Mae Murray Movies
"Once you become a star, you are always a star," Mae Murray once stated, and she fully believed in that credo for the rest of her life -- despite having made her final film in 1931, and the final successful one in 1925. Publicized by Florenz Ziegfeld in the 1910s as the "Girl With the Bee-Stung Lips," Murray had made a professional debut of sorts singing "Comin' Through the Rye" in a 1906 Lew Fields concoction entitled About Town. She was in the Follies two years later and earned heaps of publicity when substituting for an ailing Irene Castle in Irving Berlin's Watch Your Step (1910). Adolph Zukor of Paramount spotted her in the 1915 version of the Ziegfeld Follies, in which she impersonated Mary Pickford while being chased around by comedian Ed Wynn, and signed her to a screen contract.Although she attempted to get out of her obligations to Paramount on several occasions, Mae Murray took to Hollywood -- and the Hollywood lifestyle -- like a fish to water, starring in scores of melodramas with titles such as Sweet Kitty Bellairs (1916), Princess Virtue (1917), Her Body in Bond (1918), The Delicious Little Devil (1919), and On With the Dance (1920), all of them popular and all of them more or less variations on the classic Cinderella tale. Her most frequent director was Robert Z. Leonard and she married him during a break from What Am I Bid? (1919) (having previously divorced New York playboy Jay O'Brien mere days after their highly publicized wedding). The union with Leonard lasted a bit longer and produced Tiffany, a company created to present her in the best light possible.
Releasing through Metro, Murray starred in the popular Peacock Alley (1923) and when the releasing company merged with Goldwyn and Louis B. Mayer, she became the new conglomeration's first star. She was delighted when Mayer ushered her into a lavish screen version of The Merry Widow (1925) but clashed throughout with director Erich Von Stroheim, publicly denigrating him as a "dirty Hun." Surprisingly, the results of all the fighting proved a smash hit and Murray, on the top of the world, added the title of "Princess" to her name by marrying the Ukrainian Prince David Mdivani. Increasingly imperious, she then made the mistake of turning down Women Love Diamonds (1927), which she felt beneath her new status. Pauline Starke replaced her and she was virtually blackballed in Hollywood.
An old friend, Lowell Sherman, came to her rescue but Murray's appearances in both Bachelor Apartment and High Stakes (both 1931) were downright embarrassing; the years had not been kind and she now rather resembled Mae West but without the humor and talent. She briefly replaced Gladys George in The Milky Way on Broadway and performed in several dance recitals, but when a biography, The Self-Enchanted, appeared in 1959, few remembered her and it was quickly forgotten. Not by Murray, however, and in 1964 she embarked on a self-appointed publicity tour to New York. Sadly, she did not get any further than St. Louis, MO, where she was found, ill and destitute, by the Salvation Army and returned to her home in Hollywood. In her final years, Murray was known to hum a few bars of the "Merry Widow Waltz" in public, lest anyone forgot, and reportedly insisted on being called Princess Mdivani even when dying at the Motion Picture Country House and Hospital. With some justification, it has been suggested that Mae Murray was the true inspiration for the character of Norma Desmond in Billy Wilder's poignant Sunset Boulevard. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1950
In this murder mystery, a woman pretends to be her murdered sister's ghost in an effort to catch the killer. She is assisted by a stranger. Later the two discover that it was the brother-in-law who committed the crime and together they get their revenge. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1949
Dick Barton (Don Stannard) investigates the northern village of High Glen, where every living thing has suddenly died without any apparent explanation. Autopsies reveal that the brains of the victims were all shrunken -- literally dehydrated -- but there is no known scientific process that would explain how this could happen. Barton must not only determine the cause, but also its connection, if any, to the mysterious Mr. Fouracada (Sebastian Cabot) and the murder of Crespin, a British agent who was returning from Prague with news of a plot against England. While Barton is investigating the first tragedy, another village is destroyed, making it imperative that he tie up the ends of the case before more people die -- and figure out what the connection of all of it may be to a traveling fair that was seen in the vicinity of both villages before they were wiped out. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- 1931
