The Clinging Vine

While under contract to director Cecil B. DeMille, Leatrice Joy earned her money by starring in a group of programmers assembled by DeMille's production company and directed by other hands. The Clinging Vine casts Joy in the role that suited her best: the dedicated career woman who is the equal to any man in her business-and sometimes, the superior. Since the film was made in the pre-feminist 1920s, few complained when Joy's character suppressed her own intelligence to make her boss Tom Moore look good. Of course, the audience was rooting for the thickheaded Moore to realize what a treasure he had in Leatrice, and to propose marriage before the poor girl self-deprecated herself into nonexistence. No classic, The Clinging Vine is an excellent example of the sort of fare which sent audiences home happy seventy years ago.