Une pauvre petite fille riche

The most original aspect of this film is that it translates into images the delirium of a seriously ill little girl fighting for her life. The beginning of the film is quite conventional both as regards the story, a little girl is ignored by her rich parents and bullied by the servants, and the way of filming, mostly indoor long duration wide shots with fixed camera, with some medium shots and a few close-ups. There are some slapstick gags and a funny scene when the father, remembering that, as a child, he had been dressed as a girl to punish him, decides to dress Gwen as a boy. Far from considering this as a punishment, she enjoys her boy costume and has a lot of fun having a mud fight with street boys.

The film becomes more interesting in the second half when it veers towards surrealism. It shows what Gwen is imagining, taking literally expressions that she hears, e.g. her father fighting bears, and the servants looking like their nicknames, snake in grass, double-face or big ears. It also shows the father, who has big financial worries, visualising his double taking a gun to commit suicide, with Gwen overlooking the scene.

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Poor Little Rich Girl, The (1917)

*** (out of 4)

Mary Pickford, 25-years old, plays Gwen, an 11-year-old girl who has all the money in the world but she's quite unhappy. This is due to her parents not paying any attention to her and the servants pretty much push her around. The fact that she has no friends doesn't help matters but a tragic turn might be what causes everyone to realize how special she actually is. THE POOR LITTLE RICH GIRL isn't the masterpiece that some people make it out to be but it's quite an interesting little film. I think most people would go into any film with a bit of skepticism whenever you had an adult at the age of 25 playing someone that is just 11 when the movie ends. Pickford became a legend playing these young parts and she would be doing this nearly ten years later and people were still eating it up. Her performance here is certainly the main reason to watch this film because there's no doubt that you're watching a truly talented actresses doing a rather remarkable job. I was rather skeptical going into the film but it takes a matter of seconds for you to believe Pickford is this young child. I'm not sure what it was but not once did I see an adult playing a child but instead you were watching a child play the part. Pickford was just downright marvelous when it came to the facial gestures and just simple looks that you'd expect to see from a child. No matter if she was being playful or or throwing a temper tantrum, you believe it is a child. Pickford goes through a wide range of emotions and she nails all of them perfectly but my favorite has to be a rather long sequence where a new "friend" is brought to the house but the girl is a rich snob who quickly gets into a fight with Pickford. The playful but bratty way the actress plays this sequence makes for some big laughs and it's certainly the highlight of the movie. Madlaine Traverse and Charles Wellesley are both good as her parents but there's no question everything in the screenplay (by Francis Marion) is for Pickford. Director Tourneur handles the material quite well but the really highlight of his vision comes from some of the more nightmarish scenes including one where a large snake goes after the girl and another one where her father visions himself committing suicide. The film runs 65-minutes and I must admit that there were several times where I got a little bored and this is just one reason why I'd stop short of calling the film a flat out masterpiece. I thought there was a little too much "melodrama" showing how unhappy the girl was and this includes one scene where she's punished by being forced to where boys clothing. With that said, those interested in the legend of Pickford will find this film a good place to start because it shows her in the type of role people loved her for.

This delightful film marked a turning point in the career of Mary Pickford, the first time in adulthood that she played a little girl. The illusion was enhanced with specially scaled sets and props that made Mary look smaller, and also by casting unusually tall actors as the "grown-ups," but it wouldn't have worked if Mary herself hadn't been such a gifted performer in her own right. She is remarkably convincing as 11 year-old Gwendolyn. It's notable that when Mary (who was 24 when this film was made) plays scenes opposite Maxine Elliott (who was 12 at the time), the illusion is not spoiled. The great success of The Poor Little Rich Girl at the box office ensured that Mary Pickford would be playing little girls well into her 30s, despite occasional attempts to demonstrate more versatility. Eventually she came to consider the role something of a curse, but in any event the film holds up nicely today: it's interesting, suspenseful, and funny, with odd touches of surrealism during the extended dream sequence that forms the climax.

Mary's Gwendolyn is certainly a sympathetic protagonist. The story paints a vivid picture of the girl's loneliness and her desperation to receive some attention from her high society parents, but she's no sad sack-- she's a spirited kid bursting with vitality, though she's surrounded by servants who devote themselves to stifling her energy. She's sheltered but no snob, and much of the havoc she creates comes when she invites some of the scruffier neighborhood kids inside to play. The comic high point is a mud fight that takes place in the green house of Gwendolyn's home. (Oddly enough, Mary Pickford revealed in later years that director Maurice Tourneur was opposed to the inclusion of this sequence and had to be persuaded to film it.) The mud fight is great fun, but for me the movie's real highlight comes when Gwendolyn, ill and delirious, has a bizarre dream that offers metaphors for her life and the people she's known. For instance, her mean-spirited governess, described earlier as a "snake in the grass," actually appears as such in the dream, while another character is shown to be "two-faced." I won't reveal any more of the imagery for anyone who might see this film, except to note that the dream sequence alone is worth the price of admission.

P.S. I happened to see The Poor Little Rich Girl at a recent screening at the Museum of the City of New York, where locally-made movies are occasionally shown. Viewers interested in New York City history may be interested to learn that this film includes location scenes of Mary taking a ride along Riverside Drive as well as some brief shots of Wall Street. My fellow New Yorkers got a big laugh at one point when Gwendolyn's father contemplates selling his mansion for $35,000!

There is something of the Lewis Carroll in this quite touching story of a young girl "Gwen" (Mary Pickford) who lives with her wealth-obsessed father (Charles Wellesley) and her socially-obsessed mother (Madlaine Traverse) who indulge their daughter insofar as money allows, but who pretty much neglect her otherwise. Despite her best efforts to engage with her parents - the spirited eleven year old "Gwen" makes little progress so seeks friendship amongst the local (not exactly "suitable" children) culminating in quite an entertaining mud fight. When two of the servants at her home mix her medication, she becomes dangerously ill and the whimsical elements introduce themselves - she has some wonderfully surreal dreams of the life she might like to have had; avenges the ill-treatment of her governess, addresses the indifference of her parents (a potent scene with her father sitting by a dollar pill printing machine churning out note after note...) - all whilst the bed-side waiting parents have to completely reevaluate their own priorities. Pickford was mid-20s playing the diminutive child, and she does it with a plausible, tomboy-ish, innocence that carries the humorous elements of Eleanor Gates' play well. At times it is a little too far-fetched, but Maurice Tourneur keeps the focus on the underlying theme of familial incivism front and centre and effective whilst ensuring the steady pace keeps the whole thing enjoyable to watch.

Gwen's family is rich, but her parents ignore her and most of the servants push her around, so she is lonely and unhappy. Her father is concerned only with making money, and her mother cares only about her social position. But one day a servant's irresponsibility creates a crisis that causes everyone to rethink what is important to them.

The film was shot in Fort Lee, New Jersey when early film studios in America's first motion picture industry were based there at the beginning of the 20th century.

What is most interesting to me is that the film was directed by Maurice Tourneur. Maurice had an incredible career spanning from the earliest days up through the 1940s. And yet, I think he is not a well-known figure. His son, Jacques, is quite a bit more known due to his working with producer Val Lewton. But why has Maurice been forgotten?