The Delicious Little Devil (1919) User Reviews

David Jeffers for SIFFblog.com

[rdjeffers · 6/10 · 23 July 2006]

Mae Murray got her start dancing with Vernon Castle on Broadway and soon was a star in the Ziegfeld Follies. Despite her diminutive size, she was an energetic powerhouse on stage. Her film career, featuring Murray's skills in dance and light comedy began in 1916. The Delicious Little Devil was her twentieth film.

The Delicious Little Devil (1919)

Mary McGuire (Murray) is a sweet but precocious girl with working class roots. When she's fired from her job as a hat check girl, Mary answers an ad for a cabaret dancer at "The Peach Tree Inn" claiming to be "Gloria De Moin", a well known but missing dancer of dubious reputation. A key requirement for the job is the shady past Mary lacks. The audition and subsequent performance are utterly delightful. Murray's portrayal of the good girl playing bad in an unfamiliar and seedy nightclub world is adorable. This is one case when a stagy, over-the-top performance, the opposite of someone understated like Mary Pickford, is not only called for but perfectly suited to the part. Murray's character performing "The Peacock Walk" to the adulation of the darkened club begins with preparations by Mary, a little girl play-acting the part, and ends in a vampy, sexy and hilarious success!

THE DELICIOUS LITTLE DEVIL; An energized Mae Murray vehicle

[zpzjones · 7/10 · 30 January 2011]

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.

Earliest Valentino Movie In A Major Role

[springfieldrental · 7/10 · 27 September 2021]

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.

Valentino shows he can do comedy

[scsu1975 · 7/10 · 3 December 2022]

Mary McGuire works as a hat-check girl, but she is canned when her boss sees her dancing with a customer's coat. Mary sees an ad for a hostess/dancer at the Peach Tree Inn, and applies for the job. She convinces the manager she is really Gloria Du Moine, a famous dancer who has been involved in scandal with the Duke de Sauterne. At the Inn, she meets Jimmie Calhoun, son of a rich Wall Street bigwig. Jimmie's father thinks Mary is a gold-digger, and sets out to prove it. Meanwhile, the Duke shows up and Mary finds herself in a mess. Will true love win out?

This is a fun film, smartly directed and acted, and moves along at a great pace. Murray is a terrific physical comedienne, and Valentino (looking like he is barely out of high school) shows a good flair for comedy. The supporting cast is quite good, and the conclusion is hilarious. While there are no belly laughs, this is a pleasant film and a good way to kill an hour.

Great Classic Film

[whpratt1 · 6/10 · 19 October 2007]

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.

It's definitely a movie

[MissSimonetta · 6/10 · 14 July 2022]

Even in her day, Mae Murray tended to garner love or hate reactions. I find her face scrunching and hopping about as exhausting as any Jim Carrey comedy-- a little goes a long way. Here, she does her best Mary Pickford impression and I was less than charmed.

The story is very slight. It's a farce about a good girl who pretends to be a European courtesan to score a job. She catches the eye of a wealthy young Irish lad played by a pre-stardom Rudolph Valentino, who looks like a living corpse in that awful pancake make-up intended to hide his olive complexion. All the role calls him to do is smile or sulk on command-- it might actually be the least interesting of his pre-stardom roles. (Say what you will about the belly flopping, blackmailing "count" he played in the hilariously bad THE MARRIED VIRGIN, at least he and that movie were entertaining.) A disapproving dad and a lecherous count complicate the central love story.

Like I said, your level of enjoyment will vary depending upon how much you like Mae Murray. I was sporadically amused, but if you want a better Murray movie, go for THE MERRY WIDOW and if you want a(n intentionally) funny pre-stardom Valentino, watch ALL NIGHT.

Hungry for fame, Irish darlin' Mae Murray poses as a scandalous Lady to land a dancing gig, but Rudolph Valentino likes her for herself.

