Pollyanna

"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.).

There's a difference between knowing a story will be a sure hit and the laborious hatred in composing that story into a screenplay. This was writer Frances Marion's dilemma when sitting down to pen the script for Mary Pickford's "Pollyanna." First off, calling someone a 'pollyanna' is not the most complementary term, which means a person who is wildly over-optimistic and incapable of facing the reality of a bad situation.

"We (Pickford and Frances) proceeded with the dull routine of making a picture we both thought nauseating," recalled Marion. "I hated writing it, Mary hated playing it."

But when the movie version of the 1913 Eleanor Porter book and the play it was based upon was released in January 1920, "Pollyanna" became a huge hit. This was Pickford's first United Artists-produced movie, and it made well over $1 million at the box office, an astronomical amount in those days. The national censor board and the clergy loved its wholesome message. In one memorable showing in Hartford, CT, the promotional tour of the 'glad' film garnered over one thousand children and six crippled dogs in the audience during a special matinee.

The downside for the actress, however, was because of its enormous financial success, Pickford was exiled to playing 12-year-old orphaned children for the next six years, despite being in her late 20s and aging every day. The motion picture proved to be the actress's defining picture, one that even today's movie buffs, if they had to name one film of hers, automatically recite "Pollyanna."

The story was reprised in 1960 as a Hayley Mills/Walt Disney vehicle as well as a 2003 made-for-TV version. The 1920 movies was nominated by the American Film Institute as in its 100 Most Cheerful Movies Ever Made.

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.

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.

Short and Sweet. Way shorter and sweeter than any of the remakes - UK ITV did it again a couple of years ago at nearly 2 hours long with only 1 saccharine tab. It's far too short in fact, as Aunt Polly doesn't really get enough time for her character to develop properly in reaction to events caused by Pollyanna. Otoh I think Disney's was a bit too long and flat, but hey I'm hardly ever satisfied!

Pollyanna always tries to find ways of being Glad, no matter what happens. And why not, imho it's far better to be happy in this short life - if it isn't keep it to yourself! By now Mary Pickford was 27 playing 12 and was still getting away with it on screen. I know she was later properly praised for saving a lot of her classic pictures from being lost, but she really can't be thanked enough for it not only from the entertainment point of view but the historical one as well. This version of Pollyanna reflects back to us a world long dead, where you can watch and wonder what the actors and actresses would have thought of the cynical deadbeat filth that Hollywood churns out today, and whether or not they in their turn yearned too for the even simpler world of Pollyanna.

Maybe, and perhaps, this film simple and uncluttered as it is will still be available in the distant future and watched by people when every film made now is long forgotten, unknown and unwatched.