Silent Sunday: "A Virtuous Vamp"
Sunday, November 17, 2019 at 9:47AM 
Allow us this tangent for the centennial of the silent comedy The Virtuous Vamp (1919). It starred the then popular actress Constance Talmadge who claims to have been receiving over 60 scripts a week during this period in her career. This particular comedy is among the many honored titles in the Library of Congress National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The Virtuous Vamp is now in the public domain though we haven't found a way to screen it yet. From our understanding, it's not a "lost" film which is always a relief with silent pictures since the bulk of them vanished from existence through Hollywood's own negligence about their movies. Movies were always and remain cultural artifacts rather than disposable "product" to be tossed once they've stopped collecting immediate coin.
The not-at-all sexist plot (joke) is about a virtuous girl who takes a job at an office of men which causes all sorts of trouble -- none of them can concentrate and do their work due to her beauty...
Constance Talmadge
One of the things that always confounds and fascinates about old movies (and their advertisements) is how much language changes from era to era. For example we think of "vamp" today as something like a seductive and dangeous femme fatale but maybe in the context of this film it was less severe than that and just meant someone who was a flirt?
Constance Talmadge favoured comedies and her sister Norma dramas but they haven't had the staying power in Hollywood mythology like their contemporaries, the Gish sisters. Nevertheless both were major stars of the silents. You can read more about them here.
Wish we could make out the text of this ad in full because what we can read is a doozy. That line... "44% pure but oh boy! that other 56%"
a literal embodiment of "the male gaze" in cinema.
And speaking of language -- what is the following ad even saying?
What was the 'latest love angle' in November of 1919 and what was its 'vital pertinence'? We don't know but we're going to try to work "full of snap and ginger" into a sentence this week or at least into another blog post.
Reader Comments (6)
Have never seen "The Virtuous Vamp" but I'm glad to know it survives and that there's at least a chance of viewing it someday. Based on the Talmadge films I've encountered, I'm definitely a fan. She's invariably a joy to watch - projecting a quite lovely combination of nicely wised up warmth and dead-on comic timing. A few of her silent era classics are available in excellent prints on home video. In Griffith's "Intolerance", the plucky, endearing, can-do character she creates in the Babylon section is as big a plus as those astonishing sets. In 1924's "Her Night of Romance" , one of the silent era's best romantic comedies, it's pure joy to watch she and Ronald Colman match and mesh skills. She also proves a fine high energy partner for Douglas Fairbanks in the frantically paced "The Matrimaniac". And last time I looked. "The Love Expert" -a 1920 comedy with Talmadge in top comic form - was available to enjoy on Youtube. Constance Talmadge was a huge star till the day she retired in 1929. And her work remains timelessly enjoyable. Had the Academy Awards been established a decade earlier, I'm pretty sure Talmadge would have won a trophy or two.
LOVE "Full of snap and ginger"! So sprightly!!
I've only seen a few of her films, a distressing number are lost, but she does come across well. Apparently she sounded somewhat akin to Fran Drescher offscreen, now a good comedy trait but probably not fitting her image at the time, and of her own volition chose to never make a sound film. Probably a big part of why she's not much remembered today.
Sister Norma who shared a similar vocal tone unwisely tried the new medium with negative results. But their mother had invested their film money very wisely and they were both wealthy enough to walk away. Unfortunately they both loved the bottle too much and suffered from extreme alcoholism in their later lives.
I've been trying to improve my silent film knowledge lately and it truly awful how many films have been lost, either in part or fully. And some that survive are in appalling shape. I recently watched Nevada, a 1927 release starring Gary Cooper, William Powell and Thelma Todd and it was in horrible shape. If something with big names like that couldn't be maintained no wonder pictures with performers of lesser renown were allowed to vanish.
You misread the line. It actually says (with mathematical translation) "99.44% pure but Oh! Boy! that other 0.56%." Even more seductive...
Travis -- wow. that's really pure!
Ken & Joel -- i have never seen one of her pictures so where should I start?
Nathaniel: I think "Her Night of Romance" with Ronald Colman would be a good place to dive in. Talmadge is front and center and in fine fettle throughout. It's available on DVD from Kino as part of a Talmadge double bill. The accompanying feature is "Her Sister from Paris". I find it less appealing but as a matter of historical interest it was loosely remade in the 40's as "Two-Faced Woman", Garbo's very last picture You really ought to check out "Intolerance" too. Talmadge is only part of the immense tapestry but a vital part. I'd say this is the performance that made her a star. The film itself is absolutely essential viewing. Note: if you do watch it make sure it's the Kevin Brownlow/David Gill restoration available on Blu-ray from Cohen Media. It's got Carl Davis' magnificent musical score which brings the whole movie to roaring life.
Nathaniel, I'm with Ken about starting with Her Night of Romance. I've heard The Matrimaniac with Douglas Fairbanks Jr. is a cute film as well but haven't seen it yet.
A big problem is that besides what is lost many of her extant films are down to a single print preserved at a film archive making any kind of real knowledge of her career next to impossible.