2017 Prologue on Restored Film: "Mary Pickford died believing that Fanchon the Cricket, released in 1915, was among her lost films. She was devastated because she had actively tried to preserve her films and Fanchon was the only time she appeared with both her sister Lottie and her brother Jack.
In 2012, the Mary Pickford Foundation learned that a nitrate dupe of Fanchon the Cricket was preserved at La Cinemateque francaise, and conversations began that led to a unique partnership between the Pickford Foundation and the Cinemateque to restore the film. An incomplete nitrate print was preserved at the British Film Institute and, with their cooperation, we now had all the elements necessary for a successful restoration. L'Immagine Ritrovata laboratory in Italy then scanned the two nitrate elements directly at 4K resolution, and further digital restoration was performed. A new negative and 35MM prints were created from the restored digital version.
Colors were recreated by referring to the original tinting notes on the nitrate print and on the dupe negative leaders. The missing English intertitles have been reconstructed by translating from the French on the dupe negative. The digital mastering was completed at Roundabout Entertainment in Los Angeles.
Fanchon the Cricket captures Mary Pickford at the height of the popularity of her 'Waif' character. The film was directed by James Kirkwood, photographed by Edward Wynard and based on the novel by George Sand, adapted for the screen by James Kirkwood and Francis Marion."
