Heart o' the Hills

I watched this film without the usual musical soundtrack accompaniment and was totally hooked from the first few frames nevertheless. Mary Pickford was a little dynamo in her role in this film; I thoroughly enjoyed her and the rest of the cast. Featuring a very young John Gilbert too (here credited as Jack Gilbert), Heart o' the Hills is great entertainment. Mary displays many emotional layers as a strong and independent country girl who has vowed to avenge her father's murder. Along the way she grows up, falls in love, becomes educated, and finds her place in life. A must see for the Mary enthusiast. >

When "America's Sweetheart", Mary Pickford, played this film's shotgun-toting, hillbilly heroin, Mavis Hawn, she was 28 years old and her character was 13. (Can you believe it!?)

I don't know about you, but, no matter how cute-n-innocent the petite Pickford may have tried to present herself, she certainly didn't convince me that she was but a mere child.

Pickford's "Mavis" may have been perceived as "pure-as-the-driven-snow" by the naive audience of 95 years ago, but, to me, her deception of age struck me as being downright ludicrous to the 10th power.

Very nicely shot in the mountainous region of Kentucky, Heart O' The Hills is something of a Tom Sawyer/Huck Finn-type "Chick Flick" of woe & injustice.

Pickford plays Mavis Hawn, a simple, "sweet-as-apple-pie" farm-girl whose strong-willed feistiness has made her something of a dead-aim with a shotgun (which she readily reaches for whenever the need arises).

After witnessing the shooting of her beloved father (by someone unknown), Mavis devotes her life to avenging his death. Meanwhile, her mother's farm is being threatened by villainous, rich, city capitalists who will stoop to anything to drive the Hawn family (and others) off their coal-rich land.

In the realm of entertainment, I, personally, consider this (color-tinted) tale of down-home, country comforts to be neither good, nor bad. It was just "OK".

Heart O' The Hills had a running time of just 78 minutes.

What in the world happened in the transfer of this film to DVD? The print looks terrible, like someone used a sharpener filter over it so that it has all these little dots around everyone's faces and against objects like trees and such. The musical score sounds monotonous and annoying, all these violins constantly playing the same tunes over and over again! I had to turn the sound off.

What a disappointment. I was looking forward to seeing this on DVD so much because I really like Mary Pickford and John Gilbert. The other feature on the disc M'liss was more enjoyable even though the musical score was mostly a boring piano and it was only in black and white, not tinted nicely as it should have been.

HEART O'THE HILLS was Mary Pickford's final film project before the formation of United Artists in 1919 and was her fourth film of that year. She had recently left Adolph Zukor and Paramount and was stretching her wings as an independent producer (they predicted she would fall flat on her face). It is one of a quartet of new Pickford releases from The Mary Pickford Foundation and Milestone Films and is one of Mary's best. The others three are LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY, SUDS, and THROUGH THE BACK DOOR.

The film is set in the mountains of Kentucky (it was shot in California) and deals with a young mountain girl's attempt to avenge the murder of her father. It gives Pickford another opportunity to do what she did best, a coming of age story in which she plays a young girl who becomes a young woman by the time the film is finished. The recreation of an isolated mountain community is remarkable although the dialect used in the title cards may annoy some people and the "Night Rider" sequence will disturb others. It has fantastic scenery, outstanding photography, and mighty fine performances from all concerned. There's a nice turn from veteran silent villain Sam De Grasse and check out the young John (Jack) Gilbert in his first significant role as a lowland suitor.

In addition to the quality print used for the video transfer (it's sharp and well defined with color tints), there is a remarkable new score from Maria Newman which captures the flavor of old timey mountain music while still being thoroughly modern in style. For me it enhanced the viewing experience tremendously. The DVD also comes with a second Pickford feature, M'LISS from 1918. While it is not as good as HEART and the print is not as well presented, M'LISS still has a lot to recommend it including sure handed direction from Marshall Neilan (Pickford's favorite director) and colorful performances from silent character stalwarts Theodore Roberts, Charles Ogle, and Tully Marshall. All in all an outstanding DVD and my favorite of the set...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.

The book has been heavily edited and adapted to make it a Mary Pickford vehicle and the result is interesting and enjoyable.

The DVD restoration is good and easy clear viewing, though as noted there as some small artifacts such as eye-whites a little to white - possibly due to the quality of the original film. The music designed and matched with the restoration helps sets the mood and switches according to scene type. It helps develop continuity within the story. I like the music a lot. It reminded me of the Er-Hu music that accompanied some of the Chinese movie Hero.

This movie should be viewed twice as should all Silents unless you have just viewed one. It takes time to adjust and settle into the feeling and rhythm of these movies - only then can you really appreciate and enjoy them.

Almost all Pickford movies demonstrate her micro-actions that subconsciously give depth and human connection with the viewer. Either deliberate, practiced or both they are one of the things that sets Pickford aside from other actors of the period and even today. I think this is a result of Pickford's method acting - her invention - and that what she does comes naturally from making herself the character instead of acting the character.

The smelling of the bible was one; when she meets the pretty woman at the school you see a one or two second 'self-conscious' reaction from Pickford where she shows the characters self-consciousness over her low status clothing. You will note at the side of the dead person she demonstrates her anguish also with her hands, rubbing on the chest of the body which rings very true and completes the scene.

You see this a great deal with Pickford, even in her earliest movies, her hands have a role all of their own and work beautifully and naturally to add reality to her scenes. She loves to touch and uses even the tiniest of movements with her hands and arms - it is worth studying this in her.

Mary rarely gives half a performance and at the time this movie was being made she was having an exhilarating time with her secret lover - Douglas Fairbanks.

They have some fun in this movie as well - the 'shin-dig' has a fascinating dancing scene that needs to be viewed twice. You should also note that when Mary enters that particular scene you have the sense that she is relaxed and in complete charge - a glimpse of the little master amongst her 'juniors'. We briefly get a look at the real life Mary Pickford for a few seconds there. That was obviously a tiny acting over-sight, but a valuable slip for us 90 years later.

This movie needs to be watched twice to pick up what is easily missed on the first viewing - and is much more enjoyable when you stop trying to observe and analyze Pickford.

This is not Pickford's best movie but a good one and well worth watching and collecting.