A Romance of the Redwoods

Romance Of The Redwoods was the first of two films that Mary Pickford did for Cecil B. DeMille. Pickford came as part of the package when the Famous-Players Company merged with the Jesse L. Lasky Picture Corporation to form Famous-Players-Lasky which eventually was Paramount. Adolph Zukor asked DeMille to do a film with her and DeMille wanted a war film. Zukor insisted on a western first and we got Romance Of The Redwoods.

Both DeMille and Pickford came from the tradition of the Victorian Theater and in fact when DeMille was an actor he appeared with Pickford on stage in one production. Now she was a big star and rising and usually had her own way in terms of crew, script, and directing. That was not how DeMille worked and he got his way.

Romance Of The Redwoods sadly is terribly dated and could use some restoration. Mary plays a girl gone west to live with her uncle in the California gold fields. But her uncle was killed by Indians. Notorious road agent Elliott Dexter finds the uncle's body and swaps clothes and identity with him as he's looking to get out of the outlaw game as folks are getting tired of the lack of law and order and are ready to form a vigilante committee.

Mary, America's Sweetheart, faces a challenge in that she knows Dexter is not her uncle, but where else can a good girl go in those wild mining camps and keep her virtue. As for Dexter he's impressed with her virtue and the inevitable happens.

As another reviewer said, the ending is quite unbelievable but it was in keeping with the Pickford image and the mores of the times. Still it's sadly dated and probably won't find favor with current audiences.

Mary Pickford (as Jenny Lawrence) finds herself all alone in New England, after the elder Mrs. Lawrence dies; so, she moves to the "Gold Rush" state of California, to live with her uncle. What she doesn't know (initially) is that her uncle has been killed by Indians (Native Americans); and, outlaw Elliott Dexter (as "Black" Brown) has assumed his identity. Arriving in the little mining town of Strawberry Flats, Ms. Pickford discovers Mr. Dexter's charade, and learns of her uncle's death. Dexter demands Pickford pretend she's his niece; and, with nowhere to go, Pickford agrees.

First and foremost, Dexter and Pickford are marvelous in the lead roles. Dexter begins to amaze when, in a barroom scene, he rescues Pickford from the advances of Raymond Hatton (as Dick Roland). Pickford performed nicely when first entering her shabby new home, but becomes amazing when waking in the shed up as a wolf howls… the two exude an unmistakable sexuality in their earliest scenes together, assisted by fine light and shadows direction from Cecil B. DeMille (and, watch how the camera places their hands in a couple of scenes). As the film moves along, it loses focus on some of the sensuality, unfortunately. A subtle scene showing the leads' passion would have been nice.

Joining Hatton, supporting players Charles Ogle (as Jim Lyn, who dates Pickford), Tully Marshall (as barman Sam Sparks), and Walter Long (as the Sheriff) are entertaining. Pickford's last minute way of getting the townfolk to reconsider Dexter's fate is ingenious. The fact that "twenty men are fooled by one small woman" was nicely put, especially since it involved a doll given to Dexter's so-called "little girl"!

******** A Romance of the Redwoods (5/14/17) Cecil B. DeMille ~ Mary Pickford, Elliott Dexter, Charles Ogle

A ROMANCE OF THE REDWOODS is an odd little film. This 1917 entry has Mary Pickford as an eastern girl who heads west to be with her uncle, her last surviving relative. In separate action we are introduced to Black Brown (Elliott Dexter) a desperado who comes upon the body of a dead man and changes clothes with him, assuming his identity. When a posse comes upon the dead man, they assume it's Black Brown.

In the mining town of Strawberry Flats, Dexter continues his charade as the dead man and everything goes well until Pickford arrives in town and takes up residence in his cabin. Of course he's still robbing stagecoaches. Pickford begins cleaning up the filthy cabin and comes upon a bandana with odd holes cut out of it. She holds it up to her faces and peers out through the holes.

She realizes Dexter is not Uncle John but he threatens to tell the world she's his gal if she breathes a word about his identity. Of course they fall in love.

The twist ending is quite good. Not a major vehicle for Mary Pickford, the film really stars Elliott Dexter, a favorite leading man of director Cecil B. DeMille. The location shooting is a plus. Look for Tully Marshall, Charles Ogle, Walter Long.

Romance at the Redwoods, A (1917)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Jenny Lawrence (Mary Pickford) goes to stay with her Uncle in California at the height of the gold rush after her grandmother dies. What she doesn't know is that her Uncle has been killed by Indians and an outlaw known as "Black" Brown (Elliott Dexter) has taken his identity. When Jenny finds out the truth she decides to stay with the outlaw in hopes of reforming him. As is the case with many of DeMille's silents, this one here is rather hit and miss. The biggest problem are some logical issues, which ring out very loudly with the first one being why in the heck does the religious Pickford stay with this guy when she has plenty of opportunities to escape or turn him in. All of this makes for a very predictable story, which leads to a very silly ending, which doesn't do the film any good. Pickford is very charming and delightful, as usual, in her role and she makes the film worth watching. Dexter is also very good in his role as is Tully Marshall and Charles Ogle (Edison's Frankenstein) in his small role. Character actor Raymond Hatton is also very good. The cinematography is rather bland considering the era that the film was made and I think this is something DeMille, and his ego, wasn't allowing himself to expand on. Those expecting something epic or big in terms of production since this is DeMille will be disappointed because this is a pretty small melodrama that never tries anything in larger terms. This might be due to the fact that the budget was set at $135,000 with $97,000 of that going towards Pickford's salary.

I didn't know what to make of this Mary Pickford film. I've seen quite a few of Mary's films by now, and this one was just strange. There was no chemistry between Mary's character and the thief she falls in love with, no foundation for that to happen at all. The story was implausible; why would the girl stick around after she found out the uncle was dead? She should have turned right on home again. Instead she compromises her own honor by trying to save the villain, and then she tricks the law in order to escape with her "love". Poor script, to say the least. Not on par with Mary's other films.