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.
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.