A typical pre-code era comedy, Bachelor Apartment was the creation of its leading man, silent screen matinee-idol Lowell Sherman. He plays Wayne Carter, a Park Avenue roué, whose dalliances with a series of women are beginning to catch up with him. Enter a brunette and rather drab Irene Dunne searching for her wayward sister (Claudia Dell). Sherman falls like a ton of bricks for the no-nonsense and seemingly unresponsive Dunne, whom he hires as his executive secretary. For unexplained reasons, Dunne falls in love with her whimsical boss as well and after Sherman shows signs of shaping up, they embrace for a happy ending. Daring in its day, Bachelor Apartment is not really worth a second look except for a next-to-final glimpse of silent screen femme fatale Mae Murray. Playing Sherman's most ardent conquest -- who, as the suave playboy explains, "might commit a sin but never a faux pas" -- Murray has to be seen to be believed. Valiantly attempting to display her trademark bee-stung countenance while at the same time deliver a series of hoary lines, the still svelte Murray -- who is introduced to the strains of an ersatz Merry Widow Waltz lest we forgot -- offers an overripe performance that all but ended her screen career. Sherman used her once more -- in High Stakes, another frothy comedy -- but the aging Murray was obviously not talkie material. Bachelor Apartment offers a glimpse of yet another faded silent screen star, the mustachioed Norman Kerry of Phantom of the Opera fame, here playing the minor role of a theatrical wolf. Like Murray (and Lowell Sherman himself), Kerry's looks and mannerisms belonged to a bygone era. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lowell Sherman, Irene Dunne, (more)
- 1931
In her final starring role, silent screen diva Mae Murray plays Dolly, a young gold digger who manages to trap a rich widower, Dick (Edward Martindel). Although the couple seems happy enough, Dick's alcoholic brother, Joe (Lowell Sherman), becomes suspicious of the girl's motives and suspicion gives way to certainty when he spots Dolly embracing one Louis DeSalta (Leyland Hodgson), supposedly a stranger. Leaving the booze behind, Joe sets a trap for Dolly and DeSalta, who are made to confess. High Stakes was directed by its star, Lowell Sherman, who also cast the entertainingly over-the-top Murray in the comedy Bachelor Apartment (1931). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1930
In this romantic drama, a chorine marries her absent-minded childhood sweetheart so she can make her real love, a millionaire jealous. The newlyweds are on their honeymoon, but soon get in trouble when the house detective bursts in their room. It seems the groom forgot to sign his bride's new name into the register. The detective then informs him, that he caught the woman in the room with a different man the night before. The couple is thrown out, and the groom, angered that his bride was unfaithful before they were even married, leaves her. The woman is heartbroken, and throws herself into a new Broadway show to help her forget. On opening night, who should appear but the millionaire bearing a bouquet and offering to become her new husband. Happiness ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1928
This Marion Davies vehicle was loosely inspired by the career of Gloria Swanson. Davies plays would-be starlet Peggy Pepper, who arrives at the gates of MGM Studios with her dad Colonel Pepper (Dell Henderson) in hopes of becoming a great dramatic actress. Instead, she a scores a hit as an ingenue in the slapstick comedies starring the effervescent Billy Boone (William Haines). As the audience rocks with laughter during the preview of Peggy's first film (no one is more enthusiastic than her director Harry Gribbon), she sits in sullen silence, insisting to Billy that some day she'll invoke tears instead of laughter. This doesn't seem likely, inasmuch as Peggy can't even cry on cue (her director is forced to peel onions outside of camera range to achieve the desired emotion), but the tenacious young actress finally manages to win favor in dramatic