Fanchon the Cricket

Due to the fact that I'd never watched "Fanchon the Cricket" (1915) with Mary Pickford, I remembered that I had bought the Blu-Ray/DVD set last year - so - I watched it last night. Based on the magnificent 19th century (1849) French novel La Petite Fadette, a superior read even now and very much still in print (new translation by Gretchen van Slyke available from Penn State University Press), written by Amartine-Lucile-Aurora Dupin who went under the nom de plume George Sand, the book was rather drastically changed by director James Kirkwood and scenarist Frances Marion into the film that remains. Considered when released "an adult fairy tale", that's the best way to accept it. Gorgeously photographed by cinematographer Edward Wynard, the recently released Flicker Alley combo Blu-Ray/DVD is still stunningly beautiful, with wonderfully toned and frequently tinted frames that draw the viewer into the scene with the players. The blue-toned shots of the rock cliffs in particular are geologically spellbinding and photographically stunning. Scenes filmed among leafy foliage somehow capture the rural essence of the mise-en-scene in an inviting way, and the people in these shots look like works of art. However, there's a lack of creativity in set-up shots and variety - in this case, I think the director's overseeing, not the cinematographer's fault necessarily - especially a huge lack of any sort of close-up shots - except for Mary. Director James Kirkwood is obviously not a director of much artistic creativity, though he tells the story - as written - in a nice perfunctory way that suits Mary Pickford's rambunctious waif characterization. We can figure from the beginning that she'll change the tide that's against her from the outset. It's strictly my opinion, but what struck me most about the minus parts of the movie is the editing: it's eccentric. Too much time spent on some scenes and not enough on others. But, one thing that struck me immediately about this film more than many other Mary Pickford films struck Kevin Brownlow the same way, for he wrote for the book Mary Pickford Rediscovered in 1999, "She is extraordinarily beautiful; the first close-up of her face among the glistening leaves comes as almost physical shock."

In the book the waif becomes rather wealthy through an inheritance after her grandmother's death. Here, the fairy tale telling has the poor girl remain always in the rural existence, and poor, until...well, I'll not give the full elements of the plot. As I said, it's an adult fairy tale.

When Mary died in 1979 she thought this film was lost, and, as it had always been a fine memory for her, that was obviously a disappointment. Now found - from two sources - this is a wonderful addition to the Pickford canon. Also in the cast besides Mary are her sister Lottie, her brother Jack, Jack Standing, Gertrude Norman, Russell Bassett, Dick Lee, Alexander Gaden, and others.

This was considered a lost movie when Mary Pickford died. A copy turned up in the Cinematheque Francaise, as they so often do, and in cooperation with the Mary Pickford Foundation, the BFI, Flicker Alley.... oh, the usual suspects, it has been preserved, restored somewhat and made available on a Blu-Ray/dvd set. I looked at the dvd version. It's a handsome offering, with only a few imperfection on the print, and a handsome toning to the affair: golden for daylight, blue for night, red for interiors.

It's based on a novel and written for the screen by director James Kirkwood and Frances Marion. Mary is Fanchon, a poor girl of a French village. Her grandmother is supposed to be a witch, but Mary is a free spirit, running around in rags. She takes a shine to Jack Standing, but all of the young villagers despise her; she beats up real-life brother Jack Pickford, sticks her tongue out at real-life sister Lottie, saves Standing from drowning and finds his idiot brother and has a grand time romping around the wild in the Delaware Water Gap for the first half of the movie. Then, as so often happens, the plot eventuates.

It's the second Pickford vehicle that Frances Marion had a hand in writing (I don't count THE NEW YORK HAT), and Pickford gets a lot out of the 'waif' role. The two women would have a fruitful collaboration, and Marion would direct a movie or two for America's sweetheart. Still, things slow down in the second half, and Standing is pretty much a stiff all the way through. Costume design is partially to blame. With his knee pants, wide-brimmed hat and collar, he winds up looking like Grady Sutton; he performs his role with the lack of brio that Sutton put into his comic nullities.... but Standing is simply a nullity.

