A Virtuous Vamp (1919) Reviews

Anita Loos penned this screenplay about a young girl who is an incurable flirt. Gwen (Constance Talmadge), the lady in question, comes from a society family that has fallen on hard times. She goes to work to support her mother and younger brother, but she has a hard time hanging onto the job she's landed because every boss at the company falls madly in love with her. She gets bumped around from department to department until she winds up as assistant to the head of the firm, James Crowninshield (Conway Tearle). The preoccupied Crowninshield is the only man who is oblivious to Gwen's many charms, and naturally Gwen falls hopelessly in love with him. She manages to nab him, but not without a lot of heartache, humor, and plot complications. While this amusing film showed that writer Loos and actress Talmadge were an unbeatable team, Constance's mother disagreed. She complained about the scenario to producer Joe Schenck, saying that it disparaged her daughter's sex appeal. Mrs. Talmadge changed her tune, however, when the film was a huge success. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi