Leatrice Joy Double Feature: Down Home (1920) / The Clinging Vine (1926) (Silent) (DVD)

Louisiana-born Leatrice Joy (1893-1985) had intended to become a nun, but when her father contracted tuberculosis, she got a job in the fledgling film industry. After starring in her own series of one-reel comedies, she appeared opposite Lon Chaney in The Ace of Hearts and Voices of the City (both 1921). It was in those films that she came to the attention of Cecil B. DeMille, whose cycle of films with Gloria Swanson had recently ended with The Affairs of Anatol in 1921. Joy replaced Swanson as DeMille's preferred leading lady, and she found great fame starring in his films Saturday Night and Manslaughter (both 1922), as well as for playing Mary in the director's first version of The Ten Commandments (1923). It was also during this time that Leatrice married "The Great Lover", John Gilbert (they had one daughter together, Leatrice Joy Gilbert.) Leatrice's career came to a crashing halt with the arrival of sound, her thick New Orleans accent deemed inappropriate for the talkies, but her comedic timing and aggressive, no-nonsense characters make her a favorite among silent film aficionados.

DOWN HOME (1920): To support her alcoholic father, Nancy Pelot works in a sleazy speakeasy owned by gangster Larry Shayne. Chet Todd, the son of wealthy parents, is in love with Nancy, but forbidden to marry her because of her unsavory profession. Shayne discovers that the Pelot house is on valuable property and attempts to buy it out from under Nancy's nose. Nancy must save her family home and prove to Chet's parents that she's more than just a "working girl".

THE CLINGING VINE (1926): Female executive 'A.B.' Allen is the glue that holds the Bancroft paint company together. Though she can do her job as well as any man, when it comes to romance, A.B. is a dud. When she overhears the boss's grandson refer to her as a "flat-chested, flat-heeled, flat-headed Amazon", A.B decides a change is in order. Soon A.B. is all curves, makeup, and frilly dresses, and the men are dogging at her heels. Balancing her now-filled social calendar with her life as a business exec will be more difficult than she imagined.

• silent