Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall

This solid melodrama features Mary Pickford in an interesting, detailed period setting that makes pretty good use of the possibilities. While not one of Pickford's better-known movies, the role gave her a chance to use a good variety of her talents. Other than being a little overlong, it works well.

As "Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall", Pickford plays a spirited daughter of a prominent family in 16th century England, with a romantic tangle-up, a violent dispute between two nearby estates, and political intrigue all tied up together in an involved story.

The supporting cast gets a good number of opportunities, and in general they perform well enough. Anders Randolf plays Dorothy's father, and he gets some good moments. It's also somewhat interesting to see Lottie Pickford get a fair amount of screen time in this one, although much of the time her character does not get much to do, other than obeying the instructions that she is given.

The story takes several turns, and aside from a few slower spots that could have been tightened up a bit, it builds up nicely. In at least one video version, a couple of the later scenes seem to have gotten out of sequence, but the story-telling technique is good enough that you can figure things out as long as you were paying attention. It's pretty good overall.