It (1927)
Directed by: Clarence G. Badger
Starring: Clara Bow, Antonio Moreno, William Austin
Length: 77 Minutes
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Based On: The novel by Elinor Glyn
"It" being slang for sex appeal. After this movie, Clara Bow was known as "The It Girl".
Betty Lou (Clara Bow) is a sales girl who is in love with her boss, Cyrus (Antonio Moreno). Cyrus is already engaged, but Betty Lou keeps at it. However, just as it seems she has succeeded, Cyrus' friend Monty (William Austin) ends up killing her chances when he overhears her telling social workers that she is the mother of a child they've come to investigate. In reality, the child is her sister's child. Monty tells Cyrus about what he overheard. In the end, Betty Lou set Monty straight on what happened, and got him to help her get Cyrus back.
Everyone's performance was fine, especially William Austin in the role Monty. He plays the comedic relief part very well. The movie was pretty much the standard romantic comedy, though. But that wasn't really the goal of the movie, it was to show off Clara Bow, and she is certainly worthy of that.
In a way, though, this movie, which made her a star, may have set in motion her demise as an actress. She became known as "The It Girl", and rumors started to flow about her sex life, from famous actors to stories of group sex.
Paramount, who helped create her image by putting her in nothing but sex appeal roles, grew tired of her image. The studio fired her in 1931 (released her from her contract, same thing). She would make a few more movies FOX, but tired of dealing with the press and her own insecurity over her voice (thick Brooklyn accent) led her to leave the movies, get married and settle down.
Entertainment Rating: 5/10
Historical Rating: 7/10