It (1927)
Grade: 61
Clara Bow's film career peaked in 1927 with two highly successful silent classics. One was "Wings", the aviation drama that was the first film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. Her other great success for that year was "It". For the rest of her short career (her last film was in 1933) Bow would be known as the 'It' girl.
"It" was loosely based upon Elinor Glyn's pulp novelette, which defined 'it' essentially as a code word for overwhelming sex appeal. Paramount cleverly used Glyn and her 'it' concept, to promote Clara Bow as the epitome of 'it'. This led to Glyn being paid $50,000 for a brief appearance in the film, and to proclaim Bow as the 'it' girl.
"It" is also noted for having an early screen appearance by Gary Cooper, who has a brief role as a newspaper reporter. Cooper was reportedly one of Bow's many conquests. Scandals, both real and fabricated, helped drive Bow out of Hollywood.
"It" is one of the best preserved silent films that I have seen. There are no dancing lines or exploding white dots, no orange-yellow tones, and no obvious missing frames. Such problems are endemic to most 1920s films, but not this one.
The storyline would probably annoy feminists if the film was made today. Betty (Bow) works as an impoverished salesgirl in a large department store owned by dashing but humorless Waltham (Antonio Moreno). Betty's best friend is troubled unwed mother Molly (Priscilla Bonner), whose baby is the target of meddlesome social workers.
Betty works hard to catch the eye of Waltham, whose fiancee Jacqueline (Adela Van Norman) is attractive but boring. Betty uses grinning fop Monty (William Austin) to get access to Waltham, who doesn't stand a chance. Bow's vivacious, flirtatious personality struck a chord with film audiences who saw her as emancipated from the restrictive moral code that preceded the Jazz Age.
Yes, but how good is the movie? Producer Adolph Zukor's attention ensured a big budget with good sets. The characters are all stock, but the film has its charm, no doubt supplied more by Bow's presence than by Clarence Badger's direction.
kollers@mpsi.net http://members.tripod.com/~Brian_Koller/movies.html
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