The Poor Little Rich Girl

The Poor Little Rich Girl (1917)

Runtime: 78 minutes

Directed by: Maurice Tourneur

Starring: Mary Pickford, Madlaine Traverse, Charles Wellesey, Gladys Fairbanks

From: Artcraft Pictures Corporation

Yes, tonight I watched a film from almost 100 years ago. I'll explain why in the Letterboxd review, which begins... now. I'll be back tomorrow night with a review of another silent film.

This month on Turner Classic Movies they're showing silent movies each Monday night so I figured that is a great opportunity for me to explore a particular type of film I haven't really dived into. I decided to watch this one as there's an element which is wacky and I HAD to write about, and it's the oldest film I've ever watched also.

The plot isn't too complicated: a 10 year old rich girl gets ignored by her parents-who are too busy with their own lives to pay attention to her-and is not treated well by her teachers or other adults so the fun-loving girl is miserable having to deal with that and other lousy people. An accident happens and suddenly people notice her as you see the bizarre dream she has.

The thing is, the 10 year old was played by 25 year old Mary Pickford, the biggest female silent star there was and among other things, was one of the founders of United Artists. She wasn't the tallest woman but that doesn't mean the casting wasn't a little absurd, and she did this several times in her career. They did various tricks to try and make you believe that she was a child-including building larger sets-and sad to say I was reminded of the Martin Short bomb Clifford, a film I've seen clips of and well, I'd rather not be reminded of that movie!

Anyhow, you see that the parents experience some troubles but most of the focus is on Gwen and the predicaments the title character gets herself involved with, mainly involving the kids of the neighborhood. Then, things happen and she experiences a health crisis and that's where you get a lot of trippiness. There's a guy in a donkey suit who walks on all fours, a serpent with a woman's face, and other wacky moments. It's the best part of the picture, I say.

This was different than the norm for me but for what it was, it was fine; I was entertained, even through a slow stretch or two. There were some nice comedic moments and some important life lessons, too.

Note: do not confuse this with the Shirley Temple film of the same name... and you really shouldn't confuse it with the Warhol movie.