The Delicious Little Devil

Delicious Little Devil, The (1919)

** (out of 4)

This film was lost until a print was found in 1991 but it doesn't do much outside of that little fact. A poor girl (Mae Murray) loses her job but decides to take on the identity of a mistress to a world famous Duke so that she can get a job as a dancer in a roadhouse. She soon becomes a hit and falls for the son of a millionaire (Rudolph Valentino) but his father isn't too fond of the romance. This comedy has very few laughs, although it remains interesting throughout. Thankfully the film only runs 55-minutes and it moves by pretty quickly. Valentino only has a supporting role but he does a fine job even though I still don't see the reasons behind his big sex appeal. This is the first film I've seen Murray in and I enjoyed her enough to search out more of her films. She brings forth a very innocent appeal and although I didn't find her sexy she did have some sort of strange sexuality, which come off very well.

There are precious few films of the silent screen superstar Mae Murray known to exist these days and when a new one emerges it's a cause for celebration. DELICIOUS LITTLE DEVIL is particularly valuable in that it's the first of her silent comedies to rise from the archives and costars the legendary Rudolph Valentino as her beau. Mae stars as a poor girl supporting her parents and a no account uncle who passes herself off as the notorious showgirl mistress of a Duke and becomes a sensation in a New York nightclub. Among Mae's most ardent admirers is young millionaire heir Valentino who vows to marry her. Rudy's father is not amused and plans a lavish party in Mae's honor hoping she will reveal her true colors with the booze flowing. To make matters worse, the infamous Duke crashes the party. This delightful little comedy is a fascinating glimpse of the first days of the Jazz Age with a never more charming Mae Murray who practically cannot stand still and gives a sweet, amusing performance and then there's the stunningly handsome Valentino, then not yet a star but certainly showing star charisma in spades. An additional bonus is the fantastic musical score and some wonderful title cards with vintage artwork that really brings back the art deco era.

This film seemed to run at high speed, but it made the action more hilarious! Mae Murray was the real star, as in this case her eccentricity worked! She plays a poor shop girl impersonating a show girl. She whirls around like a dervish and struts like a diva! It was funny how she presented herself as a Mary Pickford look alike! Over the top works for comedies,wish she had done more of the genre! Poor Rudy had little to do except look beautiful though! But I'm not complaining! I know this was an early effort for him.I guess he and Mae remained friends as he was best man at one of her weddings! This is a cute little rarity, and Mae is a hoot! Fine supporting cast with Harry I.Rattenberry as the father and Richard Cummings as Uncle Barnley being particular stand outs.

Always enjoy looking back at the past and how people enjoyed their favorite screen stars and the way you had to read lines through out an entire film. Mae Murray, (Mary McGuire) plays the role of a poor girl who has relatives who are very lazy and have big desires for food and she decides she wants to get a job as a dancer in a night club and assumes the name of a famous European dancer and goes on to make a very successful career. Mary meets up with Jimmy Calhoun, (Rudolph Valentino) in the night club she dances in and finds out he is the son of a very rich business man who does not like his son getting involved with a dancer and does everything he can to investigate this young woman. All these actors had a great magic in their expressions on the screen and their eyes all tell a story without any talking. Great look back at the past and great actors.

TCM broadcast this film in a grouping of Valentino films but the film really belongs to Mae Murray. I should add that Mae Murray seemed to be imitating Mary Pickford when she was in her comedy cups, down to gestures, mannerisms, facial expressions, it was uncanny. I kept visualizing Mary Pickford as I watched Mae, it was that strong.

The film is about a girl who is desperate for a well paying job and she tries out at a nightclub as a dancer. The proprietor is looking for someone "with a past", and Mae's character is a properly brought up young girl with no past at all. So she lies, pretending to be a notorious ex-lover of a duke, so that she will seem exotic enough to be hired. Her tryout test is a scream, I was laughing my head off. Eventually the real duke shows up and even though he knows she is not the same woman he had a fling with he still wants Mae. Valentino's character is jealous and a pursuit for the girl begins.

I really enjoyed the picture, and think you will too. Just don't expect the film to focus on Valentino, and you'll be OK with it. If it's true it will be included on the future Beyond the Rocks DVD it will find a whole new audience, which can only be beneficial to Mae Murray, since not a lot of her silent film work seems to be available to the public.