Heart o' the Hills

This is certainly an odd film with superstar Mary Pickford playing a simple "mountain gal" in Kentucky who deals with crooked outsiders who want the land for its timber and coal and who will do anything to get it. Episodic in nature the film includes a great comic "barn dance" sequence in what is essentially a solid melodrama about Mavis Hawn and her growth into womanhood.

As always Pickford is super paying the feisty young woman whose father is gunned down before her eyes. Later, her widowed mother (Claire McDowell) marries, but he's in cahoots with the land developers. Pickford spends idyllic days in the mountains with pal Harold Goodwin hunting and fishing and walking through the majestic woods. But tension arises when the local "squire's" son (John Gilbert) catches Pickford's eye and the two guys begin to battle for her attentions.

In an effort to rid the area of the land developers, Pickford joins, in an astonishing scene, the "night-riders." Pickford dons the white sheets and hood of the KKK and rides with the men to scare the land developer but he gets shot and Pickford is accused of murder.

The comic relief in this film is the barn dance and it's a joy to see Pickford and future superstar John Gilbert (then only 22 years old) in the frantic dance sequence, which ends only when an old man loses his teeth on the dance floor.

Mary Pickford never gave a bad performance, and HEART O' THE HILLS is another example of the versatility of this superstar of the silent era. In 1919, Pickford also starred in DADDY-LONG-LEGS, THE HOODLUM, and CAPTAIN KIDD JR.

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.

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. >

The tense, somber melodrama in this Mary Pickford feature is complemented very well by Charles Rosher's photography, which helps to draw you in and makes you feel part of the characters' world. It has very little humor for a Pickford vehicle, and even the occasional lighter moments are almost invariably followed quickly by another serious turn, which keeps the mood serious most of the time.

The story has Pickford's character Mavis battling for survival in the Kentucky hills, seeking to avenge her father's murder even as she contends with outsiders who want to exploit the region's coal. There are several complicating factors, so that the scenario builds up a web of problems for Pickford and the other sympathetic characters to contend with. Among the secondary characters is a very young-looking John Gilbert, who is interesting to watch even though his role is not especially substantial.

Besides the relative lack of comedy, Pickford's character is unusually desperate. There is also a rather unsettling sequence with a vigilante confrontation that evokes some real anxiety, and a courtroom scene that anticipates one of the well-known scenes from "Spartacus". The story packs a lot of drama and tension into an hour and a quarter.

The cinematography helps considerably in making the story work. Despite the limitations of the era (and the damage done to the print over time), it makes you feel as if you really were in the Kentucky hills, with many outdoor shots that work very well, and many details that make the setting and story more believable. Pickford's own performance and screen presence are, of course, a plus to any movie. Amongst her features of the era, this one is good rather than excellent, but it's certainly worth seeing.

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.