Daddy-Long-Legs

An irrepressible orphan girl, living in the appalling conditions of a large asylum, is rescued by a mysterious benefactor and sent to college. Affectionately referring to him as DADDY-LONG-LEGS, she strives to make him proud of her. But when unexpected love comes her way, will she follow her heart or the wishes of her patron?

Mary Pickford was the greatest movie star of the 20th Century. No one else even came close to inspiring the love & devotion of the millions of fans who flocked to see her silent films. In our jaded age it is difficult to understand why a diminutive little lady could engender such ardor right around the world. For answers, one need look no further than DADDY-LONG-LEGS.

Expertly blending joy & pathos, Mary makes us instantly feel the emotions her character is living through. Whether it's stealing a doll for a dying child, dunking a bully in a well, listening to her dead mother being insulted in the worst way, or feeling the pangs & delights of a first love, Pickford tugs at our heart strings, our tear ducts, our funny bones. To watch this film is to get a glimpse as to why America's Sweetheart stands absolutely unique in her legendary status.

Although this is Mary's show all the way, in the supporting cast Milla Davenport should be noted for her vivid portrayal of the vile asylum warden. The film's director, Marshall A. Neilan, appears as a hapless young Lothario.

It was the success of this film at the box office which inspired Pickford to form a studio & become her own distributor. So it was that United Artists was born, with partners Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin & D. W. Griffith.

The film has been beautifully restored, with a fine musical score. Notice the original `art titles,' the evocative paintings which enrich the captions.

This sweet and funny silent stars Mary Pickford as an orphan who, after much kindhearted mischief, goes to college and finds true love, thanks to her anonymous personal trustee, whom she dubs "Daddy-Long-Legs" after the seeing his legs in a shadow. It's a familiar story, since it was remade in 1931 (with Janet Gaynor), 1938 (as the Netherlands film Vadertje Langbeen), and 1955, with Leslie Caron and Fred Astaire.

There are quite a few memorable images in this lovely version: the drunk dog, the one-armed doll, and the scene with the baby cupids.

The recent score by Maria Newman complements the movie, unlike the wretched one she wrote for another Pickford film, The Love Light (1921).

This movie made me happy and not a lot of movies do that nowadays. Even though the mood of the movie changed halfway through, I think it helped differentiate between the 12 year old and the adult. I highly recommend this movie to everyone!

The first time I saw this movie was late at night. My dad was flipping through channels and came across this movie and said that I would love it. Not just because it has Mary Pickford in it. So I was allowed to stay up until midnight on a school night, and back then it was a big deal! That suddenly became my dad's and my thing, to stay up late and watch old movies. I will always love this movie for itself and now it's sentimental value.

This film has all the elements of the quintessential Mary Pickford film. The little girl. Spunky. Full of love and against the odds. Willing to risk. From the "ash cans" and down to earth but capable of walking with high society with her head held high. Her profile shots by Charles Rosher are the ones we've learned to remember "Little Mary" by. The cupid scenes are incredible not so much for their content but their originality and sentiment in a film made in 1919.

I was very pleasantly surprised by Marshall Neilan's take on Jean Webster's Daddy-Long-Legs. That is probably because I had previously only seen the musical version from 1955 with the cadaverous Fred Astaire as the male lead and Leslie Caron in the role of Judy Abbott, and the 1919 film is incomparably better. The plot has been changed quite a lot from the novel, if I do not misremember this (it is years since I read it). About half of the film is about Judy's life in the truly terrible orphanage, where she is the leader of the children and playing pranks. Some of these, and some of the title cards, too, are really funny. Then Judy's anonymous benefactor pays for her to go to college, and pretty soon she meets a charming man with whom she falls in love. The film has much less about college life than the book. I found Mary Pickford convincing throughout: as a child in the orphanage (I guess she is supposed to be about 15) as well as a student who feels insecure about her social position (unfortunately the copy I watched was so poor that it was sometimes hard to make out her facial expressions). Mahlon Hamilton as Jarvis Pendleton is also very good, and director Marshall Neilan plays a student in love with Judy. The ending of the film - moving from the nasty party at the Pendletons to Daddy-Long-Legs' home - is very nice and satisfying. To conclude, I spent an enjoyable one-and-a-half hours with this film.