roles. Inevitably, this causes a strain on her budding romance with Billy, and the couple slowly drifts apart. Now the unchallenged Queen of the Cinema, Peggy -- billing herself as Patricia Pepoire -- prepares to marry her oily leading man Andre (Paul Ralli), but mischievous Billy disrupts her fancy wedding. She angrily tosses Billy out of the house, realizing only when it's too late that she's still in love with him. But in the final scene, the hero and heroine are accidentally reunited on the set of a WWI picture directed by King Vidor (who also directed Show People). Two versions of Show People are currently available for TV; the "stretch-framed" Kevin Brownlow-David Gill restoration, with a new orchestral score by Carl Davis, and the original MGM release version, outfitted with a lively music and sound-effects track. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marion Davies, William Haines, (more)
- 1927
Filmed through mounds of gauze, silent movie queen Mae Murray stars in MGM's Altars of Desire. Murray plays a willful American lass whose wealthy dad (Robert Edeson) sends her to Paris so that she may pick up some "refinement." Instead, she picks up a fortune-hunting nobleman, played as a frivolous fop by a monocled Andre Beranger. True-blue hero Conway Tearle prevents Murray from making a bigger fool of herself than she already is. Such was Mae Murray's reputation for temperamental tantrums that few of MGM's directors wanted anything to do with her. Thus, the studio went to the bottom of the directorial pecking order and came up with the efficient but uninspired William "Christy" Cabanne, who let Murray run amok on the set, but still came up with a releasable (and very profitable) picture. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mae Murray, Conway Tearle, (more)
- 1926
Mae Murray hid her blonde tresses under a black wig to play the Spanish heroine of Valencia. A singer-dancer in a smoky cabaret, Valencia proves fascinating to young sailor Felipe (Lloyd Hughes). After spending the night with the sailor, our heroine discovers that she is also the object of adoration for Don Fernando (Roy D'Arcy), the new provincial governor. To save Felipe from punishment by the despotic Don Fernando, she laughs at the lad's marriage proposal and sends him on his way. When the governor finds out that Valencia is still in love with Felipe, he threatens to have the boy killed -- unless she accedes to his sexual demands. Sadly, Valencia agrees to the arrangement. As she bids Felipe goodbye, Valencia bursts into tears, whereupon Don Fernando finally relents and allows her to rejoin her true love. Trimmed from 9 reels to 6 before its release, Valencia proved a huge box-office success despite its short running time; as a bonus, its theme song (unheard in the film itself) became one of the biggest musical hits of 1926. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mae Murray, Lloyd Hughes, (more)
- 1925
In the 1920s, when a motion picture featured an Apache, it wasn't referring to Native Americans but to denizens of the Parisian Underworld. By the end of 1925, the Apache theme had been pretty much worn through, but the Parisian settings made a nice backdrop for Mae Murray, who was given the opportunity to show off her dancing skills (which were always far better than her acting talents). Police Prefect Le Cointe (Roy D'Arcy) and American millionaire Grove (Francis X. Bushman) visit a cabaret together. The star performers there are Gaby (Murray) and her partner, an Apache named Antoine (a young but nevertheless sinister-looking Basil Rathbone). Grover does not believe his friend's assertion that Gaby is a thief, and he goes so far as to become engaged to her. Le Cointe, of course, is correct, and Gaby and Antoine are planning to rob Grover blind. Gaby begins to have a change of heart, however, when she realizes how deeply Grover cares for her. Antoine is not so true, and he steals a string of pearls that Grover has given Gaby. Le Cointe captures him and Gaby confesses all. Grover readily forgives Gaby and she finds true happiness with him. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mae Murray, Francis X. Bushman, (more)
- 1925
