Clara Bow's 'It' Anchors Carlotta-Artcraft French Distribution Deal

Clara Bow's 1927 romantic comedy "It" anchors a new French distribution pact between Lyon-based Carlotta Films and the American restoration house Artcraft Pictures. Carlotta will handle all rights in France.

The collaboration opens Oct. 17 at the Lumière Film Festival. A newly restored "It" screens at Lyon's Auditorium, with Italian musician Gabriele Agrimonti accompanying the film on the organ. Bow, then twenty-two, became Hollywood's original "It girl" thanks to director Clarence G. Badger's hit.

Bow's afterlife keeps paying dividends. Taylor Swift named a track after her on 2024's "The Tortured Poets Department." Margot Robbie modeled her "Babylon" showgirl, Nellie LaRoy, on the silent star. The streaming-era royalty checks, presumably, still trail the cultural cachet.

What's actually in the slate?

"It" is the marquee item, not the only one. Herbert Brenon's "Beau Geste" (1926) features Ronald Colman. Cecil B. DeMille directed "The Affairs of Anatol" (1921) with Gloria Swanson. William C. deMille's "Miss Lulu Bett" adapts Zona Gale's Pulitzer-winning play. Early-sound titles follow, including Lionel Barrymore's "His Glorious Night" (1929) with John Gilbert.

Carlotta plans theatrical and Blu-ray runs. No release dates yet.

The men behind Artcraft

The name is borrowed. The original Artcraft Pictures launched in 1916, later folded into Paramount, and once handled Mary Pickford. Two preservation veterans founded the current company.

James Mockoski is a longtime archivist who worked with Francis Ford Coppola's American Zoetrope (Coppola's San Francisco-based production outfit). Robert A. Harris has helped restore "Lawrence of Arabia," "My Fair Lady" and "Vertigo." Their joint efforts already feed the San Francisco Silent Film Festival; that collaboration began in 2025, drawing on Paramount's silent library. A restored "Beau Geste" debuted at Telluride earlier this year.

Mockoski put it plainly: "Artcraft Pictures is thrilled to join Carlotta Films. We share a passion for keeping cinema's roots alive so new fans can enjoy them. So many wonderful classics could easily fade away, but together with Carlotta, we're making sure that never happens."

How does this reshape Carlotta's roster?

Carlotta has spent close to thirty years in French classic distribution. Its existing silent-era shelf runs from Murnau's "Sunrise" through Frank Borzage and Erich von Stroheim titles to G.W. Pabst's "Pandora's Box," with Louise Brooks. Artcraft's American restorations sit comfortably beside that lineage.

Vincent Paul-Boncour, speaking for Carlotta, kept the tone measured: "We're delighted to represent Artcraft in France and introduce audiences to its restorations of both celebrated and lesser-known American silent films. It's a pleasure to work with James Mockoski and Robert Harris, two seasoned experts in film history and restoration, and to launch this collaboration with the French premiere of the beautifully restored 'It.'"

The Lumière Film Festival runs through Oct. 18. With Carlotta now acting as the French gateway to Artcraft's Paramount-adjacent restoration pipeline, the next Bow-level rediscovery may be one screening away.