Un délicieux petit diable

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.

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.

This long lost film was rediscovered, restored and preserved at Nederlands Filmmuseum. My hats off to them! It is now companioned on DVD with the lost Gloria Swanson/Rudolph Valentino 1922 starring vehicle BEYOND THE ROCKS. TDLD stars Mae Murray for sure. She is a little hurricane moving from scene to scene in this routine Universal programmer of 1919. Murray's then husband, up and coming director and former actor Robert Z. Leonard, does the directing honors. Leonard keeps his wife and cast in a fast paced zip. The fast zip of this movie is no doubt due to the 24fps running speed on the DVD rather than the actual running speed the film was shot in which to me would seem more in the neighborhood of 18-21 fps. Even at the slower speeds the film still moves at a good pace. Most of Murray's starring vehicles of the 1920s are in archives or foreign collections unrestored, so it's hard to judge her career. TDLD was made at the beginning of her great screen success after a few years appearing in dramatic roles. This film shows Murray in all the raw material of her beauty and energy just before her great successes as a fantasy type queen in the 1920s. This film also gives up-n-coming Rudolph Valentino a significant supporting player part as a rich man's son who loves Murray. For once Rudy isn't playing the gigolo or thug that he was always being cast in. He and Murray got along and stayed friends even after Rudy's big success in 1921 with THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE and when Murray married a faux Russian prince in 1926 it was at Rudy's house. Luckily the TDLD survives in a decent enough 35mm print. Several highlights of this film include Murray getting in and out of a large sunken bath(much like Gloria Swanson in MALE & FEMALE that same year), several cheesecake shots of Murray by director Leonard showing her in near-nude see thru while changing costumes at a play, a funny scene with tall Gertrude Astor that involves talcum powder, a thrilling well choreographed car chase, Murray dancing around and running all while wearing large heeled pump shoes, and a short sequence involving soon to be famous screenwriter Katherine Hilliker as herself in name on a newspaper. Watching this makes one want to see Murray with Lon Chaney in the lost 1918 Universal film DANGER, GO SLOW also directed by Leonard. Audiences are going to discover Mae Murray, if they can find and view her films. This is more deserving of her than just glancing across a famous photo of her in some film book. Oh I must say one thing, the DVD copy has a resurrected original score performed by the Mont Alto orchestra and they do a marvelous job. Overall Mae does what actresses such as Mary Pickford and Lillian Gish wouldn't do, show a little (or a lot?) of cheesecake that verges on the daring when viewing the film. These were the days of no Will Hays or Joseph Breen or his Production Code. Nope, all of that lay in the future. Leonard also manages to imbue the film with some filmic technique where he obviously worm gears a pan across a room. If you're a silent fan, this is a rare glimpse at a once famous and beautiful silent film actress in her prime.

I caught this 88 year old movie on TCM the other evening. Interestimg. Mae Murray, as others have said, plays a Mary Pickford dancing girl, and we have a glimpse into Rudolph Valentino playing a suave man smitten with her. Such a extremely dated film, and so fast..meaning everything looks like it is in full speed. Everyone is always running here and there,running all around, no one seems to stand still. And such a short movie, less than 60 minutes. In any case, it is a rare glimpse into movie making of so very, very, VERY long ago. Great to see these long gone stars of the so silent days of Hollywood. Silent film buffs and those familiar with the actors in this movie will have a treat; I am not so sure it will appeal to the hi tech generation of 2007.

It took a murder to have one of the most popular film stars in cinematic history kick start his way into the entertainment business. The eventual movie star 'The Great Latin Lover,' Rudolph Valentino, who was escaping a sordid affair with a rich heiress, joined a musical touring company. He used his experience as a taxi dancer, one who gets paid to dance with customers, to become a stage performer. In 1917 a friend persuaded him to be in movies because of his good looks, charm and physical agility. One of his earliest films where he had a major role was with Mae Murray in May 1919's Universal Pictures' comedy "The Delicious Little Devil."

An immigrant from Italy at 18, Valentino in 1914 stayed in New York City to become a paid dancer at Maxim's Restaurant-Cabaret. There, he befriended Chilean heiress Blanca de Saulles, who was in an unhappy marriage. After the divorce and a bitter custody dispute, she killed her ex. Valentino, not wanting to get involved in the scandal, left town and joined an Al Jolson musical production that brought him to California.

Operating a dance studio, Valentino was recommended by a friend to get into movies. He took up the suggestion in 1917, becoming first an extra, then eventually a minor role character, usually a villain, because of his dark looks. In "The Delicious Little Devil," he plays a son of a wealthy contractor who falls in love with cabaret performer Murray, impersonating herself as an exotic famous dancer escaping a scandal overseas. Things unravel when the Duke discovers Murray, who looks like his estranged lover, placing Valentino in a rival-lover's role.

"The Delicious Little Devil" is one of the few existing films for the talented Mae Murray. As a major star for Universal Pictures, her films proved highly popular with the public and were financial hits. Her career peaked in the early 1920's, where she was labeled as a Mary Pickford-type of actress in looks and mannerisms. Murray was one of the many silent movie stars who failed to make the transition to sound in the early 1930's.

As for Valentino, his stardom didn't really take off for another two years, when he appeared in a major role in 1921's "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse." His life would change forevermore.