Pollyanna

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Howard Ralston and Mary Pickford in Pollyanna (1920)

An orphan's optimistic outlook brings a change to the ill-tempered town in which she resides to her aunt.An orphan's optimistic outlook brings a change to the ill-tempered town in which she resides to her aunt.An orphan's optimistic outlook brings a change to the ill-tempered town in which she resides to her aunt.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

541

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

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Top cast12

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Mary Pickford

Pollyanna Whittier

Wharton James

Rev. John Whittier
(as J. Wharton James)

Katherine Griffith

Aunt Polly

Helen Jerome Eddy

Nancy Thing

George Berrell

Old Tom

Howard Ralston

Jimmy Bean

William Courtleigh

John Pendleton

Herbert Prior

Dr. Chilton

Doc Crane

Bit Role
(uncredited)

Joan Marsh

Bit Role
(uncredited)

Frederick Peters

Bit Role
(uncredited)

Gordon Sackville

Bit Role
(uncredited)

Director
- Paul Powell
Writers
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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Of this film, screenwriter Frances Marion said, "We proceeded with the dull routine of making a picture we both thought nauseating . . . I hated writing it, Mary [Mary Pickford] hated playing it."

Alternate versions
In 1972, the Mary Pickford Co. copyrighted a version with an organ score played played by Gaylord Carter. Produced by Matty Kemp, it runs 60 minutes, about 2 of which is a historical introduction.

Connections
Featured in Mary Pickford: A Life on Film (1997)

Soundtracks
Rock-a-Bye Baby
(1884)
Written by Effie I. Canning
Lyrics in an intertitle when Pollyanna sings to her dying father
Played on organ by Gaylord Carter in the alternate version

User reviews18

Featured review

7/10

it's too cute, but Mary Pickford makes it work anyway

Pollyanna is the young girl who can find something happy in any situation. She faces numerous unfortunate events, starting with the death of her father, leaving her an orphan in the Ozarks. She travels to her surly aunt in far-off New England, cheerfully greeting the pouring rain and mud at the train station, and a sparse room in her aunt's attic. Her cheerfulness makes everyone else happy. But then finally a disaster strikes that's too awful for even her optimism. What happens? Are things made right in the end? Sorry, no spoilers from me!

Pollyanna's cheerfulness in the face of misfortune makes the story too cheerful to believe. But somehow Mary Pickford managed to make the character and the story work. Although she was in her late 20s, she made a convincing young girl, thanks to her shortness, good costuming and hairdressing, but mostly her acting talent. This movie shows how she got the nickname "America's sweetheart" and became the movie industry's first great star.