The Delicious Little Devil

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.