It (1927) Plus Clara Bow: Discovering the "It" Girl - Region 1 DVD

Silents - USA (9 items)
list by pele_incognita

This is the movie that made Clara Bow internationally known as "The 'It' Girl" and it's easy to see why. The plot is rather standard - lower class girl persues and seduces upper class guy, there's a case of mistaken identity and hilarity ensues - but Clara lights up the screen in every scene she's in. Not only is she the cutest darn thing you've ever seen, she completely outclasses the rest of t... read more

Description: It is famous for turning cutie-pie Clara Bow into, as critic David Thomson described her, "the first mass-market sex symbol." Somewhat overshadowed by this phenomenon is the fact that It is also a terrifically entertaining picture, an effortless cruise through the manners and morals of the flapper era. Bow plays a shopgirl who sets her saucer eyes on her boss (Antonio Moreno); it isn't terribly hard to land him, since she possesses dazzle, charm, spunk... in a word, "It." And if we're still not sure what "It" is, there's a moment of high camp hilarity when matronly author Elinor Glyn, who penned the It is famous for turning cutie-pie Clara Bow into, as critic David Thomson described her, "the first mass-market sex symbol." Somewhat overshadowed by this phenomenon is the fact that It is also a terrifically entertaining picture, an effortless cruise through the manners and morals of the flapper era. Bow plays a shopgirl who sets her saucer eyes on her boss (Antonio Moreno); it isn't terribly hard to land him, since she possesses dazzle, charm, spunk... in a word, "It." And if we're still not sure what "It" is, there's a moment of high camp hilarity when matronly author Elinor Glyn, who penned the original definition of "It," strides through the movie and delivers herself of its meaning. Actually, Bow's delightful performance does more to define "It" than anything else, and her unabashed sexiness (which didn't play well after sound came in) clearly sets the future course for Marilyn Monroe and Madonna. --Robert Horton ... (more) (less)