Pollyanna

Pollyanna is the young girl who can find something happy in any situation. She faces numerous unfortunate events, starting with the death of her father, leaving her an orphan in the Ozarks. She travels to her surly aunt in far-off New England, cheerfully greeting the pouring rain and mud at the train station, and a sparse room in her aunt's attic. Her cheerfulness makes everyone else happy. But then finally a disaster strikes that's too awful for even her optimism. What happens? Are things made right in the end? Sorry, no spoilers from me!

Pollyanna's cheerfulness in the face of misfortune makes the story too cheerful to believe. But somehow Mary Pickford managed to make the character and the story work. Although she was in her late 20s, she made a convincing young girl, thanks to her shortness, good costuming and hairdressing, but mostly her acting talent. This movie shows how she got the nickname "America's sweetheart" and became the movie industry's first great star.

POLLYANNA, the young orphan of an Ozark missionary, arrives in New England to live with her spinster Aunt Polly, a withdrawn & bitter woman. Through her `Glad Game' - finding joy in every situation - irrepressible Pollyanna slowly begins to change the lives of the entire community, eventually finding the love she so desperately craves.

This splendid family film, based on the Eleanor H. Porter classic, is as spunky & cheerful as its innocent heroine. 28-year old Mary Pickford is wonderfully believable as a little girl. She exhibits the sweet charm which made her the world's most famous celebrity. She dominates her every scene with star quality few others ever possessed.

The rest of the cast is also very good, especially Katherine Griffith as sullen Aunt Polly & Howard Ralston as young orphan Jimmy Bean. The sets & location filming are also worthy of mention.

The pipe organ score for this silent film is performed by virtuoso Gaylord Carter, The Wizard of the Keyboard.

It would be hard to find a role more suitable for a particular actress than the role of "Pollyanna" is for Mary Pickford, and in this adaptation she adds her own charm to the old-fashioned story about the 'glad girl'. This version moves quickly, and has a good balance between humor and drama, with Pickford making the most of what the unashamedly upbeat story offers.

The story is the familiar one of young Pollyanna moving in with her austere Aunt Polly (Katherine Griffith, who is pretty good in the role), making a habit of finding ways to brighten the lives of those who need it, but then finding herself faced with a crisis in her own life. The characters are fairly simple, but the cast portrays them believably. The script does a good job of telling the story efficiently and enjoyably, and everything fits together pretty well.

If your skin will break out from too much sweetness, light and Hollywood "reality", you should skip this picture.

Mary Pickford is mostly believable as a preteen girl since the adult cast towers over her. Nice sets and costumes (though no Hollywood glamour) and a pleasant look at small town life.

This is Mary Pickford's first film for United Artists (of which she was a part owner), so it was supposed to be a safe moneymaker and Mary is cast to and plays to what sold in the past.

"Pollyanna" (United Artists, 1920), directed by Paul Powell, stars Mary Pickford, then age 27, playing a 12-year-old orphaned daughter of a missionary whose inextinguishable optimism brings joy and hope into the life of her new guardian, Aunt Polly (Katherine Griffith). Also featured in the cast are Wharton James and Helen Jerome-Eddy.

Enjoyable silent comedy-drama, compliments of Blackhawk Video, with organ score by Gaylord Carter, which for me is a BIG plus. This version runs 60 minutes, only 70 minutes shorter than the latter 1960 Walt Disney remake that starred Hayley Mills. I've seen both versions and enjoy them equally. As written in the opening titles, "Pollyanna" became Mary Pickford's first feature for United Artists. (For the record, American Movie Classics premiered this rarely seen gem on May 30, 2000, at 1 a.m.).