The Delicious Little Devil Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

The Delicious Little Devil Blu-ray Movie Review

A strong 4K restoration by Universal Pictures.

The Delicious Little Devil is a silent-era comedy presented by Carl Laemmle (Frankenstein, The Invisible Man). The silent production is based on the original story “Kitty, Mind Your Feet” by Harvey F. Thew and John B. Clymer. Now available on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber, The Delicious Little Devil stars Mae Murray in the leading role.

Mary McGuire (Mae Murray) is sweet-and-innocent hat-check girl with a determination to succeed. Unfortunately for Mary McGuire, she soon loses her hat-check job. With no idea what to do, Mary decides to get a job working as a dancer at a cabaret.

Deciding to pose as Gloria du Moine, the famed mistress of the Duke de Sauterne (Bertram Grassby), Mary begins to fall in love with the smooth- talking Jimmy Calhoun (Rudolph Valentino). Yet the relationship turns rocky as Jimmy is wary of her having a lurid past. Can romance be saved and happiness be found?

Mae Murray delivers a decent enough performance in the lead role. Murray carries her part well and delves in to the performance with a dedication to the role. Murray imbues the performance with an abundance of confidence and style. Valentino similarly delivers a decent performance and adds an undeniable charm to the production. The on-screen chemistry is impressive.

Time to dance.

The cinematography by Allen G. Siegler (Case of the Missing Man, You May Be Next!) is reasonably impressive and adds to the tone of the production. The unique style of color tinting makes the film stand out more than some silent classics of the era. Siegler did a respectable job.

The music score composed by Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum (Bird Karma, Don't Look Deeper) is one of the best elements of the production. The score created for the Blu-ray release is full of quick energy and undeniable excitement. The music soars from one scene to the next. An excellent effort by Kroll-Rosenbaum.

The screenplay by Harvey F. Thew (Song of the West, Love in the Desert) is one of the worst elements of the film. Unfortunately, despite some impressive production merits, The Delicious Little Devil is a poorly conceived and written story. The script is dull and unexciting. The script falls flat time after time.

Directed by Robert Z. Leonard (The Master Key, The Great Ziegfeld), The Delicious Little Devil is decently directed at times but the storytelling doesn't fare well. Despite some strong performances delivered by Mae Murray and Rudolph Valentino, The Delicious Little Devil never finds as strong of a voice as it needed to find. The film has some good merits – but the end results still leave one wanting more.

The Delicious Little Devil Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from Flicker Alley, The Delicious Little Devil is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition in the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.33:1 full frame. The release comes from a brand new 4K restoration completed by Universal Pictures. The release is presented in color tinted black-and-white. The Kino Lorber encoding is top-notch throughout the release. The release looks exceptional given age of print and materials available for the scan. Though there are still some occasional marks on the print (throughout the run-time), the level of clarity and detail present in the presentation is astonishing. An exceptional 4K scan.

The Delicious Little Devil Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release of The Delicious Little Devil is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. The lossless audio sounds impressive throughout. The music score is well-reproduced and helps to inject some life and energy into the filmmaking. The track has crisp detail and never struggles to provide the filmmaking with the right rhythmic balance. A good effort by Kino Lorber.

The Delicious Little Devil Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Audio Commentary by film historian Gaylyn Studlar

The Blu-ray release includes several bonus features which were previously provided on the Valentino Blood and Sand Blu-ray edition. The duplication is a bit disappointing and lackluster for those who have seen the other release but Valentino fans who don't own the other film may find these extras of some note:

Blood and Sand (1922) Theatrical Trailer (SD, 2:03)

Newsreel footage of Rudolph Valentino's funeral (SD, 3:03)

Orson Welles Remembers Rudolph Valentino (SD, 17:08)

The Delicious Little Devil Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Delicious Little Devil is a so-so film in some regards. The screenplay by Robert Z. Leonard (The Master Key) is particularly dull and unoriginal. The film does feature decent performances by Mae Murray and Rudolph Valentino. Dedicated fans of the actors will want to rent it. However, most should just consider skipping it altogether.