Papa longue-jambes

An irrepressible orphan girl, living in the appalling conditions of a large asylum, is rescued by a mysterious benefactor and sent to college. Affectionately referring to him as DADDY-LONG-LEGS, she strives to make him proud of her. But when unexpected love comes her way, will she follow her heart or the wishes of her patron?

Mary Pickford was the greatest movie star of the 20th Century. No one else even came close to inspiring the love & devotion of the millions of fans who flocked to see her silent films. In our jaded age it is difficult to understand why a diminutive little lady could engender such ardor right around the world. For answers, one need look no further than DADDY-LONG-LEGS.

Expertly blending joy & pathos, Mary makes us instantly feel the emotions her character is living through. Whether it's stealing a doll for a dying child, dunking a bully in a well, listening to her dead mother being insulted in the worst way, or feeling the pangs & delights of a first love, Pickford tugs at our heart strings, our tear ducts, our funny bones. To watch this film is to get a glimpse as to why America's Sweetheart stands absolutely unique in her legendary status.

Although this is Mary's show all the way, in the supporting cast Milla Davenport should be noted for her vivid portrayal of the vile asylum warden. The film's director, Marshall A. Neilan, appears as a hapless young Lothario.

It was the success of this film at the box office which inspired Pickford to form a studio & become her own distributor. So it was that United Artists was born, with partners Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin & D. W. Griffith.

The film has been beautifully restored, with a fine musical score. Notice the original `art titles,' the evocative paintings which enrich the captions.

Another terrific Mary Pickford performance and film. Daddy-Long-Legs is a familiar story, but the Pickford version accentuates the comedy and leaves the sappy romance to the horrid 50s version with Astaire and Caron. Sweet and innocent, this film has several memorable comic moments, including Mary getting drunk with a fellow orphan (Wesley Barry?) and leaving the jug for a dog. Very funny. A little tipsy, Mary also slides down banisters and accidentally knocks "Stink Weed" down a well. Oops! This film is a little unusual for a Pickford picture since it allows Mary to grow up. She gets to go to college and be wooed by her roommate's uncle (Mahlon Hamilton). She's also pursued by Jimmie (Marshall Neilan, who also directed the film). Milla Davenport is the orphanage director and Fay Lemport is the nasty Angelina.

Nice comedic touches throughout to keep it all light and entertaining. The version I saw was clean, had beautiful title cards, and good (new) score my Maria Newman. All very impressive for a 1919 film. This film seems miles away from Pickford's 1917 Pride of the Clan, but she had been in over 200 films by the time she made this! Pickford was one of the greats, a true giant in Hollywood, and it's too bad she's so forgotten now. I've never seen a Pickford film I didn't like.

I caught about 1/3 (in the middle) of Daddy Long-Legs on AMC and remarked to myself what a good actress the girl playing Judy was. It was only after my curiosity was piqued that I found out the title and that this was none other than the renowned Mary Pickford. It was my first date with America's Sweetheart.

Since then I have bought three films over the Internet, Croquette, Daddy Long-Legs and Stella Maris. I have yet to see the third of these. I just watched Daddy Long-Legs in its entirety (tinted VHS version) and was most impressed. I also ordered and read a biography of Ms. Pickford during the interim.

Have no doubt: this lady could act. While she showed in Croquette that she would probably have adjusted well to sound and mature roles, had her public been willing to accept this, we see her in her true element in Daddy Long-Legs.

Hollywood silents were entering their maturity in 1919 and this was a solid one. I'm not sure if the tinting was original (as in the case of Nosferatu, which Kino lovingly restored) or added. If it IS original, it is marvelous. I wonder how close the orchestra score is to the tunes audiences would have heard performed during the film at theatres.

The cast is solid and Pickford is brilliant. I have to defend a couple of criticisms of the screenplay. I don't feel Miss Pritchett is inconsistent in trying to help Judy catch the train. After all, SHE would look bad if her charge missed the train after the rich new director had gone to the trouble of making these arrangements. Plus, her relationship to Judy changes somewhat at that point. While Judy had always been a thorn in her side, she suddenly becomes someone who can make HER look good if she succeeds in college – sort of like a pro athlete making his/her high school coach look good. Obviously, had Judy been kicked out of college, she would have had nothing more to do with her and would have felt justified in her earlier harsh treatment of her.

The question about her increase in scholarship is a legitimate one. It troubles me a tad. Yet it appears that at least a couple – and probably four – of years go by between her arrival at and graduation from college. Since she has no boyfriend to start with, no parents to miss, etc., it stands to reason that she would likely have poured herself into diligent study, as she had to her work at the orphanage. She may well have been exceptionally bright, but merely lacking much "book learning." Is this a stretch? Maybe. Maybe not. I would say getting a novel published on the second try at that age is a bigger stretch … but, still, with a story like the one she would have had to tell, it seems feasible, too.

I wish we had a version restored to the 16 apertures per second, or whatever the silent film era speed was. Nosferatu is glorious with remastered and restored sound and speed. This version is still a tad faster than normal … but it still flows very well.

It is easy to see why Mary Pickford was America's Sweetheart. Watch Daddy Long-Legs and fall in love with her, yourself!

I was very pleasantly surprised by Marshall Neilan's take on Jean Webster's Daddy-Long-Legs. That is probably because I had previously only seen the musical version from 1955 with the cadaverous Fred Astaire as the male lead and Leslie Caron in the role of Judy Abbott, and the 1919 film is incomparably better. The plot has been changed quite a lot from the novel, if I do not misremember this (it is years since I read it). About half of the film is about Judy's life in the truly terrible orphanage, where she is the leader of the children and playing pranks. Some of these, and some of the title cards, too, are really funny. Then Judy's anonymous benefactor pays for her to go to college, and pretty soon she meets a charming man with whom she falls in love. The film has much less about college life than the book. I found Mary Pickford convincing throughout: as a child in the orphanage (I guess she is supposed to be about 15) as well as a student who feels insecure about her social position (unfortunately the copy I watched was so poor that it was sometimes hard to make out her facial expressions). Mahlon Hamilton as Jarvis Pendleton is also very good, and director Marshall Neilan plays a student in love with Judy. The ending of the film - moving from the nasty party at the Pendletons to Daddy-Long-Legs' home - is very nice and satisfying. To conclude, I spent an enjoyable one-and-a-half hours with this film.

I've always been a big fan of the musical Fred Astaire and Leslie Caron version of Daddy Long Legs, but Mary Pickford's silent version is quite pleasant as well. It drags in a few spots, and I didn't find the actor who played Jarvis very handsome, but Mary was her usual winsome self and enjoyable to watch. Except for the drunk scene near the beginning (I've never found alcohol's effects amusing) the scenes at the orphanage were quite moving, especially when a child dies in Jerusha's (Mary's) arms.

Unlike the comments of a previous reviewer I found that Jerusha's motivations were always crystal clear: they are the motivations of any orphan: to find love and happiness. I found the ending kind of sexy too, and perfectly understandable; of course it was not as adorable and sophisticated as the ending with Fred and Leslie, but why quibble?

Unlike the comments of other reviewers as well, I didn't care for the tinting on the film in this DVD. It annoys me when the tinting keeps changing in a silent film. Just leave it sepia tones throughout or straight black and white. The updated musical score was ok, but not brilliant. All in all I give this silent a 7 out of 10.