Mary Preston is the girl next door who is desperately in love with Jack Powell, although he initially fails to recognize her feelings. She serves the war effort as an ambulance driver, later helps Jack while he is drunk in Paris, and is eventually reunited with him when he realizes he loves her.
Lou is a worldly dancer in Nifty Miller's traveling circus. Carrie pays her to seduce Chris and draw him away from his father, but Lou falls in love with him and confesses the scheme. She marries Chris, supports him while he studies law by dancing, and helps bring about a reconciliation between him and Nifty.
Gladys is a chorus girl who mistakes James for a millionaire after seeing him drive an expensive car. She accepts an invitation to Turner's country-house party hoping to persuade him to buy an insurance policy, but James intervenes when Turner makes a move on her. Later, she helps James get his job back and secures Turner's signature before she and James plan their wedding.
Alverna is a flirtatious Minneapolis manicurist who marries Joe Easter but quickly becomes bored with life in Mantrap. She pursues Ralph Prescott, leaves with him, flirts with a float-plane pilot, and later abandons both men before returning to Joe, still unwilling to stop flirting.
Prudence, known as Prue, is the young woman at the center of the story. She wants to become an author and lives in Greenwich Village with artist Wayne Leigh. Resisting her family's efforts to bring her back, she returns to Rolf, attends a costume party with him, and plans to elope with him aboard a yacht.
Nancy Worthington is a young American traveling alone in Paris who quickly falls in love with Robert Albin. She engineers repeated encounters, stages a car breakdown near his family estate, invents an engagement to provoke his jealousy, and ultimately creates a compromising scene that pressures Robert to marry her.
A street gang member who is deeply in love with Armand, Marie persuades him and other gang members to rob Pierre Marcel's home. Jealous of Jean, she vows revenge on Pierre, marries him while Armand is away, then reveals her deception and runs to Armand. Her fellow gang members shoot her, and Pierre later divorces her so she can be with Armand.
Co-protagonist and a salesgirl at Ginsberg's department store. Chosen as the star of an upcoming company pageant, she is diligent but often late. Deeply forgiving, she covers for her reckless younger sister and retrieves the stolen pageant funds. She is wrongly accused of theft but is ultimately vindicated and reconciles with her romantic interest.
The popular and outspoken protagonist at an all-female college. Initially reckless and focused on partying, she becomes entangled with Professor Gilmore after a train compartment mix-up. After a traumatic incident at a bar where Gil rescues her, she realizes her deep feelings for him. To protect her best friend Helen from scandal over a forbidden romance, Stella falsely confesses to writing a secret letter, ultimately choosing love and personal growth over her wild lifestyle.
Cynthia Day is a popular student who enjoys partying and introduces Hugh Carver to illicit drinking, illegal roadhouses, dancing, and romantic encounters. Although she becomes involved in a love triangle with Hugh and Carl Peters, she recognizes that her lifestyle harms Hugh, leaves him, and later returns after becoming less wild and more mature.
Aline is Bobby's sweetheart, and Carol sings outside her house after Bobby pays her to perform there. When Carol later borrows money from Bobby to help Rose, Aline becomes jealous. Her relationship with Bobby places her in conflict with Carol over his attention and generosity.
Works at her father's cafe alongside her sister. Initially courted by Boots and Clicker, she falls for undercover brakeman Jerry Hamilton. She visits the Hamilton mansion, agrees to disillusion Jerry to protect his father's happiness, and fakes drunkenness to break the engagement, though she ultimately still loves him.
Clara Bow has 76 screen credits in a career dating back to 1922. Signature works include Wings, Hoopla, Three Week Ends. Explore the interactive character relationship maps on each title page to trace how their roles connect across franchises.