This silent adaptation of Franz Lehar's famous operetta (in which precious little of the original story was retained) was a rare event in Erich Von Stroheim's directorial career -- a critical and commercial success that the director was also able to complete according to his wishes (though in the latter years of his life, he would claim that the film's final moments were forced upon him by studio brass intent on a happier ending). Prince Danilo (John Gilbert) and Crown Prince Mirko (Roy D'Arcy) are two brothers in the Ruritanian royal family who are notorious womanizers, frequently finding themselves competing for the same woman. When Sally O'Hara (Mae Murray), a dancer from America, stops in Ruritania on a performance tour, both Danilo and Mirko are both strongly attracted to her, as is the older Baron Sadoja (Tully Marshall). Each begins making plans to seduce her; however, during Sally's performance, the differences between the three men become apparent -- Danilo is attracted to the beauty of Sally's eyes and face, while Mirko is strictly interested in her body, and Sadoja's intense focus is upon her feet. Danilo introduces himself to Sally after a performance as "Danilo Petrovich," claiming to be a wealthy commoner rather than royalty. He invites her to dine at his estate after her performance, and when he "mistakenly" spills soup on her dress, it's the first step in his successful efforts to lead her to his bed. Danilo asks Sally to marry him, and she agrees. To his surprise, Danilo finds that he is eager to settle down with the American dancer, but King Nikita (George Fawcett) and Queen Milena (Josephine Crowell) forbid him to marry a woman who does not carry a royal title, and Danilo is forced to leave Sally waiting at the altar. Seizing an opportunity, the aging Sadoja asks Sally for her hand in marriage, and she grudgingly accepts; he dies on their wedding night while ecstatically rummaging through her collection of shoes. Sally inherits Sadoja's estate and retains the title of Baroness, and a year later she encounters Danilo, who is still deeply in love with Sally and wants another chance to win her heart -- although since she never learned the truth about why he never arrived for their wedding, she is not eager to be wooed by him again. Mirko also re-enters the picture in a new effort to win Sally's affections, but while Danilo is motivated by true love, Mirko's efforts are fueled by lust, both for her body and her newly-gained wealth. The Merry Widow was a lavishly-staged production shot on a long schedule (19 weeks, very unusual for the time) with a large cast of extras. If you look carefully, you can spot Clark Gable and Myrna Loy among the bit players, several years before either would become a star. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mae Murray, John Gilbert, (more)
- 1924
Pauline Frederick stars in this romance, based on the Louis Joseph Vance novel Mrs. Paramor. Nelly (Frederick) is so intent on her writing career, that she neglects her appearance and her husband, Wayne (Huntly Gordon). Jill Wetherell (Mae Busch), who is looking for a rich husband, finds Wayne to be easy prey and Nelly catches them together. She divorces Wayne and travels to Europe. Jill, however, throws Wayne over for Perley Rex (Conrad Nagel). Nelly becomes a writer of note under the pseudonym Mrs. Paramor. She also takes advantage of her easy access to the latest Paris fashions and becomes a truly stylish and beautiful woman. Along the way, she meets Rex and discovers he is married to Jill. They all take the same ship back to the States, and while Jill is seasick in her room, Nelly steals Rex's affection. When Jill goes to "the other woman" to beg for her husband, she is surprised to see that it's Nelly. Nelly lets Jill have Rex, but she realizes she has never stopped loving Wayne. She calls for him, and they are reunited. One novel scene near the end of the film shows Nelly hosting a banquet and mahjong party which is attended by an impressive group of movie stars, including Mae Murray, Norma Shearer, John Gilbert, Aileen Pringle, and many others; all of them, of course, signed to Metro-Goldwyn, the studio that released the picture. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pauline Frederick, Conrad Nagel, (more)
- 1924