[maksquibs · 4/10 · 8 May 2007]

An 'extra' on the recent DVD edition of the Gloria Swanson/Rudolph Valentino starrer BEYOND THE ROCKS (see my comment there), this is another recovered pic from the Netherlands archive. It's a ramshackle comedy from Universal, megged by Robert Z. Leonard (later a fixture @ M-G-M), starring his soon-to-be wife, the largely forgotten Mae Murray. (Her tenuous claim to fame is her preposterous, yet mesmerizing perf in Stroheim's MERRY WIDOW.) Here she's mugs like crazy in sub-Mary Pickford mode as a darling Irish-American spitfire who poses as Eurotrash to land a dancing gig at a club. The prosaic truth comes out just in time for a happy ending with an impossibly youthful Rudolph Valentino who's the freshest thing in the film, looking surprisingly like Buster Keaton. Really, just check out that profile in the final sequence.

Mae Murray does a great Mary Pickford imitation

[overseer-3 · 9/10 · 21 May 2006]

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.

Interesting Film of the OLD days

[Scoval71 · 5/10 · 17 September 2007]

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.

Delicious Little Mae

[HarlowMGM · 10/10 · 21 May 2006]

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.

Wobbly Comedy with Valentino Supporting

[wes-connors · 5/10 · 18 September 2007]

Mae Murray (as Mary McGuire) works as a coat and cloak check girl; when she dons one of the customers garments and dances around in it, she is fired. Ms. Murray decides to apply for a job as hostess and dancer at the "Peach Tree Inn" managed by William Mong (as Larry McKean). In order to clinch the job, Murray pretends to be infamous dancer Gloria De Moin. Murray is also the only dancer available to hire, as all of the other applicants walk out.

Randy Rudolph Valentino (as Jimmy Calhoun) is a "Peach Tree Inn" patron who becomes enamored with Murray - he wants to marry her, but his wealthy father is wary. Meanwhile, Bertram Grassby (as Duke de Sauterne) returns to complicate matters; he was involved with the real Gloria De Moin, and is on the lam from the law…

Handsome Valentino and smarmy Grassby are the highlight of the film, which picks up considerably whenever the two strut their stuff over Murray. Otherwise, the story is uninteresting, and the comedy doesn't work. Unfortunately, the film is "speeded up" - possibly, this is done to enhance its comedy effect; instead, it can make you dizzy, or put you to sleep. "The Delicious Little Devil" is not the place start, if you want to appreciate silent films fully.

***** The Delicious Little Devil (4/13/19) Robert Z. Leonard ~ Mae Murray, Rudolph Valentino, Bertram Grassby

surprisingly cute and funny film

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 5 July 2006]

I was completely shocked when I saw this film. Although a Rudolph Valentino film, instead of a movie about a slick Latin lover, it was a breezy comedy about a plucky nice girl that gets ahead by pretending to be a bad girl. Valentino, by the way, is one of her suitors.

Mae Murray plays the lead. She is frustrated because not only did she lose her job but her uncle and father are so lazy that everyone expects her to support them. One day she sees and ad for a dancer in a local road house. They are looking for a very worldly woman--much like the famous Theda Bara. Well, Mae is anything but this type of woman--looking awfully sweet and innocent. When she goes for the interview she is very nervous and tells them she is Ms. Du Moine--a famous European dancing vamp who was involved in a recent scandal. This is exactly the sort of woman they are looking for and she is hired.

Her dancing ability seems distinctly lacking, but considering that the public is not too well informed, they eat up all the silly dance numbers and the over-the-top costumes she wears. Mae starts making a boatload of money and the place is packed every night. And, each night in a seat of honor is the young Valentino--the son of a local rich guy. He's absolutely smitten with her and wants to marry her.

All appears to be going fine until Ms. Du Moine's ex-lover, the Duke, arrives at the road house! Mae realizes he will expose her for a fraud and tries to slip away, but the Duke follows her and tries to force himself on her. Valentino comes to the rescue and slaps the Duke silly. The police soon arrive and arrest the Duke (apparently he was really a con-man). The truth about Mae comes out (her dark secret is that she really ISN'T a slut!) and everyone lives happily ever after.

I really admire this film. It's funny and highly entertaining. And, while the plot is silly and hard to believe, it is so light-hearted that this isn't important. Plus, at less than an hour, the pacing is great and the story seems to have aged extremely well. I've seen a few hundred silents and I would rank this little film towards the top. An unexpectedly wonderful film.

Not Devlish, But Mae Is Delicious!

[sunlily · 8/10 · 16 July 2006]

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.

So-So Silent

[Michael_Elliott · 27 February 2008]

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.