Educational Media Reviews Online

This 3-disc collection available either on DVD or Blu-ray disc, consists of The Poor Little Rich Girl (1917, 75.min., dir.: Maurice Tourneur), The Hoodlum (1919, 92 min., dir.: Sydney A. Franklin), and Sparrows (1926, 90. Min., dir.: William Beaudine). I viewed the Blu-ray edition of the set. Milestone Film and Video has released this set specifically to introduce young viewers to the enjoyment of being immersed in silent film. They are the first to bring out material with a cleverly scripted and acted “intro” and “outro,” which, although didactic in nature, stem from a natural and fun approach to introducing younger audiences to the history of film. These introductions to the three feature films do not pander; they are informative and the young actors who appear in them are believable and charming. Each disc’s intros and outros address different issues related to the history of the development of motion pictures including, how films work in terms of the movement of frames either through a camera or projector, archival issues related to the stability of nitrate and acetate film, the use of color in terms of tinting and toning, the use of music, production issues and a number of other topics which are informative for a wide variety of audiences, not just children. This collection also provides an additional approach to the understanding of the films by offering a separate audio track in which the intertitles (dialogue cards, or explanatory comments) are read (or in this case very aptly acted out) and additional narrative information is given to enrich the understanding of the film in question. I watched the films in the normal way with the orchestral scores and then only wanted to check the optional descriptive sound tracks but ended up watching the films over again with the descriptive tracks because they were so well done and informative.

In The Poor Little Rich Girl, a film that has been selected to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress, Mary Pickford plays the part of Gwendolyn, a lonely child whose parents and servants have their own interests and neglect her. Due to an inadvertent overdose of sleeping medication administered by her nanny, Mary’s character finds herself drifting between life and death with a wonderful pre-surrealist dreamlike sequence. Film historian Scott Eyman, whose 1991 biography of Mary Pickford is still unsurpassed, provides commentary on a separate audio track. Normally, I tend to ignore audio commentaries for my own film viewing, as they tend to be distracting more than informative, but Eyman’s track on this film could easily be used as a stand-alone film history lecture, it is that good. It not only provides background on this film, but on Pickford and the film industry itself. In addition, he makes appropriate critical comments backed up by what is on the screen and easily comes back to the film and its unfolding. Listening to Eyman, one comes to understand how and why Pickford became the first international superstar. The disc also includes Mary Pickford and her husband Douglas Fairbanks’ home movie footage that has been preserved by the Museum of Modern Art. Charlie Chaplin appears in a couple of nicely costumed skits while others mug for the camera.

Disc 2 contains The Hoodlum in which Pickford plays another spoiled rich girl whose decision to go “slumming” with her sociologist father provides the viewers with ample comedy routines and slang from the post-WWI period. The disc also contains a 1910 short film directed by D.W. Griffith that stars Pickford in a black wig. The film was shot in Ventura County California and was also known as Ramona: A Story of the White Man's Injustice to the Indian.

The third disc includes the wonderfully restored Sparrows with a newly composed orchestral score that is melodic and haunting, melding seamlessly with the narrative during its harrowing moments as well as underscoring the comic bits, particularly those that include Spec O’Donnell who plays Ambrose, work farm owners’ petulant son. Pickford, plays Molly a young woman, who as the oldest of a group of children on this work farm takes care of them and stands up for them. When a kidnapped young girl is brought to the farm while ransom negotiations take place, Molly engineers a get-away through alligator-infested swamps. She runs away with the children and the little girl on her back. Anyone who needs an example of what it is to act with one’s eyes should watch Pickford a she takes care of the starving and dying baby left in her care prior to the arrival of the kidnapped child. Her range of emotions, without using anything but her face, convey more than any spoken dialogue could. She is truly a marvel to behold. This disc also contains a commentary track with film historians Jeffrey Vance and Tony Maietta, an original trailer for the film and outtakes for the “Angel” sequence.

This collection is very highly recommended to appeal across the board, from public libraries with children’s programs, the K-12 system as well as college programs in film studies and cultural studies, to finally anyone interested in older films and family entertainment.