Mae Murray was one of the biggest movie stars of her day. A headliner of the Ziegfeld Follies, the stage dancer and actress made her film debut in 1916 and quickly became a major star, dubbed "The Girl with the Bee-Stung Lips." In the 1919 romantic comedy The Delicious Little Devil, she stars as Irish-American working-class girl Kitty Maguire, the lively, tomboyish daughter of a washerwoman.
After losing her job as a hatcheck girl, she auditions at a roadside inn and passes herself off as a notorious European dancer, which gets her promoted to star billing and a lavish salary as long as she keeps up the masquerade. Rudolph Valentino was cast in an early screen role as Jimmy Calhoun, the playboy son of a millionaire contractor and a man about town who instantly falls in love with Kitty (now using the name Gloria du Moine).
The film leans on the comedy of the girl from the tenements pretending to be a French cabaret star, making up her own wild dance moves and trying to appear sophisticated and worldly in public, while Jimmy's father (a self-made success from working-class origins) tries to break up his son's romance by revealing the girl's true nature. It plays on Irish-American stereotypes, from dialogue intertitles that suggest a heavy brogue to a "work fearing" uncle and a drunkard father who loaf the days away while they are supported by Kitty and her mother.
The plot relies on twists that were clichés even then, complete with a car chase and last-minute revelations that tie everything up neatly in a happy ending. It's the star power of Murray, a fine comedienne and a charismatic actress who gets to show off her dance moves, and pre-fame Valentino in one of his first romantic roles (though fifth-billed in the cast, he is very much a co-star here) that makes it work. The director, Robert Z. Leonard, was Murray's husband and tailored the film to her strengths; he went on to become one of MGM's most reliable directors in the sound era.
Previously available as a bonus film on the Milestone DVD release of Beyond the Rocks, this new edition is a significant upgrade, presented in a 4K restoration by Universal Pictures with a lively original music score composed and performed by Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum with a small combo. The Blu-ray release features commentary by film historian Gaylyn Studlar and a selection of archival supplements focused on costar Rudolph Valentino, including the 17-minute "Orson Welles Remembers Rudolph Valentino" originally filmed for the 1970s PBS showcase of silent cinema. A strong option purchase.