Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm

This was never a story I really took to as a child, and even though Mary Pickford in the title role brings a great deal of charm to the character, I still don't much care for the story. "Rebecca" is a young girl whose family have fallen on hard times. One of seven siblings, she is chosen to go and live with her two maiden aunts - "Jane" (Mayme Kelso) and Miranda (Josephine Crowell) who, frankly, don't care much for or about her. Her personality is not for giving up, though, and she determines to make friends - alighting on the poverty stricken "Simpson' family to whose aid she intends to come (aka well meaning meddling). The film is pretty episodic, as is the book, in nature - and frequently her character borders on the annoyingly precocious. This production is well constructed and at times is a little more adventurous - the storm scene at the end is quite effective, and there's no denying that the star has the part down to a tee - it's just not a particularly enjoyable part to watch develop - and, well, I didn't. The two aunts play their indifferent, curmudgeonly, parts well enough and there is a bit of light-heartedness conveyed adequately via the inter-titles, but this just wasn't for me.

During her tenure as 'America's Sweetheart', Mary Pickford made a lot of very similar films. Again and again, Mary played young girls and teenagers--even though she was clearly a woman in her 30s or 40s. America and the world loved it and didn't seem to mind. However, if you've seen as many of her films as I have, there is definitely a certain sameness about these performances. Again and again, she played a plucky, decent, adorable and slightly mischievous girl--in such films as "Daddy Long Legs", "Sparrows", "Pollyanna" and many others. I generally like these performances despite the sameness and this was true with all her fans. However, in the case of "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm", she plays a similar sort of creature but the film is definitely not up to her usually high standards. Why? Mostly because the film is, at times, practically plot less.

The film begins with Rebecca (Pickford playing someone about age 14) going to live with her two elderly aunts. It seems that Rebecca's family is having financial problems and the aunts have offered to take one of the children in and adopt them--and the one turns out to be Rebecca. What follows is no real consistent theme--just a variety of incidents. Some involve Rebecca fighting with some stuck up girls at school, some with her attempts to help a local poor family and a very few involve Rebecca and her aunts. However, there really isn't much of a theme or purpose to all this. SOME attempt is made with the introduction of the Mr. Ladd character, but this is also very under-developed and a bit creepy. See the film and you'll understand about the whole 'creepy' angle. Overall, a film that left me surprisingly cold considering that I like Pickford's films...just not this one. Now I am not saying it's bad--just not nearly as good as her typical 'little girl' film.

By the way, if you want something other than these sorts of portrayals by Pickford, try finding a copy of "My Best Girl"-- probably her best film and one of the great silents.

Saw Rebecca for the first time at the UCLA 2004 Restoration Festival. Obviously, Mary Pickford steals the show in a series of vignettes loosely tied together by screenwriter Frances Marion from the original children's story. Pickford is the original coquette, tiny (just watch her dancing with her "beau" in one scene), her head a mass of curls and a spunky spirit that's very twenty first century. However, there is much of the film that is dated and does not resonate with a modern audience.Of course, that's what I enjoyed most about the film- gazing back into a world which no longer exists. We get a glimpse at Victorian sensibilities- the movie was made in 1917-and harks back to an even earlier time. Much of the plot is devoted to Rebecca's heart warming but somewhat patronizing efforts to succor the woeful and shiftless Simpson family (now that's funny). The Simpsons are poor, badly dressed and lack a parlor lamp and a wedding band, until Rebecca comes along.

At times, it's disconcerting to see Pickford play a young teen because for all the prancing,pouting and curl tossing, Mary is clearly an adult woman. Even creepier is the abject attention this little girl is receiving from the village's most eligible bachelor, but I guess back even in 1917 people wanted to see a love story. Still, the film is an old fashioned pleasure, with many charming gags and characters, and over much too soon.

