The silent screen's greatest lover in an early performance. "The Married Virgin" is one of the first films featuring Rudolph Valentino, who would soon star in "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" and "The Sheik," establishing him as a silent era screen icon in 1921. Valentino plays Count Roberto di Fraccini, a fortune hunter having an affair with the wife of a wealthy older businessman while trying to finagle a large sum of money from the family by any means necessary. Valentino's striking appearance and the strength of his performance foreshadow the superstar he would soon become.
 |  | The Count steals the show |  |
This seems like a pretty standard American film for 1918, though the story is solid and interesting. The characters could use a bit more fleshing-out and the plot could use a bit more development, but overall it's enjoyable enough, given how most American films were like during the Teens. And pretty unmemorable but for Count Roberto di San Fraccini. I don't suppose it was intended this way, but he steals the show and gives the best performance. It's not a good sign when the best character is the one who's supposed to be written as the bad guy and when you're cheering for the villain instead of the adequate and solid but ultimately unmemorable characters he's blackmailing. And being a melodrama, Vera Sisson's character of Mary is too good, too pure, too devoted to her boyfriend Douglas and her father that she only marries the Count as part of the blackmail scheme, not because romantic feelings for him ever enter into her head. When he announces to his friend that he's getting rather tired of how this blackmail marriage isn't consummated and how she isn't voluntarily coming to his room like he told her to do when she felt ready, I was almost hoping there would be a rape scene like in 'Son of the Sheik,' make things interesting and lively. Unfortunately Roberto doesn't succeed in breaking into Mary's room, where the family maid is fiercely protecting her. Besides the attempted break-in, the most exciting scene is the car crash. Another highlight is the ten-minute excerpt from the 1919 film 'Eyes of Youth'; I'm interested in seeing the whole film now and not just RV's cameo.
March 8, 2005| | | A Fast-paced drama to keep you on the edge of your seat! | |
After reading the other reviews about a melodrama and poor or unbelievable plot, I was pleasantly surprised to find this film much better than I had expected. I found the pace to be quite fast and you have to stay on your toes to keep up with each new development, and the plot seemed interesting, intricate and well-thought-out to me. Needless to say, Valentino's role is a highlight, but together with the unfolding of the story and other characters the whole film is quite enjoyable and even suspenseful as you wonder what will happen next and how it will end. Made in 1918, this film is a good example of silent films before 1920 or so, when a noticeable change took place and films became more sophisticated, smoother and more in-depth, especially with characters. For viewers unaccustomed to pre-1920 silent films it might therefore seem to be superficial or a bit rough, but I'm sure that anyone who enjoys a solid good story will also enjoy "The Married Virgin" as I did. This might also be a good point to keep in mind if you've seen Valentino in his later, more sophisticated films, but even here it's interesting to note his style, and his role as the slick, fortune-hunting Italian Count is a forerunner of some of his later playboy-type roles. As a movie in its own right, apart from Valentino, "The Married Virgin" stands as a quality drama, and despite some poor picture quality at times, it is still enjoyable and entertaining to watch, thanks to an excellent orchestral musical score. The bonus features are also worth while: an interesting excerpt from another early film with Valentino, and then some impressive and moving newsreel footage of Valentino's funeral.
May 28, 2004 | | Admire the star, deplore the plot | |
This is not a top-notch silent film, this is a melodrama. When I think of melodrama I think of unbelievable characters and unbelievable plots. In this film we have a witness to murder who waits ten years and then cracks a safe to steal the murder weapon, a lawyer who is employed to uncover corruption but doesn't find any, and a gigolo who marries a girl as part of an attempt at blackmail! I can't trace all the plot holes - it gives me a headache trying to unravel it all. Valentino is smooth and casual in his portrayal of a gigolo, very effective. The overall impression I have of this movie is this: it's a production-line melodrama where the plot doesn't matter much, just give the audience some plush interiors to look at and some dramatic moments, and rake in the money.
November 4, 2003I strongly disagree with the only other (lengthy) review that speaks very disparagingly of this incredibly good movie. This is the best silent I've ever seen and not just because of Valentino, albeit he is just great in it. The stepmother is superb and the two of them make an illicit love duo the like of which one has seldom seen in the movies, even to this date. When they sit clandestinely and grandly in the garden of her husband's estate, scheming away, it is just hilarious. Again, the stepmother is as good as anybody has ever been in this role, and is also a hell of alot better looking than the daughter.
I also disagree that the film characters aren't fleshed out. They are totally, and in a very economical fashion. They are not at all stock characters. Even the lawyer boyfriend rises above his secondary role and also isn't too cloyingly good.
Finally, the scenery and cinematography of this film are outstanding, featuring the old El Coronado hotel in San Diego, and swimming scenes. And of course, the car scene where the old 1918 roadster goes barrelling into the canyon has to be one of the first such car crash scenes and it's a hell of alot more realistic than most.
So if you want to see what all the fuss was about Valentino, and watch a wonderful period silent film, this is the film for you.
Therefore, I wish and hope that someone remakes this film. The somewhat unbelievable plot not withstanding. December 16, 2002
"The Married Virgin" is one of the oldest surviving Rudolph Valentino films. As a movie, it isn't that great. As a glimpse at an early milestone in Valentino's career, it's quite interesting.
The story is, for all intents and purposes, little more than an old-time melodrama. The actors play "types" more than fully devloped characters: there's the virtuous young woman, her lionhearted suitor, the dastardly villain, the evil stepmother, and so on. Everyone's actions are quite predictable.
The plot is quite simple: a society matron carries on a steamy affair with a sexy, conniving count (Valentino). They conspire to extort cash from the matron's husband by revealing his involvement in a crime. The husband negotiates a 'settlement' with them: a hefty sum of hush money, and his daughter's hand in marriage. It's the daughter (Vera Sisson, the title character)'s task to extricate herself from the conspiracy and find true happiness elsewhere.
The film's charm comes, in large part, from a laudable performance by Valentino. Although this was one of his first pictures, he successfully avoided the overacting and hyperbolic gestures employed by certain of his co-stars. His Count Roberto is suave, cool, confident and diabolical, and easily steals the picture.
Also included on this tape are two extra features: Valentino's scenes from the 1919 film "The Eyes of Youth" (he played a small role as a "cabaret parasite") and a Pathe newsreel of his 1926 funeral.
It all makes for an entertaining and interesting package...if you are a Valentino fan you'll love this one. However, if you are looking to watch a movie that shows Valentino's talent and has a good story, I would recommend one of his later films. October 23, 2001
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