If Piccadilly is the silent-movie era's Blue Velvet, It is unabashedly its Working Girl, a prototypical romantic comedy if ever there were one, and all the more charming for it. Of course, you'd have to be an über-hipster or an über-nerd to bother watching any silent film these days, so perhaps the point is moot. Clara Bow, with sometimes distressingly horrible hair, is a lowly salesgirl with her sights set on landing her wealthy boss (Antonio Moreno), and she's not afraid to use "it" to get what she wants. Though the plot does not deviate much from the standard marriage-as-fulfillment theme that runs through seemingly every movie from this period, It has going for it an undeniable star, some still-admirable writing, and a fairly untarnished girl-power attitude that keeps it from being just an archival "masterpiece" to be appreciated only by film critics. Its light tone and breezy pace make it instantly accessible to modern audiences, and it's not at all hard to see why Clara Bow was the Julia Roberts and/or Julia Stiles of her day!!! Adding to the fun is William Austin as effete Monty Montgomery, who courts Clara but just doesn't have "it"—though you may laugh at the idea that he is at all interested in women, his reaction shots are priceless. I can think of few would-be suitors in film who come off so utterly likeable, and the fact that he resigns himself to his loveless fate on the basis of realizing he doesn't have "it" is, perhaps unintentionally, one of the most honest assessments about love I have seen in film. That It is still instantly recognizable in terms of its situations and appreciable for its performances is quite amazing … many times, silent films just come off as the academic exercises they now are. As for whether anyone 80 years from now will be ardently studying the work of Miss Jennifer Lopez, I can't say … though I can not deny that she, like Clara Bow, surely has "it." Do you?!?!?!?
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