What the Daisy Said

This early one reel Biograph drama has a very typical storyline for it's time, a young girl becoming involved with a crafty cad, in this case a gypsy. It opens with the enchanting scene of two pretty young sisters standing in a field of daisies, both hoping for romance to arrive. Soon enough it does for both sisters in the form of a womanizing gypsy and ends with their father being struck by the cad and the gypsy fleeing through the field of daisies with a mob of angry farmhands in hot pursuit. Mary Pickford and Gertrude Robinson portray the jilted sisters adequately in this fast moving drama, beautifully filmed on location and slickly directed and edited by D.W Griffith. While not a classic, still interesting for those curious in early silent cinema and a young Mary Pickford, who stands out with her unique naturalness.

What the Daisy Said (1910)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

D.W. Griffith film about a pair of sisters (one played by Mary Pickford) who wonder when they are going to find true love. One goes to a gypsy for her future while the other peels pedals off a daisy. I'm not sure what Griffith had against gypsies but here's another film that shows them in a very bad way. I think this is the forth or fifth film from this era that Griffith has used the film to bash these people and that doesn't even include his very first film. The movie has a somewhat good story but there's very little life to the thing. The chase at the end is among the worst I've seen from Griffith but Pickford is as charming as ever.

A slight but beautifully shot drama from D. W. Griffith in which Mary Pickford and Gertrude Robinson play a pair of sisters who fall foul of a fortune-telling gypsy. They both give agreeably restrained performances in an era which was still plagued by actors playing to the Gods as if they were in a theatre instead of on a screen.

Sisters Mary Pickford (as Martha) and Gertrude Robinson (as Milly) play the old daisy game - "He loves me, he loves me not, he loves me, he loves me not…" Then, Ms. Pickford goes to have her palm read by dashing gypsy Joseph Graybill, who has ulterior motives; apparently, he loves to seduce young women seeking advice on love. With romance blooming between herself and gypsy Graybill, the love stricken Pickford brings sister Robinson to have her palm read, too. You'll never guess what happens next; or, maybe you will…

Pickford shines in the lead role. Director D.W. Griffith and photographer G.W. Bitzer team-up to provide some typically shimmering exterior images. Owen Moore, Alfred Paget, Mack Sennett, and Charles West are among the notable "extras". The story is quite neatly done, albeit not recommended for P.C. police; it has the stereotypical bad "Gypsy". It's not the first, or the last, time the "scoundrels" (dis-)grace a Griffith picture.

***** What the Daisy Said (7/11/10) D.W. Griffith ~ Mary Pickford, Gertrude Robinson, Joseph Graybill

This is an interesting and pretty good old-fashioned short drama. It's mostly worthwhile in that it features Mary Pickford, in the kind of role that she frequently played in short features before she became well-known in her own right.

Pickford plays one of a pair of sisters who are earnestly seeking signs as to what romantic attachments the future might hold for them, with the 'picking petals from a flower' method being one of their attempts to find out. Later, a gypsy fortune-teller gets involved, and the story that develops then becomes fairly eventful for such a short film.

The innocence of the girls and their familiar questions is contrasted with the more serious story developments. For the most part, the movie is done pretty well, and is worth seeing, particularly for Pickford's presence in the cast.