Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm

When Adolph Zukor and Jessy Lasky merged their movie production companies into one, the Famous Players-Lasky, they eyed their partner in its Paramount Pictures distribution branch, William Hodkinson, to squeeze him out with an involuntary buyout. Once they did in the summer of 1916, Zukor and Lasky dropped their Famous Players' name and called their combined production and distribution company Paramount Pictures.

Zukor believed in signing the top movie stars in the business. One of his first contracts was with Hollywood's most popular actress, Mary Pickford. Her signature on the dotted line on June 24, 1916, was the first million dollar pact for an female performer. Zukor was willing to pay her $10,000 a week and to give her half the profits for each film she made. He guaranteed over one million dollars (about $20 million in today's inflationary dollars) for the year with her full control of each of her film's production, an unprecedented contract at that time.

So impressed was Zukor with Frances Marion's script of "The Poor Little Rich Girl" he took the unusual step of paying her $50,000 per year to be Pickford's official scenarioist, making her one of the highest paid writers in the business. Marion wrote two other scripts for her in 1917, both becoming instant classics.

For her second Pickford screenplay, Marion took the 1903 Kate Wiggin's children novel, "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" and the 1909 play of the same name and adapted it to fit Pickford's magnetic personality. The September 1917 movie contains a series of vignettes of Pickford playing a young niece who is harbored by two aunts, one cranky and the other laid back She's harped on because of her confident independence, except for a one loyal friend and a rich young man who has eyes out for the adolescent Rebecca. Innocent romance develops between the two in this feel-good motion picture which the members of the American Film Institute nominated as one of 500 films to be considered for its "Top 100 Funniest Movies."

An adaptation of Kate Douglas Wiggins' famous novel and play. A polished production based on a famous novel that nevertheless doesn't stray far from Mary Pickford's established formula. It's pretty thin on plot and only mediocre entertainment if you're not a fan of Pickford's fondness for playing adolescent girls.

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

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.

This is an ideal role for Mary Pickford, and she is quite a joy to watch. Young, lively "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" is innocent but not naive; she is charming and warm, but at the same time more than capable of taking care of herself, too - thus the character has all the qualities that Pickford excelled at portraying on screen. It was probably a pretty easy role for her to play, but the result is a delightful little comic melodrama that gives you a good idea of why Pickford came to be so wildly popular in her time.

The story follows the old-fashioned novel fairly closely, beginning with Rebecca sent to live with her two stern, joyless aunts in a new town. Much of the story's appeal lies in the ways that Rebecca responds to her new acquaintances and surroundings, and this is something Pickford does extremely well. Whether sizing up a new girl at school, or simply responding to the decorations in her aunts' home, she is convincing, captivating, sympathetic, and often very funny. And as for comedy, the wonderful circus sequence alone would make the movie worth watching.

It's hard to find this film now, but it's well worth the trouble. Perhaps from a detached point of view, this might not be considered a great movie, since the plot is somewhat predictable and very old-fashioned. But it's a thoroughly pleasurable, thoughtful film, and one filled with fine moments.