Now Clara began appearing in small movie roles. All the while, she suffered guilty feelings over her mother's disapproval. In 1923, she was on the set when she learned that her mother had died. Clara was devastated, she felt that her acting was somehow responsible for her death.
Clara got her big break when an officer of Preferred Pictures approached her on the set. He offered her free train fare to go make a screen test in Hollywood. She agreed to make the trip. The first time Preferred Pictures head B.P. Schulberg saw disheveled Clara Bow in her one ragged dress, he was dismayed. He was reluctant to even let her make a screen test, but when she finally did, the results astounded him. She was already adept at pantomime and she could cry on command.
Starting with Maytime (1923), Schulberg cast her in a series of small roles. She nearly always stole her scenes. However, instead of creating projects for her, he loaned her out to other studios for easy money.
Now that Clara was making money, she brought her father to live with her in Hollywood. For the next few years, she funded numerous failed business ventures for him, including a restaurant and a dry cleaners. He soon became a drunken nuisance on her sets, where he would try to pick up young girls by telling them his daughter was Clara Bow.
Despite her unwanted relative, Clara was adored on her sets. Throughout her career, crew members always fell in love with her. She was friendly, generous, and so grateful for her success that she always remained humble.
In 1925, Schulberg cast Clara in The Plastic Age. The movie was a huge hit, and Clara was suddenly the studio's most popular star. She also began to date her co-star Gilbert Roland. He would be the first of many engagements for flirtatious Clara.
Clara followed her first big success with Mantrap (1926), directed by Victor Fleming. Though he was twice her age, Clara quickly fell in love with her director. She began seeing both Roland and Fleming at the same time. She also found time to play the girl-next-door in Wings (1927), the first movie to win the Academy Award for best picture.
In 1927, Clara reached the heights of her popularity with It. Based on a novel by Elinor Glynn (the Jackie Collins of the day), "It" was supposedly a meant to be sex appeal. Now Clara would always be known as the "It" girl.
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