quiet_curiosity (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
quiet_curiosity) wrote2010-11-19 12:52 pm
quiet_curiosity) wrote2010-11-19 12:52 pm
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Poor Little Rich Girl (1917)
Summary: Young Gwen feels neglected by her wealthy parents and constrained by her unfeeling supervisors. When disaster strikes, everyone must decide what does and doesn't matter in their lives.
Stars: Mary Pickford, Madlaine Traverse, Charles Wellesley, Gladys Fairbanks, Frank McGlynn, Sr.
Directed by: Maurice Tourneur
Viewed Via: TCM/DVR
Current commercial Availability: Currently unavailable
1) This is my first Pickford film. She's very engaging, game, and you focus on her above anyone else in a scene. She shows Gwen's child-like wonder about the world to great effect. For example: I really love when they try to dress in her boy's clothes as punishment only to have Gwen realize how freeing they were. The sullen to "OMG PANTS ARE AWESOME" moment was a lot of fun.
However, I totally couldn't believe that she was a 10/11 year old girl. A 16/17 year old girl in little kids clothes? Sure, I'd buy that. And the age discrepancy doesn't seem so bad when she opposite a girl. But if she was opposite a (naturally slow to reach puberty) boy, it was just so obvious that she was far older. That's not to say that the movie didn't go to great lengths to disguise these things. The sets and staging were cleverly arranged so as to create a discrepancy between Pickford and the other adults. My admittedly jaded eyes didn't completely buy it.
2) While I understood that Gwen was neglected and pushed around, I also felt like she came off like a little brat at times. Kids are, of course, sometimes drawn to being obnoxious brats but I couldn't really revel in a few of her deeds. The bathroom fiasco in particular was just cringe inducing.
3) The movie portrays Gwen's imagination so well. I loved her imagining one of the servants as "a snake in the grass" or her horror at her father having to fight off the "bears" of Wall Street. The movie really understood the strange literalness of children.
4) And the Wizard of Oz like section where Gwen fights for her life is quiet wondrous and, occasionally, touching. Again, the movie really shows who well it gets the child imagination but it also plays so well with and poignantly with Gwen's solitude and sadness.
5) Francis Marion, top female screenwriter of the 20th century, adapted the play for the film.
I had my issues with the film but I still enjoyed it. If you can get over one little detail, you might as well.
Stars: Mary Pickford, Madlaine Traverse, Charles Wellesley, Gladys Fairbanks, Frank McGlynn, Sr.
Directed by: Maurice Tourneur
Viewed Via: TCM/DVR
Current commercial Availability: Currently unavailable
1) This is my first Pickford film. She's very engaging, game, and you focus on her above anyone else in a scene. She shows Gwen's child-like wonder about the world to great effect. For example: I really love when they try to dress in her boy's clothes as punishment only to have Gwen realize how freeing they were. The sullen to "OMG PANTS ARE AWESOME" moment was a lot of fun.
However, I totally couldn't believe that she was a 10/11 year old girl. A 16/17 year old girl in little kids clothes? Sure, I'd buy that. And the age discrepancy doesn't seem so bad when she opposite a girl. But if she was opposite a (naturally slow to reach puberty) boy, it was just so obvious that she was far older. That's not to say that the movie didn't go to great lengths to disguise these things. The sets and staging were cleverly arranged so as to create a discrepancy between Pickford and the other adults. My admittedly jaded eyes didn't completely buy it.
2) While I understood that Gwen was neglected and pushed around, I also felt like she came off like a little brat at times. Kids are, of course, sometimes drawn to being obnoxious brats but I couldn't really revel in a few of her deeds. The bathroom fiasco in particular was just cringe inducing.
3) The movie portrays Gwen's imagination so well. I loved her imagining one of the servants as "a snake in the grass" or her horror at her father having to fight off the "bears" of Wall Street. The movie really understood the strange literalness of children.
4) And the Wizard of Oz like section where Gwen fights for her life is quiet wondrous and, occasionally, touching. Again, the movie really shows who well it gets the child imagination but it also plays so well with and poignantly with Gwen's solitude and sadness.
5) Francis Marion, top female screenwriter of the 20th century, adapted the play for the film.
I had my issues with the film but I still enjoyed it. If you can get over one little detail, you might as well.