lou is a warm, unpretentious character, and Bow played her with the same direct charm that had made her famous. The carnival setting, with its barkers, sideshows and travelling life, gave the story colour, but the heart of the film is Lou’s struggle to be seen as more than her act.
After Hoop-La, Bow retired from films. The film therefore has a special poignancy for her admirers: a last chance to see the It Girl on screen, still full of life, saying goodbye to the medium she had helped to define.