Daddy-Long-Legs

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.

I've always been a big fan of the musical Fred Astaire and Leslie Caron version of Daddy Long Legs, but Mary Pickford's silent version is quite pleasant as well. It drags in a few spots, and I didn't find the actor who played Jarvis very handsome, but Mary was her usual winsome self and enjoyable to watch. Except for the drunk scene near the beginning (I've never found alcohol's effects amusing) the scenes at the orphanage were quite moving, especially when a child dies in Jerusha's (Mary's) arms.

Unlike the comments of a previous reviewer I found that Jerusha's motivations were always crystal clear: they are the motivations of any orphan: to find love and happiness. I found the ending kind of sexy too, and perfectly understandable; of course it was not as adorable and sophisticated as the ending with Fred and Leslie, but why quibble?

Unlike the comments of other reviewers as well, I didn't care for the tinting on the film in this DVD. It annoys me when the tinting keeps changing in a silent film. Just leave it sepia tones throughout or straight black and white. The updated musical score was ok, but not brilliant. All in all I give this silent a 7 out of 10.

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.

A wonderful and multi-faceted performance by Mary Pickford turns a pleasant but somewhat routine story into a fine film that is very enjoyable to watch. The story gives her a chance to use a lot of different talents, and whenever she is on-screen, which is most of the time, there is something worth seeing.

Pickford is equally charming (it seems impossible to write about a Pickford film without using that word) and equally believable as a young orphan and as a college girl. And she is equally good at creating laughs, expressing feelings, and evoking sympathy - often all at the same time, especially in the orphanage scenes, which have some of this film's best material. There is some excellent comedy that keeps the story from becoming overly cute or sentimental, and she makes the most of all of it.

They put some real work into the title cards for this one, filling them with some good art work and also using them at times for some well-chosen commentary. A couple of the other cast members are pretty good, too, although it is definitely Pickford that makes this so worthwhile.

This is an engaging little gem from the silent era, and a great example of what it was that made "America's Sweetheart" so popular.