The Silver Screen Oasis

Finally got to see this one.... the infamous talkie debut of Mae Murray (one of a handful of talkies she made) in which she plays a shady lady torn between 2 men. She finally decides to marry an old sweetheart but after they are thrown out of the hotel (for soliciting) she confesses to her past to her new husband.

Unfortunately the color sequence in which Murray goes back to show biz and does a tango number is missing, and the film resumes in B&W for its conclusion. The sequence exists somewhere because Richard Barrios talks about it in his book "A Song in the Dark."

Mae tries hard but she's obviously terrified of the microphone in this ultra-cheapo production.

I've only seen her in "Bachelor Apartment" (1931) as the flirtatious Mrs. Agatha Carraway and her performance in that one is utterly over the top and mannered. She was definitely better suited for Silents.

I agree

Well she was also past 40 when she hit talkies and back then 40 was pretty old for a film leading lady, so many female leads at the time were barely 20.

I have always been interested in Mae. I've only seen her in a few films (I've always wanted to see PEACOCK ALLEY, didn't she finance that one herself). The rediscovery of DELICIOUS LITTLE DEVIL suggests we may not fully be aware of her talent with so many of her films lost and what's still around is often either lesser or later works.

well Mae was never a subtle actress... I have a bad copy of her in MADEMOISELLE MIDNIGHT which I've never watched and there's something called A MORMON MAID which I don't have (don't even like the title). But Mae was certainly good in THE MERRY WIDOW in a role that suited her perfectly.

She's quite dreadful in BACHELOR APARTMENT and compared to leading lady Irene Dunne, it's easy to see that Mae was not suited for talkies. She made only one other talkie, HIGH STAKES, again teamed with Lowell Sherman.

And that's about it for her films that survive.... to my knowledge

I thought Mae was terrific in High Stakes--I don't want to give anything away, but for most of the movie you think, "what the hell is she doing?" And then in the last reel, something happens that makes you go--"oh! Wow! Damn good performance!"

Mae was one of those actresses who needed a good script and a good director, and then she was capable of some terrific stuff.

I'd love to see it.....

They never show it anymore! TCM showed High Stakes once, well over ten years ago, and never since. They did the same with It's a Great Life and Three-Cornered Moon, two other terrific moves I'd love to see again.

Luckily I have IT'S A GREAT LIFE.....

Unluckily my copy of PEACOCK ALLEY is missing the controversial Mae Murray tango sequence....

drednm wrote:Luckily I have IT'S A GREAT LIFE.....

Omigosh, aren't the Duncan sisters wonderful? As much as I love Anita Page, the Duncans should have starred in Broadway Melody.

YES I agree.... The storyline is not as good as THE BROADWAY MELODY but the Duncan Sisters and Lawrence Gray were terrific. The color sequences are very nice (and rarely exist from films of this era). The ending is perfectly awful but Rosetta and Vivian are incredible.

I wrote a piece about the Duncan Sisters for midnightpalace.com which can be found in the articles archive.

WOW - I thought I was the only person in the world who loved the Duncan Sisters!!! TCM showed their short SURPRISE earlier this year and it was wonderful even with the controversial blackface bit. Rosetta is such a great comedienne hopefully with today's anti-PC movement and the anything goes dark-comedy that dominates television and film today one hopes she can get a fair reappraisal. They are wonderful singers and Vivian is kind of the igenue answer to Dietrich as an ageless beauty.

I would love to see IT'S A GREAT LIFE!!

Ms. Golden. how about the Duncans as the subjects of your next book?

There are excerpts of the Duncan Sisters' late 20's film Topsy and Eva posted somewhere on the internet, I found them once but I don't remember where.

UPDATE: I did a quick search and found the link: http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/s ... clips.html

These clips can be downloaded and burned to disc, I've done so myself. My reaction to the film though was