The Social Secretary (1916) On DVD

Fleeing the sexual advances of her employer, pretty Mayme is forced to quit another job in the big city. Disguising herself with bookish glasses and frumpy hair, she answers millionaire matron Mrs. Peabody - De-Puyster's ad for a social secretary that is "unattractive to men." She is hired on the spot and is soon an indispensable member of the household. When daughter Elsie De-Puyster becomes engaged to a scoundrel, Mayme risks her job to expose him as a lecherous womanizer.

Beautiful Norma Talmadge, a model since age 14, was recruited by studio heads at Vitagraph for a small role in The Household Pest in 1910. She had her greatest success in a series of films produced by her husband, producer Joseph M. Schenck, most notably Panthea (1917), The Wonderful Thing (1921), Eternal Flame (1922) and The Song Of Love (1923). In this Triangle Film production, she is joined by a young Erich Von Stroheim playing a sleazy scandal sheet reporter.

BONUS: T'was Harry's Fault (1919, Silent): Betty saves up the grocery money and buys a broken down Model T Ford. Husband Harry is not impressed when she pulls up to his office in the rickety pile of scrap metal. Starring Henry Depp, Elinor Field; Directed by Scott Sidney.

Norma Talmadge plays a pretty young secretary who must dress dowdily to avoid the licentious overtures of her male employers. She takes a job as the social secretary to a wealthy woman, whose daughter is about to marry a nasty foreign count. Talmadgepulls a few strings to set the daughter on the right course. Out of gratitude, Talmadge's employer grants permission for the girl to marry her handsome son. A straightforward, unadorned comedy-drama, THE SOCIAL SECRETARY is of interest today for the presence of Erich von Stroheim, cast as one of Talmadge's predatory former bosses (he should have played the count).