In 1925, Elinor Glyn, the English sex-novelist, was signed by Paramount to write and develop productions based on her own books and notions about popular domestic man-woman conventions. It was Glyn who defined the "It" of this film's title and Clara Bow's fame as: "To have 'It,' the fortunate possessor must have the strange magnetism which attracts both sexes. 'It' is a purely virile quality, belonging to a strong character. He or she must be entirely unself-conscious and full of self-confidence, indifferent to the effect he or she is producing, and uninfluenced by others. There must be physical attraction, but beauty is unnecessary. Conceit or self-consciousness destroys 'It' immediately."

Clara Bow had established herself in dozens of potboilers and a few good films (like Mantrap) as a star in plentiful possession of the "It" attributes: on screen and reportedly in real life, Bow was the classic red-haired flapper - worldly-wise yet innocent, hot-blooded yet inexperienced, a flaming vamp with a soft-spot for the right man. Sex object cliches by now, but the source of incendiary screen sex appeal in the twenties.

It evolved from Glyn's novelette to tell the story of a department store owner (played by the Latin romantic lead Antonio Moreno) who becomes infatuated with one of his "pert and unabashed" employees (Bow). Never a cinematic masterpiece, It holds up as an unpretentiously fast and funny film, worthy of its reputation for Bow's utterly delightful performance. James Card, who (literally) saved this film, confesses to the following reaction on seeing It today: "One is struck with the positive vitality that radiates from Clara Bow's shadow on the screen. It is inexplicable magic that... such highly charged energy and personality can emanate from a simple optical illusion. One is confounded in any attempt to explain or analyze the phenomenon. The only recourse lies on Elinor Glyn's invention: it is nothing less than a matter of 'It.'"

Clara Bow was never allowed to out-grow the "It girl" image, despite the talent she showed in her most successful talkie Call Her Savage (1932). She retired in 1933 after the box office failure Hoopla. She lived in virtual seclusion from the movie world until her death in 1965.