It speaks well to all involved that this is filled with plentiful light humor by way of clever gags and situational comedy, deftly covering for the dour severity of Rebecca's aunts. Certainly this is to the credit of author Kate Douglas Wiggin, and playwright Charlotte Thompson, but more immediately it's a credit to prolific screenwriter Frances Marion for giving cinematic form to the story of a plucky, energetic child thrust into circumstances that are ill-fitting for her. The intertitles and scene writing are characterized by wit and charm that counterbalance the less cheerful facets of the narrative, allowing this comedy-drama to mostly feel more like the former than the latter under director Marshall Neilan's shrewd orchestration of every shot and scene. And to that same end, it's hard to imagine anyone other than silent superstar Mary Pickford in the title role, for she embodies Rebecca with all the range, nuance, physicality, and otherwise skill we know she possessed, but above all there's an unremitting gaiety in her performance that's endlessly enchanting. None of this is to say that 'Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm' is necessarily perfect, but it's very well done and great fun all around.

One should note a dubious instance of blackface that hasn't exactly aged well. Even by the standards of the silent era, there are also little details in the intertitles or scene writing that demonstrate values or culture that are all but totally alien to modern viewers. Smart, earnest, and entertaining as it is, mark this as an example of an older movie that may not appeal to those who aren't already enamored of works from the 1910s or 20s. This is to say nothing of aspects reflecting contemporary film-making sensibilities or capabilities (relatively exaggerated acting to compensate for lack of sound, sometimes brusque editing, division into discrete segments, and so on) that more commonly limit modern engagement. Yet though the sum total may not be altogether perfect, by and large I rather think this is splendid, and holds up better than some of its kin, or even no few flicks to follow the advent of talkies. That there are recognizable strains in the story is endearing, not off-putting, particularly as the good-natured levity of the proceedings readily shine through. Superseding the less favorable elements are themes of privilege, class, prejudice, plain old kindness, and stiff haughtiness, and the terrific contributions that everyone made to the picture.

Pickford stands out above all, yet her co-stars are no less able, and it's just a joy to watch the cast practice their art. Marjorie Daw, Eugene O'Brien, Violet Wilkey, Mayme Kelso, Josephine Crowell, and all others involved share in the tremendous spirit of warmth that broadly defines the film, making it all the more a delight. Moreover, crew behind the scenes did a fine job all around, from costume design, hair, and makeup, to sets, stunts, and simple effects. Modest by today's standards, there are nonetheless instances of cinematography or editing that are especially sharp on top of Neilan's swell direction. Really, even noting slight indelicacies or inelegance, in every way that matters most this is an excellent production. It may well represent "simpler entertainment for a simpler time," but there's gratifying sincerity and frivolity in the storytelling that handily outweighs whatever criticisms one might levy. Honestly, I quite had mixed expectations when I sat to watch, but I'm all so pleased at just how enjoyable and satisfying the end result is. While it may not be a feature that utterly demands viewership, when all is said and done 'Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm' is softly compelling and rewarding, and in that unflagging wholeheartedness becomes something that's well worth one's time. Don't feel like you need to go out of your way for it, but at only 70 minutes, this is a pleasant, refreshing diversion.

After her mother mortgages the family's "Sunnybrook Farm", Mary Pickford (as Rebecca Randall) is sent to live with two aunts: Josephine Crowell (as Aunt Miranda) is stern and heartless; she overrides kinder, broken-hearted, Mayme Kelso (as Aunt Jane). Predictably, Ms. Pickford finds things are not so sunny in Riverboro. Moreover, she finds her self at odds with teasing peers, like Violet Wilkey (as Minnie Smellie). Pickford perseveres. And, eventually, she warms folks up, like her older man crush Eugene O'Brien (as Adam "Mr. Aladdin" Ladd), who Pickford hopes to marry when she "grows up"...

In a first class production, Pickford has some nice moments; though, her affected "little girl" persona doesn't really succeed in effectively portraying the young heroine of Kate Douglas Wiggins' "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm", as evidenced on film. In sometimes startling contrast, several of the other young performers are noticeably more natural and/or charming. Ms. Wilkey, one of the younger set, regrettably "retired" shortly after her convincing portrayal of "Minnie Smellie". Wilkey, who also played young "Flora" in "The Birth of a Nation" (1915), was one of many marvelous young players Pickford employed, to shine by her side. Happily, kids like Wesley Barry and Milton Berle did not retire after appearing herein.

******* Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (9/22/17) Marshall Neilan ~ Mary Pickford, Eugene O'Brien, Violet Wilkey, Helen Jerome Eddy