Mickey

Mabel Normand gives a very lively, engaging performance that makes "Mickey" an entertaining movie with several other strengths. The supporting cast all help out as well, and the story effectively moves back-and-forth between the backwoods and the big city. It combines comedy and melodrama effectively, and while it contains mostly familiar elements, it's the kind of movie that is quite enjoyable to watch.

The role of "Mickey" gives Normand some good material to work with, and as always she is sympathetic and charming. Part of the story is set in a mining settlement, where Mickey is right at home, and part of it moves into high society, where she is ill at ease. Both settings are believable and make good backdrops for comedy, and both are also used to bring things out about Mickey and the other characters.

The supporting cast, which includes Wheeler Oakman as Mickey's suitor, has its own comic moments, and Minta Durfee gives an effective performance as the snobbish society girl who is Mickey's romantic rival.

While none of the components of "Mickey" are especially imaginative or innovative, they are all of good quality. It all fits together to make an enjoyable movie.

Country tomboy Mabel Normand (as Mickey) is sent from rustic Feather River, California to live on her snooty aunt's Long Island, New York estate. The free-spirited Ms. Normand enjoys cavorting with animals - and skinny-dipping for cameramen with very long lenses. Nobody is sure if Normand owns a gold mine or is penniless, so she is treated as both an heir and a servant (at different times). Normand attracts debonair millionaire Wheeler Oakman (as Herbert Thornhill) and overly amorous Lew Cody (as Reggie Drake). After numerous hi-jinks, "Mickey" ends up with a winning man and (we hope) lives happily ever after...

That Mabel Normand did not survive the ravages of fame was a great loss...

Normand was an excellent actress and comedienne. Unfortunately, she did not leave behind enough material to fully appreciate her worth. This production reportedly took two years to complete, with Normand's personal problems contributing to the delays. Fortunately, her "partying" lifestyle does not adversely affect Normand's performance as "Mickey". This was one of Normand's best feature-length films. The plot is rather ordinary, but the star handles each situation well. Herein, she is most memorable portraying a carefree servant girl, sliding down the banister and ingeniously sweeping her aunt's dusty mansion floors.

******* Mickey (8/11/18) F. Richard Jones ~ Mabel Normand, Wheeler Oakman, Lew Cody, George Nichols

'Mickey', as all Mabel Normand films, has her at the centre of attention from the beginning till the end. The camera, the action, the entire plot, are all attracted to her like magnets. And Normand is excellent in this film, establishing her status as silent era's first lady of comedy.

And we do have a great comedy. Full of suspense, 'Mickey' is never tiring, never boring. We are to witness the adventures of a mine-owner young girl, who cares for mining as much as donkeys care for belts being pushed down their throats. She is a mischievous child who, even when she is brought in the rich household of her aunt in the East, never tires to be a child. Yet it is remarkable what love can do.

The supporting cast is all first rate, with Wheeler Oakman, George Nichols, Minnie Devereaux or Laura La Varnie, all delivering some great comedic performances that seem to be untouched by the axe of time. But they are all there for Normand, who does everything from jumping nude into the water to riding horses and some impressive high altitude stunts. She was one of a kind, and 'Mickey' is there to prove it.

Dogs love her, cats love her, jackasses love her and squirrels love to run up her pants legs. Well, who can blame them, right after a scene where she is shown diving nude.... with a suitably long lens of course. Darn it.

There is nothing terribly novel about this Cinderella story of a movie, but it is all carried off with a great deal of charm. Mabel even gets to cut a few capers, instead of simply looking charming while the comedians around her make a mess of things. She's not a great physical comedian, but she is a fine actress and under the direction of comedy *wunderkind* Richard Jones, she gives a fine performance, as does just about everyone in this movie.

I sure wish someone would restore the prints and create new soundtracks for these silent gems. This one, Mickey, a Mabel Normand - Mack Sennett comedy, is virtually screaming out for a restoration. It was extremely popular when it first came out in 1918, and a song "Mickey" sold a million sheets, and was recorded by many of the orchestras and singers of the day on 78 rpm records.

It's great fun, with Mabel (Mickey) playing a country miner's daughter who is sent East to live a privileged life in Great Neck, Long Island. Only the aunt who takes her in discovers that Mickey's mine is failing and so the poor girl is made a servant.

There is a sweet romance that brightens up the action, fight scenes, and a rather risque sequence where Mabel runs through the woods and dives from a rock into a lake stark naked. Definitely made before censorship came in!

Mickey is a great feature to watch if you are interested in what made Mabel Normand such a great star in her day. Drama queens in the silents are a dime a dozen, but true comedy stars, especially female, are rare and should never be forgotten.