The Delicious Little Devil (1919)

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 ... See full summary »

Director:

Robert Z. Leonard

Writers:

Harvey F. Thew (story), John B. Clymer (story),

Stars:

Mae Murray, Richard Cummings, Harry L. Rattenberry

Cast

Credited cast:
Mae Murray	...	Mary McGuire
Richard Cummings	...	Uncle Barney
Harry L. Rattenberry	...	Pat McGuire (as Harry Rattenbury)
Edward Jobson	...	Michael Calhoun
Rudolph Valentino	...	Jimmy Calhoun (as Rudolpho De Valintine)
Bert Woodruff	...	Musk (as Burt Woodruff)
Martha Mattox	...	His Wife
William V. Mong	...	Larry McKean (as William Mong)
Ivor McFadden	...	Percy
Bertram Grassby	...	Duke de Sauterne
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Satchel McVea	...	Musician in I S McVea's Howdy Band

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

dancer | hat check girl | falling down stairs | attempted rape | drunkenness | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

TV-G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

May 1919 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der entzückende kleine Teufel

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Film Manufacturing Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

63 min 55 min (2006 alternate) 63 min 52 min (DVD edition)

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The AFI Catalogue reports a release date of May 1919. However, a 13 April 1919 article "Written on the Screen" in the New York Times mentions the film was playing at the Broadway, although it was not reviewed. A week later, a similar article mentions it was in its second week at the Broadway.

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Crazy Credits

At 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.

User Reviews

Mae Murray does a great Mary Pickford imitation

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.