Mae Murray's pictures were the ultimate in jazz-era extravagance. This one is based on the novel by Vicente Blasco Ibanez, the same author who wrote the book on which The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse was based. Cecilie Brunner (Murray) was raised in a convent, but after her mother's death, she becomes a cynical vamp, who, like the mythical character Circe, brings men to their ruin. Because of the generosity of her unfortunate men friends, Cecilie is able to live well on Long Island. But then she falls in love with her next-door neighbor, Peter Van Martyn, a surgeon (James Kirkwood). Van Martyn disapproves of Cecilie's lifestyle and lets her know it. When he refuses to have anything to do with her, Cecilie parties even harder and winds up gambling away her home. Finally she realizes that Van Martyn was right and she returns to the convent. She is hit by a car and paralyzed while saving a child, but she miraculously regains the use of her legs when Van Martyn comes to her. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mae Murray, James Kirkwood, (more)
- 1924
This melodrama was the first collaborative effort between MGM and the husband-wife/director-actress team Robert Z. Leonard and Mae Murray. Murray has two roles, in the prologue as Renee de Gontran, who scandalized the court of Napoleon III and who was banished to Mexico by the Empress Eugenie (Clarissa Selwynne), and throughout the rest of the film as her granddaughter, Renee de Quiros, who has inherited her grandmother's zest for adventure. This quirk, however, only shows itself between the hours of midnight and one in the morning. Young Renee's father, Don Pedro de Quiros (Robert Edeson), is a loyalist who is being courted by diplomat Owen Burke (Monte Blue). Not only does Renee draw the attention of Burke, but also that of the bandit Joao (Robert McKim). Renee's uncle, Don Jose de Quiros (Nick De Ruiz), is in league with the bandit. After Joao kills Don Pedro, Don Jose promises him Renee's hand. Burke's life is in danger, so Renee consents to the wedding, but escapes with the help of her cousin Carlos (Johnny Arthur). When she marries Burke, she is released from the spell of her grandmother. Murray and Leonard's marriage didn't last, but they both stayed with MGM -- Murray until after her marriage to Russian Prince David M'Divani, and Leonard until 1955. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mae Murray, Monte Blue, (more)
- 1923
Produced by Robert Z. Leonard's Tiffany films and released by Metro, French Doll serves as a showcase for Leonard's dazzlingly beautiful wife Mae Murray. The star plays Georgine Mauzlier, a winsome French lass dealing in fake antiques as a means of supporting her family. Georgine's far-from-grateful parents intend to further exploit her by marrying her off to American millionaire Wellington Wick (Orville Caldwell). At first, the girl despises her arranged husband, but eventually realizes how much he loves her, and she him. Frances Marion's screenplay was adapted from a play by Paul Armont and Marcel Gebidou. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mae Murray, Orville Caldwell, (more)
- 1923
The bizarre Mae Murray, she of the bee-stung lips and haughty demeanor, plays sisters in this potboiler set during the Russian revolution. Fleeing to America, the non-identical sisters, both poor peasant types, lead totally opposite lives. The elder, Olga, masquerades as White Russian nobility and manages to land a rich husband, while Zita, the younger, finds herself desperately mired in poverty. When Olga is killed by a rejected suitor (Elmo Lincoln, Hollywood's first "Tarzan"), her kindhearted husband (Freeman Wood) adopts the pathetic but faithful Zita as his own. A typically overblown Murray escapade, Fashion Row was produced by Murray herself and directed by her husband, Robert Z. Leonard. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mae Murray, Earl Foxe, (more)
- 1923
This fluffy Mae Murray vehicle was dressed up with a Graustarkian veneer, but in reality it was merely an excuse for the star to wear exotic costumes and perform a few of her famous dance numbers. Jazzmania is a mythical kingdom devoted to dancing and revelry. But the country takes a darker turn when Queen Ninon (Murray) refuses to marry Prince Otto, the pretender to the throne (Jean Hersholt). He begins a revolution and Queen Ninon flees the bombs for the United States, accompanied by a handsome American newspaper reporter, Jerry Langdon (Rod La Rocque). She proceeds to enthrall New York with her dances, but she decides to return to her country and take care of Otto. After soundly deposing him she turns the nation into a republic, introducing it to modern conveniences -- Model Ts, for example (but she wisely leaves out the latest American innovation -- prohibition). Now that the crown is but a fond memory, Ninon gladly weds Langdon. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mae Murray, Rod La Rocque, (more)
