La petite Annie

Although the concept of a 32 year old woman portraying a 12 year old girl might be a stretch for today's

sophisticated audiences,in the 1920's this was what the fans of Mary Pickford desired and expected from their favorite star. The opening scene displays Annie's tomboyish character as the apparent leader of a multi-ethnic street gang in comic "battle" with a rival group. The sight of a young girl being socked in the jaw and kicked may be a bit crude, but the scene is played in such an "Our Gang" fashion that it would be hard to take any of this seriously. Anyway, Annie can dish it out as well as take it. Once Annie returns to her tenement home and replaces her street duds with more girlish attire, it becomes more difficult (especially in close-ups) to imagine this beautiful young woman as a street urchin. However, for those who can muster the required suspension of disbelief, the rest of the movie has it's rewards. Vacillating between comedy (Annie's gang puts on a show) to sentiment (Annie plans a birthday surprise for her Irish policeman father) to tragedy (her father is killed on his birthday), the film gives Mary ample opportunity to display a range of emotions that would please her fans of any era.

Of course the requisite "happy ending" is eventually achieved; the evildoers are apprehended with the help of Annie's friends and rivals and she is last seen in the company of her pals riding down a busy thoroughfare on a sunny day. Which is a good a way as any for a Mary Pickford movie to end.

LITTLE ANNIE ROONEY is one of the best known and most frequently seen of Mary Pickford's movies. This is because for years the title has been in the public domain and there are numerous poor quality editions that have been issued over the years. Now thanks to The Mary Pickford Foundation and Flicker Alley, we finally have a high quality version that looks remarkable with its crisp images, subtle tints, and proper speed. It even comes with a newly commissioned score by Andy Gladbach which, while not always appropriate, is miles ahead of any other musical accompaniment which up until now has consisted of public domain classical music that has nothing to do with what's going on in the film.

Pickford made LITTLE ANNIE ROONEY in 1925 when she was 33 years old. Her previous 2 films, ROSITA (1923) and DOROTHY VERNON OF HADDON HALL (1924) in which she had played adult roles, did not perform well at the box office. When she polled her audience as to what they wanted her to do next, they all wanted her to return to "little girl" roles like POLLYANNA and THE POOR LITTLE RICH GIRL. She gave them what they wanted. Annie Rooney is a young teenager growing up in a NYC tenement populated by a variety of what would today be considered ethnic stereotypes. She enjoys scrapping with the street kids but still manages to take care of her older brother and widower father who is an Irish policeman. When tragedy strikes she must summon up the courage and the smarts to save the man she loves who is falsely accused of murder.

Her fans kept their promise and LAR was a huge hit but it also meant that Pickford would never play another fully adult role in the silent era. Although she won an Oscar in 1929 for playing one in COQUETTE, she made only two more sound films before retiring in 1933 at the age of 41. She never appeared on screen again and turned down two iconic roles, Glinda the Good Witch in THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939) which is clearly patterned after her, and Norma Desmond in SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950). She died in 1979 at the age of 87.

While LITTLE ANNIE ROONEY is not Pickford at her best, it shows her remarkable ability to capture the essence of youthful characters even when she was over 30. She was at the height of her powers as a producer at this time and LITTLE ANNIE ROONEY reflects this in the remarkable set design and the quality lighting and camerawork. The director, William Beaudine, had a long career in B movies and wound up directing episodes of TV's LASSIE in the 1950s. If you want to get a copy of LITTLE ANNIE ROONEY, make sure it is this one. Flicker Alley never disappoints. You not only get this best looking and sounding copy available, it comes as a Blu-Ray/DVD combination along with an informative 25 page booklet...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.

LITTLE ANNIE ROONEY (United Artists, 1925), directed by William Beaudine, stars Mary Pickford in one of her famous signature roles, that of a pre-teen girl in the POLLYANNA tradition. Though now a grown woman in her thirties, being of short stature, she was able to be convincing playing a character much younger in her years, down to her blonde curls and pony tails. Playing an Irish girl, naturally she is tough but charming, even characterized as a "wildcat" by one of the neighborhood kids. Yet this is what the public liked, and very much preferred, and for this, Pickford gave them what they wanted playing not Miss, but Little Annie Rooney.



Taken from a story by Catherine Hennessey, the opening title reads, "Uptown a gang calls itself "society," - downtown a gang calls itself a gang - and let it go at that. LET'S GO DOWNTOWN. Following a scenic view of the New York City tenements of multi-ethnic residents ranging from Negroes, Jews, young and old, but most of all, the Irish, including a young tomboy named Little Annie Rooney (Mary Pickford). Following a gang fight started by little Mickey Kelly (Joe Butterworth), leader of the "Kid Kellys," sworn to make life miserable for Annie by singing the title song she hates. Annie has a father (Walter James), a widower who not only copes with his daughter and older son, Tim (Gordon Griffith), but his beat being the officer of the law by profession. Also in the area of the slums is Mickey's older brother, Joe (William Haines), leader of the "Big Kelly Gang." Aside from being a loafer "whose hardest work is selling tickets to a dance or benefit," he also hangs out with a gang of crooks, including Tony (Carlo Schipa) and Spider (Hugh Fay). Even though Annie takes an interest in Joe, Officer Rooney warns this young man to change his ways. On the night of Rooney's birthday, where his children prepare a celebration for him, a fight breaks out at the Pansy Club Dance where Rooney gets shot and killed in the dark. One of the gang members puts the blame on Joe, leading Annie to prevent her brother from avenging her father's murder. Others in the cast include: Spec O'Donnell (Abey Levy); Viola Vale (Mamie); and Eugene Jackson (Humidor).

