Fanchon, the Cricket

Fanchon (Mary Pickford) is a wild girl living in the woods with her grandmother Fadet. The villagers suspect Fadet of being a witch. Fanchon is carefree and likes to prank the locals. She doesn't mind getting into fights with the boys. She falls in love with a villager but his father disapproves. There is family history.

This is a presumed lost film until it was recently discovered and recovered. It has silent star Mary Pickford and her siblings. There are unconfirmed rumors of other future stars. Pickford is great. On the other hand, I really don't like these older actors trying to play lovesick teenagers. On top of that, I don't like the folk rock music that is playing with the film. It sounds way too modern and clashes with the film. Nevertheless, this is fascinating and a definite must for any Pickford fans.

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.

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 hate to leave such a review as I truly love silent films and was so excited to see this one as it was one I had never watched before but I had to turn it off after only 8 minutes of viewing. The music that has been chosen to accompany this classic is so awful and distracting that I couldn't stand it any longer than that. I could have muted my television but I feel the music is needed to help set the mood of and add interest to the scenes. I hope whomever is in charge of such things replaces the horrible 1960s B movie soundtrack with something more appropriate to the era and genre of this 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.