Still, it's always good when a long-lost feature of Miss Pickford shows up. I'm glad I saw it.

Mary Pickford plays Fanchon, the granddaughter of a woman considered a witch by the villagers, who grows up wild in the woods somewhere in pre-revolutionary France. The film is about how Fanchon falls in love with Landry, the son of the wealthiest villager (Jack Standing) and eventually wins him despite his initial betrothal to village beauty Madelon (Mary's sister Lottie). In many ways this is a delightful film. It is beautifully photographed; the scenes in the woodland are outstanding. In this respect, 'Fanchon the Cricket' has the feel of an early and extraordinarily well-made nature film. It is quite different from well-photographed films of the German expressionist kind that began to develop in the years before the First World War, but it is no less artistic. Besides, 'Fanchon' has been preserved in pristine condition (or expertly restored). The copy I watched looked as sharp and clear as if it had been filmed yesterday, and the tinting (amber for daylight, blue-grey for dusk etc.) enhances the mood of the film. Another plus is Pickford's acting. She is vivacious and has a huge range of expressions. On the downside is James Kirkwood's direction, which I found distinctly uninspired. The plot does drag occasionally, and it could also have been fleshed out quite a bit more. Over fairly large parts of the film the title cards are too rare to clarify what is going on. What I found really disturbing was the modern music, which apparently has been specially composed for the film. It fits in no way. It has the wrong instruments and does not match the plot. I turned it off after a while and watched 'Fanchon' without sound. In sum, this film isn't perfect, but it is still beautiful and good to watch. It made me want to read George Sand's novel on which it is based.

A rare screening of this obscure Mary Pickford title was one of the most anticipated events from the 2014 Cinefest in Syracuse, N.Y., but, as is so often the case, rarity doesn't equate with quality. The film, lamely directed by James Kirkwood, lacks technique. Kirkwood keeps the actors grouped in tight bunches, more like a faithful sheepdog than a movie director, reflecting none of the dynamic energy of films from the same period produced under the auspices of D.W. Griffith, Cecil B. DeMille and Thomas Ince. The lovely and entrancing Pickford is always worth watching, but her role here doesn't provide enough dramatic weight, and nothing she does lingers in the memory except for a lively scrap with her real-life brother, Jack Pickford, who plays a bratty villager. Mary's rather homely sister, Lottie, also has a role, making this picture perhaps the only extant example of all three Pickford siblings appearing in the same film.

"I'll do anything you ask of me." "Then, kiss me!"

It's sad to learn that Pickford died thinking this film was lost, heartbroken because it was the only one in which she appeared with both her sister Lottie and brother Jack. It's heartwarming to see her playing the young waif, reaching across the years with her larger than life screen presence, and I could watch her cavort about and cause mischief for hours. What an amazing woman she was, to have the magnetism she did on the screen, and the business savvy off of it.

She has many wonderful moments in this film:

• Pretending to run away from leading man (Jack Standing) so that he can catch her.

• Dancing in the moonlight and watching her shadow, with the camera angled down on her marvelously.

• Facing away with outstretched arms at the water's edge, and then lying down on the rocky shore.

• Her expression and little squeezing of the eyelids when he kisses her hand near the end.

• Emerging from the waving field of grain to say hello and goodbye to the audience at the very end.

Such a list doesn't really do her playful energy and the feelings she conveyed justice, but suffice it to say she's impossibly cute and every bit as captivating today as she was then. It's a shame the story is kind of simple and not much is made of the fact that her old grandma is reputed to be a witch, but the film is well-paced and the scenes have a lot of life to them, thanks mostly to Pickford. The modern score from Julian Ducatenzeiler and Andy Gladbach is a little controversial but I thought it pretty nice, fitting the tone of the scenes and making me feel the link between the ages all the more; in 2021 watching a film from 1915 based on a novel from 1849. Then again, Pickford transcends time very well, all by herself.