- 1922
For a while, Mae Murray and her then-husband, director Robert Z. Leonard, were an unstoppable team. They had their own production company, and this comedy-drama followed in the wake of the massively successful Peacock Alley. Murray plays Dolores de Lisa, the Spanish-American daughter of the aristocratic Eduardo de Lisa (Charles Lane). Dolores's New York upbringing has turned her into a carefree flapper, and when her old world aunt, the Marquesa de Lisa (Emily Fitzroy), comes to visit, she insists on taking the girl back to Spain to become a lady. But Dolores continues her playful ways and becomes infatuated with toreador Carrita (Robert W. Frazer), even though she has a fiancé, Ralph Kellogg (Vincent Coleman), back in the States. By the time Kellogg arrives in Spain, with Dolores's father and drunken brother, Carlos (Creighton Hale), Dolores has run off to the bullfights. While the men are searching for her, they get into a lot of trouble, and Dolores has to help save them. After all the difficulty she has caused, Dolores decides to return to Kellogg and lead a more sedate life. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mae Murray, Creighton Hale, (more)
- 1922
Once again, Mae Murray plays -- what else? -- a dancer. But while the ex-Follies girl had made an enormous success in her past two films, Peacock Alley and Fascination, this one isn't quite as good. For one thing, the plot was as musty as an old, worn stage set -- a country girl makes it big on Broadway, marries a millionaire, but gives everything up to be with her faithful sweetheart back home. Neither Murray, nor her husband, director Robert Z. Leonard could do much with this type of pap. And Murray, who was in her late thirties, used too much white make up in an attempt to rid herself of the signs of encroaching age. Murray's country girl is named Rosalie Lawrence, and the boy she leaves behind is the homely-but-comfortable Tom Darcy (Monte Blue). While performing on the Great White Way, her impressive footwork and good looks attract Hugh Thompson (Ray Bloomer). His millionaire parents (Charles Lane and Maude Turner Gordon), however, are opposed to the match. Rosalie and Thompson marry in secret, but his family eventually finds out and they make it clear they have no use for their daughter-in-law. Instead of standing by her, Thompson refuses to live without his parents' money, so Rosalie returns to the country, and to Darcy, who has been faithfully waiting for her. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mae Murray, Monte Blue, (more)
- 1921
A well-cast Mae Murray gets to show off some of her famous dance steps in this picture. The beautiful Lillian Drake (Murray) is a hostess at the Cafe Royal, a private New York club. She is constantly surrounded by adoring men who she uses mercilessly, among them Creighton Howard (Lowell Sherman) and John Stewart (Charles Gerard). But when country boy Frank Thompson (stage actor Jason Robards, Sr., in his screen debut) decides to have a fling with Broadway, Lily falls hard for him. Although Howard tries to tell her that Thompson is just using her and already has a sweetheart back home, she won't listen. She quits her hostess job and turns her apartment into the kind of homey place she imagines would suit a country boy. But Thompson finally shows his true colors when he drunkenly asserts that he wants her the way she was. So Lily, her hopes dashed, returns to the club. But all is not lost, because Howard gently takes her home to meet his mother and offers her an honest proposal. The film's director was Murray's husband and frequent collaborator, Robert Z. Leonard. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mae Murray, Lowell Sherman, (more)
- 1921
During the early '20s, the star/director team of Mae Murray and her husband Robert Z. Leonard was nearly unbeatable. Murray's fame was based on films like this one. Elmer Harmon (Monte Blue, Murray's co-star in several films) travels to Paris to land a contract with the French government. He gets the deal with the help of Cleo, a dancer (Murray). They fall in love and are married, but back home in the States, Harmon discovers that his small town associates do not approve of his bride. He decides to start over again in the big city, but between the pricey apartment he has rented and Cleo's expensive tastes, the money runs out quickly. In order to help out financially, Cleo teams up with an old friend, but Harmon believes she is being unfaithful. The truth is finally revealed and the couple are reconciled. In 1930, when Murray's career was on the skids, she made a talkie with the same title, but it had only the barest resemblance to the earlier film. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mae Murray, Monte Blue, (more)
