Good References

While often overlooked by the lens of contemporary cinema, Constance Talmadge was one of the silent era's most popular and brightest comedic stars, making nearly 50 feature films before retiring as an independently wealthy woman in 1929. Good References was her sixth and final release of 1920, with a plot revolving around a down-on-her-luck woman named Mary (played by Talmadge) whose lack of references makes it impossible for her to gain employment. When a friend falls ill, Mary impersonates her in order to take a job as secretary to an elderly socialite. Things immediately start going downhill when she is tasked to introduce a ne'er-do-well nephew to high society—but ends up bailing him out of a string of scandals instead.