Hollywood: The Girl Who Had IT

Until 1926, it was just another pronoun. After that, It became the most provocative two-letter word in the language—all because of her. She was Clara Bow, the ultimate flapper for the movie audiences of the '20s, grown too sophisticated for the synthetic, exotic Theda Bara ("Kiss me, my fool") and Pola Negri. Clara Bow, by contrast, was as fresh and authentic as the girl next door, only more so. She had enormous saucer eyes, dimpled knees, bee-stung lips and a natural boop-poop-a-doop style. She was the cat's pajamas, the gnat's knees, and the U.S.'s favorite celluloid love goddess.

Her rise was...