- 1920
Sonia Varinoff (Mae Murray) travels from Russia to New York to be with her father, who is a librarian for Schuyler Van Vechtan (John Miltern). Sonia, however, is a flighty young girl who does not share her father's bookishness. She falls in love with Peter Derwynt (David Powell), the secretary of Van Vechtan, and causes him to lose the girl he loves, Lady Joane Tremelyn (Alma Tell), to wealthy Jimmie Sutherland (Robert Schable). Peter marries Sonia only because he feels sorry for her. Jimmie and Sonia eventually meet, and on the sly, she becomes a masked cabaret dancer. Peter discovers the affair and part-time job, but she retorts that he has been romancing Joane. In a fit of anger, Peter kills Jimmie, and even though she knows that it will ruin her reputation, Sonia testifies so that Peter will be acquitted. She then leaves him so that he can marry Joan. But Sonia doesn't wind up alone, she finds a mate in Van Vechtan. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1919
Although a bit slow to get off the ground, this witty film shows what star Mae Murray and her director husband, Robert Z. Leonard, could do with a good concept. Mae plays Mary McGuire, a girl of extremely modest means. She's a coat-check girl, but gets fired from her job for dancing around in a customer's expensive coat (Murray, an ex-Follies girl, always favored an opportunity to strut her stuff). A road house just outside of town is looking for a hostess with "experience," and the innocent Mary bluffs her way into the job by claiming to be Gloria du Monde, a European dancer who had had an affair with the Duke de Sauterne. Coincidentally, the Duke (Bertram Grassby) actually comes into the cafe and, amused by the ruse, decides to pursue her. But Mary has gotten involved with Jimmie Calhoun (Rudolph Valentino, in an early, non-Latin role), who realizes she is really a nice girl. But that is thrown into doubt by the attitude of the Duke. Mary finds herself having to prove her virtuousness when up until then, she has been pretending to be a wanton woman. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1919
Director Robert Z. Leonard tries to fit his wife (Mae Murray) into a Mary Pickford mold here. Murray plays an animal-loving, mountain-bred daughter of a drunk whose lonely life is brightened by the appearance of a handsome stranger (Ralph Graves). When the girl is threatened by a lusty bartender, the stranger comes to her aid, but he is wounded in the ensuing fight. She nurses him back to health, only to have him snatched away by his wealthy family. But girl and boy are reunited by the film's end. While no Pickford, Murray made a fairly good show as the winsome girl ragamuffin -- and keep in mind that she was in her thirties when she made this picture. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1919
In spite of its racy title, this Mae Murray vehicle was pretty tame stuff. Elena Evana (Murray) is a young girl who is being reared by her stern Aunt Alvira (Martha Mattox). Because Elena's mother committed some horrible but unnamed sin, Aunt Alvira becomes upset when she finds the girl carrying on an innocent flirtation with Van Presby, the boy next door (Ralph Graves). Elena defiantly continues to see him, and when Aunt Alvira catches him in her house, she insists that Elena has been compromised and they must get married. Van's uncle, Harvey (Frank Elliott), prevents the wedding and sends Elena to live with Van's mother, Edith (Clarissa Selwynne). Van, meanwhile, is hustled off to college. Edith wants to marry Harvey, and when she finds him becoming too interested in Elena's well-being, she plots to marry the girl off to Joseph Fleming (Willard Louis). At the last minute, however, Elena refuses to go through with the ceremony. Van comes home from college and promptly tries to take advantage of Elena. Harvey puts a stop to it and marries the girl himself. And the mother's unmentionable sin? Alvira was mad that she got married twice -- not exactly a big deal, even in 1919. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