A fine mix of humor and sentiment in the Pickford tradition that no doubt made LITTLE ANNIE ROONEY a box office success in 1925. Mary, director Beaudine, and co-star, O'Donnell would reunite the following year in SPARROWS (1926), hailed by many to be Pickford's best or most memorable performance. Director Beaudine keeps the pace going here, even through the first hour of plot development, character introduction and daily activities take precedence before changing to the basics are provided. Showing children together of all ethnic background makes one think of the Hal Roach "Our Gang" comedy shorts featuring children as the center of attention. Other than street fights where Annie isn't afraid to fight with the boys, there's also a scene where the kids stage a neighborhood play for a benefit.

By the time of Mary Pickford's death in 1979, several of her silent movie works were distributed as part of the rediscovery of her movies that haven't been shown in decades, especially LITTLE ANNIE ROONEY and SPARROWS, presented either in revival movie houses or public television as LITTLE ANNIE ROONEY did on New York City's WNET, Channel 13, June 1, 1979 . Part of the Paul Killian collection, LITTLE ANNIE ROONEY had been shown on television to excellent William Perry piano scoring, even including that old tune to "Little Annie Rooney." This was the print used for home video by Blackhawk Films in the 1990s as well as Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere, September 19, 1999), before restoration and re-scoring took place around 2014 and television broadcasts thereafter.

Regardless of visual restoration to this fine movie with additional footage, the new orchestral scoring, found on DVD and TCM, is unsatisfactory, giving it a different feel, taking away from the film's initial enjoyment from its 1970s "The Silent Years" television series appeal. Not to be confused with MISS ANNIE ROONEY (United Artists, 1942), starring Shirley Temple as a remake or sequel, the original LITTLE ANNIE ROONEY comedy-drama ranks one of many Pickford titles that deserves modern-day recognition. (***)

Even at 5'1" and 33 years old, Mary Pickford pulls off the part of the 12 year old daughter of a policeman pretty well, and this is a silent film worth seeing. She looks a little out of place in the madcap early scenes where rival gangs are brawling and hurling a flurry of bricks at one another (think a slightly harder edged version of Little Rascals), but she's also pretty cute all wound up and throwing haymakers. The film includes Asian, Jewish, African-American, Greek, and Irish characters, and while there is a cringe-inducing scene where the black boy dances "the shimmy" in a grass skirt, stereotypes are reasonably contained. Nevertheless, these scenes with the gang were my least favorite, and they are a bit on the long side.

Where the film picks up is with little Annie Rooney's home life. Walter James is great as her even-keeled father, and the scenes of sibling rivalry with her older brother (Gordon Griffith) are cute. The other actors seem to tower over the petite Pickford, and I have to believe they made some of the furniture larger than normal to help her pull of the role. Director William Beaudine also takes advantage of the beautiful sets that were built, and captures some nice city shots. I don't want to spoil the plot, accept to say it takes an unexpected dramatic turn, and that made it interesting for me.

Pickford was a powerful force in Hollywood in 1925, and it's fascinating to me that she produced, wrote, and then took the part at her public's request. Four years later she was still pulling off a role of much younger woman in Coquette, a film I liked a little more, and so it's surprising that just four years after that, in 1933, she would play her final part as an actress. She had a rough time of it in life thereafter, battling alcoholism and depression. It seems this film captures her at the height of her powers, when she was on top of the world, and that adds to its charm for me.

While there is not much to "Little Annie Rooney" aside from the way that it showcases Mary Pickford's many talents, that's not a bad focus for a movie to have. The story does seem to be planned almost entirely with that goal in mind, as most of the other characters are not developed very much, and most of the plot likewise comes back to the ways that events affect Annie. Of course, Pickford is more than up to carrying the load, and while this picture has to rank a little lower than a good number of her other movies that have more depth to them, it's still worthwhile.

Through the course of the story, Annie finds herself in numerous kinds of situations, and several sides of her character come out. She has a tomboyish, boisterous side, yet she can plead with her father on behalf of a misunderstood friend. The scene where she prepares her father's birthday party could very easily have become unbearably cloying or melodramatic, yet she handles it very well, making use of the best possibilities available rather than resorting to cheap sentiment. (In that particular scene, a couple of creative camera shots also help it to work.)

There are very few actresses, especially in the present, who could make so many different things work believably and without undue emoting. While much of the movie is simple and sometimes even a bit contrived, It's still worth seeing as one of many chances to see such a fine actress at work.