A poor hat-check girl loses her job and is forced to get a job as a dancer at a roadhouse. There she falls in love with the son of a rich businessman. The boy's father, believing her to be a... Read allA poor hat-check girl loses her job and is forced to get a job as a dancer at a roadhouse. There she falls in love with the son of a rich businessman. The boy's father, believing her to be after the family's money, determines to embarrass her and show his son what she really is.A poor hat-check girl loses her job and is forced to get a job as a dancer at a roadhouse. There she falls in love with the son of a rich businessman. The boy's father, believing her to be after the family's money, determines to embarrass her and show his son what she really is.
- Pat McGuire
- (as Harry Rattenbury)
- Jimmy Calhoun
- (as Rudolpho De Valintine)
- Musk
- (as Burt Woodruff)
- Larry McKean
- (as William Mong)
- Agency Employee
- (uncredited)
- Chorus Girl
- (uncredited)
- Little Man on the Street
- (uncredited)
- Waiter
- (uncredited)
- Bouncer
- (uncredited)
Featured reviews
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.
** (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.
Did you know
- TriviaRegretfully, whoever transferred this one to DVD chose to speed it up to the point of absurdity, making it virtually intolerable to appreciate. Hopefully, some day, this unfortunate situation will be corrected by a more intelligent preservationist.
- Crazy creditsAt the time, cast lists were often not in films; actors and their character names were credited in the intertitles right before they appear on-screen. In the 55-minute Milestone Film & Video print, the first 3 important cast members are not introduced in this way, but it is likely they were in the original print (which would have had a running time of 63 minutes at the sound speed of 24 fps). Fot this reason, the IMDb ordering lists these actors first, followed by those who are introduced by intertitles. The Milestone print also had no crew credits; these were taken from the AFI Catalogue.
- Alternate versionsAccording to the closing credits of the Milestone Film & VideAccording to the closing credits of the Milestone Film & Video print, its version was copyrighted in 2006 by them and Nederland Filmmuseum (the opening credits say 2005). It is a 55-minute version with a musical score compiled by Rodney Sauer and played by the Mont Alto Orchestra from an original 1922 cue sheet.
- ConnectionsReferenced in Silent Life: The Story of the Lady in Black (2023)
Details
- Runtime1 hour 15 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1