While she was almost too good in her role as the "Mountain Girl" in
"Intolerance" Constance Talmadge made a great friend of Anita Loos
who appreciated her "sense of humor and irresponsibility". When she
moved (along with her sister) to First National, Schenck called in Loos
and John Emerson, wanting them to fashion the same style of breezy
comedies for her as they had for Douglas Fairbanks. They were so
successful Schenck was amazed - he had only taken Constance on to
appease her mother, he never dreamed she had the makings of a star!!
"The Love Expert" is a variation on Jane Austen's "Emma" - Constance plays Babs who is majoring in Love and arms herself with "Heart Throb", "Poems of Passion" and "Self and Sex" to be her text books!! Her behaviour is put down as being "boy mad" by her father and she is sent, as a punishment, to her Aunt Emily's in Boston but she still finds plenty of scope for her "love expertise"!! Emily, for instance, is engaged to Jim Winthrop (John Halliday, years before he became a debonair silver haired leading man of the pre-codes, but doesn't have a chance to shine here because it is Constance's show all the way) - but cannot marry because his unmarried sisters need to find husbands first, to say nothing of his cantankerous Aunt Cora!!
Enter Babs - she soon has the glasses and severe hairstyle off the youngest Dorcas (a very radiant Natalie Talmadge) to reveal a sweet girl who is eager to fall in love with Bab's father's business associate!! The older sister and Aunt Cecily are harder to manage but there are some fun scenes, including Aunt Cecily doing the shimmy and Matilda (another sister) being paired off with a blind man!! But what's this - Babs has fallen for Jim herself and judging by his throbbing heart he returns the affection!! That's okay because Emily has fallen for a botanist and Babs is pretty hurt when she comes across the pair cutting up Jim's flowers for specimen samples!! With a "when did you last have a thrill" shouted into Cora's ear trumpet, Babs is a girl who will be noticed where-ever she goes!!
Also watch for Ned Sparks (even though he is not listed in the cast) as an early suitor of Babs and he sure gets a thrill from her!!
Very Recommended
"The Love Expert" is a variation on Jane Austen's "Emma" - Constance plays Babs who is majoring in Love and arms herself with "Heart Throb", "Poems of Passion" and "Self and Sex" to be her text books!! Her behaviour is put down as being "boy mad" by her father and she is sent, as a punishment, to her Aunt Emily's in Boston but she still finds plenty of scope for her "love expertise"!! Emily, for instance, is engaged to Jim Winthrop (John Halliday, years before he became a debonair silver haired leading man of the pre-codes, but doesn't have a chance to shine here because it is Constance's show all the way) - but cannot marry because his unmarried sisters need to find husbands first, to say nothing of his cantankerous Aunt Cora!!
Enter Babs - she soon has the glasses and severe hairstyle off the youngest Dorcas (a very radiant Natalie Talmadge) to reveal a sweet girl who is eager to fall in love with Bab's father's business associate!! The older sister and Aunt Cecily are harder to manage but there are some fun scenes, including Aunt Cecily doing the shimmy and Matilda (another sister) being paired off with a blind man!! But what's this - Babs has fallen for Jim herself and judging by his throbbing heart he returns the affection!! That's okay because Emily has fallen for a botanist and Babs is pretty hurt when she comes across the pair cutting up Jim's flowers for specimen samples!! With a "when did you last have a thrill" shouted into Cora's ear trumpet, Babs is a girl who will be noticed where-ever she goes!!
Also watch for Ned Sparks (even though he is not listed in the cast) as an early suitor of Babs and he sure gets a thrill from her!!
Very Recommended