Product Details

• Actors: Louise Glaum, Peggy Pearce, Irving Cummings
• Directors: Fred Niblo
• Format: Silent, NTSC
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Number of discs: 1
• Studio: Unknown Video
• DVD Release Date: November 22, 2004
• Run Time: 80 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0006PWM6E
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #151,905 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Theda Bara was the first of the great vamps, but by the late 1910s she was being eclipsed by a new breed of screen temptresses. The best-remembered of these was Louise Glaum, whose first claim to fame was as the perennial bad-girl dance-hall queen in William S. Hart's westerns. From there, she took leading roles in a string of torrid melodramas: lurid films bearing titles like "A Law Unto Herself" and "Sweetheart of the Doomed." She topped herself with "Sex" in 1920, just as the age of the vamp was coming to a close. Here she plays a cabaret star who lures married men to amorous disaster. Her spiderweb costume is a treat in itself: the symbolism may not be subtle but it certainly is apt! Organ score by Bob Vaughn.

Supplemental material: An eye-opening photo gallery of unclad and under-clad film stars from throughout the silent era and into the early 1930s. Included are rare and risque photos of Louise Brooks, Clara Bow, Douglas Fairbanks, Mae West, Bessie Love and many more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A vamp's life is never easy (or dull)!, July 5, 2006

By 

Stephanie Porter (St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sex (DVD)

There don't seem to be too many silent movies with vampy women in them, but "Sex" certainly fits the bill. Louise Glaum plays a headlining showgirl with a party-hearty lifestyle, and lots of wealthy men at her feet. Eventually she decides to settle down and marry one of them, and (surprise!) she even falls in love with him. You'd expect the story to end there, but actually it's just heating up. The vamp's young protege, back at the theater, now becomes a big star, and the little vixen sets her sights on that husband! I won't give away what happens next, but this movie was a lot of fun. You might start watching it just as a hoot, but before the end you'll be drawn in and sympathizing with the characters. I didn't expect this to be as strong a film as it is. The DVD has a little bonus section which is a slide show of scantily-dressed (and sometimes UNdressed) silent film stars, and this was a treat too. I have to admit I've watched it more than once already. Bottom line, this is a very enjoyable DVD, and I found the picture quality to be just great.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Perhaps a somewhat misleading title, April 4, 2005

By 

Barbara (Burkowsky) Underwood (Tumut, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sex (DVD)

No doubt most of us will have certain expectations from a film entitled simply "Sex", and seeing the production date, 1920, might stretch our imagination even further. The film's title caused quite a controversy back in 1920, but watching it by modern-day standards will make you wonder what all the fuss was about. The worst you'll see are dancing girls in a club called 'The Frivolity' which attract wayward married men. In fact, putting aside any expectations or images that the title might conjure up, "Sex" turns out to be a very good story with a morale and some points to ponder. Its director, Fred Niblo, has some impressive credentials directing famous stars and films like Valentino in "Blood and Sand", Fairbanks in "The Mark of Zorro" and "The Three Musketeers", Greta Garbo in "The Mysterious Lady" and not in the least, "Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ". I was pleased to find that "Sex" measures up to Niblo's standard - at least in 1920 before his more famous films - with a smooth, flowing style as the story unfolds and the plot takes a few turns. Louise Glaum may have been cast in the vamp role in those years, but her part in "Sex" as the leading dancer and hostess of wild (by 1920 standards) all-night parties appears harmless to the modern-day viewer. She and her girls think that flirting and having fun with married men is just a game, but after some time the tables are turned on her, and this makes "Sex" an interesting and satisfying story. The picture quality could be a bit better, and another musical score other than the standard organ accompaniment would also enhance this film, but it's still quite acceptable as it is presented here by Unknown Video. However, if you're after something sexy after all, the bonus feature on this DVD might hit the mark: a slide show of several dozen surprising photos of many famous silent screen stars like you've never seen them before! Featured are Louise Brooks and Clara Bow, plus many others - also some men - in various stages of undress, but all of them are very tastefully done and suit the fashion of the time. This fascinating slide show, together with a quality film with a good story makes this DVD worth a look - or two.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars FUN ENDS FOR A VAMP., October 27, 2005

By 

rsoonsa (Lake Isabella, California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Sex (DVD)

Shortly after its premiere, in New Jersey, this film was shown in Pennsylvania, where the State Board of Censors changed the title for screenings around that state to SEX CRUSHED TO EARTH, which is comprehensible for the time, but the work is after being a morality play, with the lead character, Adrienne Renault, (Louise Glaum) realizing what the wages of her superficial existence are to be. Adrienne, star of the Frivolity Theatre in New York, enjoys stealing husbands with her major acquisition being Phillip Overman (William Conklin) whose wife she scorns when Mrs. Overman begs for the return of Phillip; a chorine, Daisy (Peggy Pearce) is impressed by Adrienne's victorious self-absorption, and when the latter disposes of Overman in favor of a millionaire, Dick Wallace (Irving Cummings), the two performers find themselves in competition for him, which buckles the flooring of Adrienne's harsh philosophy. Although baldly a melodrama, SEX has many good moments and effective scenes, is well directed by Fred Niblo, and is a proper showcase for Glaum, who at the time of filming outdistances Theda Bara in the sweepstakes for America's favorite vamp; the titles offer witty art design, editing is smoothly done and Cummings, as a wealthy man about town, gives an outstanding, nuanced performance as the axle of the story.