General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20265 min read

It (1927 film)

It is a 1927 American silent romantic comedy-drama directed by Clarence Badger and starring Clara Bow as Betty Lou Spence, a department store shopgirl who pursues her wealthy boss, Cyrus Waltham (Antonio Moreno). Produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures, the film premiered in New York at the Paramount Theatre on 5 February 1927 and popularized the term "It girl" for Bow.¹^•²

Key fact	Detail
Premiere and release	New York opening at the Paramount Theatre, 5 February 1927; general release 19 February 1927; copyright registered 19 February 1927 (LP23686)¹^•²
Format	Silent, black and white, 72 minutes, seven reels (6,452 feet), 1.33:1 aspect ratio, English intertitles²^•³
Director	Clarence G. Badger; Josef von Sternberg directed some scenes during Badger's illness, uncredited¹^•²
Writers	Scenario by Hope Loring and Louis D. Lighton, from Elinor Glyn's adaptation of her own screen story; intertitles by George Marion Jr.²
Source	Glyn's story first appeared in the February 1927 issue of Cosmopolitan Magazine, written for serial publication in Hearst Newspapers before appearing as a novel¹
Principal cast	Clara Bow (Betty Lou), Antonio Moreno (Cyrus Waltham), William Austin (Monty), Priscilla Bonner (Molly), Jacqueline Gadsdon (Adela Van Norman), Gary Cooper (newspaper reporter), Elinor Glyn as herself²
Recognition	Selected for the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 2001; a print survives on 35mm³^•²

Spoilers

Plot

At Waltham's Department Store, Betty Lou Spence and her coworkers decide that the new manager, Cyrus Waltham, who has taken over his father's store, has "it," and Betty Lou sets her sights on him. She schemes an introduction through his friend Monty and secures a dinner date at the Ritz, where she flirts with Cyrus across the room; the two begin courting, and he takes her to Coney Island for a day of roller coasters and hot dogs.¹^•⁴

The romance collapses through a charitable act. When welfare workers threaten to take away the baby of Betty Lou's sickly roommate Molly, Betty Lou claims the child as her own to protect her friend. A newspaper item of the scene convinces Cyrus that she is an unwed mother, and he snubs her; she quits her job and, learning of the misunderstanding, plots to win him back and laugh in his face when he proposes. At his yachting party she rejects his proposal exactly as planned, then regrets it. After Monty crashes the yacht and Betty Lou and her rival Adela fall overboard, Cyrus rescues the women and pursues Betty Lou, and the two share a kiss as she clings to the anchor.¹

Production

In August 1926, Paramount Famous Lasky Corp. signed a deal with the English author Elinor Glyn (1864–1943) to produce her forthcoming film adaptations under her supervision, with It first on the slate and Clara Bow, then 22, set to star in her first leading role. John Waters was initially named director but did not remain with the project, and Clarence Badger took over.¹^•²

Filming schedule. Principal photography began on 1 October 1926. Badger became ill during the shoot, and Josef von Sternberg directed some scenes in his absence, without screen credit. Filming completed on 30 November 1926, with the final scenes shot being an "unusual amusement park sequence" set at Coney Island.¹

Glyn on screen. Glyn appears in the film as herself in a restaurant sequence at the Ritz, her first credited screen appearance, billed in the program as an "added attraction" under the name Madame Elinor Glyn.¹ Behind the camera, B. P. Schulberg served as associate producer, H. Kinley Martin was the cinematographer, and E. Lloyd Sheldon was editor-in-chief; the film was presented by Adolph Zukor and Jesse L. Lasky.²

"It" and the It girl

The title comes from Glyn's use of the simple pronoun to encapsulate the spirit of the sexually liberated youth of Prohibition-era America, an unnameable quality of animal magnetism.⁵ In the film, the concept is discussed by characters who have read Glyn's story, and Monty recognizes that Betty Lou has it.⁶

The phrase "It girl" attached itself to Bow through deliberate publicity. According to the film essay by Dino Everett for the Library of Congress National Film Preservation Board, Bow's manager Ben Schulberg worked a deal among Glyn, Paramount, and Bow in which Glyn publicly declared that Bow was the girl in Hollywood who had "It," in conjunction with Paramount's purchase of the rights to the story. Bow, who had risen to fame representing the 1920s flapper lifestyle, fit the role on and off the screen.⁶ In the wake of the film's success, Bow became one of the biggest stars of the silent era, and Kino Lorber's release notes credit her with being Hollywood's most popular leading lady of the late 1920s.¹^•⁵

Reception and legacy

Contemporary reviews were favorable. The Film Daily of 13 February 1927 called the film a "sprightly little yarn," and both Variety and Film Daily praised Bow's performance, crediting her natural "It" quality.¹ The studio tied the release to the magazine serialization: an exhibitor at the Criterion Theater in Enid, Oklahoma, reported arranging with the Cosmopolitan distributor to paste 400 stickers reading "IT, Starring Clara Bow will be shown at the Criterion Theater" on copies of the issue containing the story's second installment, placed on newsstands one week before the play date.⁷

The film was added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress in 2001.³ It remains in the public domain in the United States, and a print survives as a 35mm preservation duplicate positive.² A new restoration has since been produced: the Paramount Archive discovered an original 35mm fine grain master in its vaults and, working with Artcraft Pictures, completed a 4K restoration sourced from that element, scheduled to premiere at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival at the Castro Theatre on 22 March 2026 with live accompaniment by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra.⁸^•⁹

References

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026