It (1927)
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100% of critics liked it
(9 reviews) -
79% of users liked it
(4,496 ratings)
Contrary to popular belief, Clara Bow was already Paramount's biggest box-office draw when she starred in this delightful rags-to-riches comedy. But It, from the fertile mind of bizarre best-selling author Elinor Glyn, remains perhaps the quintessential Bow picture. Not that the story of a poor… More Contrary to popular belief, Clara Bow was already Paramount's biggest box-office draw when she starred in this delightful rags-to-riches comedy. But It, from the fertile mind of bizarre best-selling author Elinor Glyn, remains perhaps the quintessential Bow picture. Not that the story of a poor shopgirl falling for her rich employer was anything new (by 1927, Bow could play that role in her sleep), but It came complete with one of the best publicity campaigns in Hollywood history. Glyn herself publicly pointed to Bow as the personification of It, "that quality possessed by some which draws all others with its magnetic force." Paramount made sure that Glyn's lofty description of the word sunk in and even convinced the author to explain It in the film to leading man Antonio Moreno (who, according to Glyn, simply oozed It as well). The lightweight comedy behind all this hoopla centered on little Betty Lou Spence, a vivacious salesgirl invited to dinner at the Ritz by foppish wastrel and self-described "old fruit" "Monty" Montgomery (William Austin in one of those roles later personified by Edward Everett Horton). Betty is not paying attention to her dinner companion, however, but is ogling department store heir Cyrus Waltham (Moreno). He notices her too, and takes the salesgirl on a whirlwind tour of Coney Island. But when Betty is mistakenly assumed to be the unmarried mother of an infant (actually her roommate Molly's), stern Cyrus no longer sees her as proper marriage material. Betty, of course, gets her man in the end and Waltham's snooty girlfriend ("other woman" specialist Jacqueline Gadsden) ends up in the drink. Delivering all the vivacious punch expected of a Bow comedy, It takes time out for a couple of rather poignant scenes. With the hindsight that Brooklyn's own Bow was never fully accepted by Hollywood society despite her stardom, it is touching to watch Betty being ostracized at the snobbish Ritz; and Bow is never more affecting than when she realizes that Moreno is offering diamonds and pearls instead of marriage. Priscilla Bonner, as Bow's drab, single-mother roommate, adds a touch of realism to her brief role, enviously observing Betty's frivolity. If It only added to Bow's brilliant success, the film did little for the intelligent Bonner. To the end of her life, Bonner maintained that accepting featured billing in It lost her any chance of true stardom. A very young Gary Cooper, has a bit as a reporter and director Josef Von Sternberg reputedly took over for Clarence Badger during a brief illness. Despite its rather trite Cinderella plot, It magnificently demonstrates why Bow's guileless flapper came to define an entire decade. It is heartbreaking to realize that her decline had already set in, and Bow's very public troubles and eventual career destruction were lurking right around the corner! ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- Directed By
- Josef von Sternberg, Clarence G. Badger
- Genres
- Drama, Romance, Classics, Comedy
- In Theaters
- Feb 15, 1927 Wide
- Studio
- Critics' Choice Video
Critic Reviews
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, Chicago Reader
A real treat.
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Betsy Sherman, Boston Phoenix
This 1927 feature is a routine story of a salesgirl smitten with the department-store heir, yet Bow gives it a champagne fizz.
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Michael W. Phillips, Jr., Goatdog's Movies
It's immediately apparent why [Clara Bow] was so beloved.
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John A. Nesbit, Old School Reviews
This film alone serves as ample explanation for why Clara Bow will forever remain a Hollywood legend.
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Jake Euker, Filmcritic.com
Bow does have "it." Her presence is magnetic, embodying the franticness of a frantic era. Watching It you're sorry again that the Jazz Age had to come to an end.
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Cast
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Clara Bow
as Betty Lou
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Antonio Moreno
as Cyrus Waltham
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William Austin
as Monty
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Jacqueline Gadsden
as Adela Van Norman
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Julia Swayne Gordon
as Mrs. Van Norman
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Priscilla Bonner
as Molly
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Gary Cooper
as Newspaper Reporter
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Eleanor Lawson
as 1st Welfare Worker
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Rose Tapley
as 2nd Welfare Worker
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Elinor Glyn
as Herself
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Lloyd Corrigan
as Yacht Cabin Boy
