Maidexpl
Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast
Janae Milner
Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.
Isbel
A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
jacobs-greenwood
Mary Pickford plays an orphan girl. So what's new in this drama? Well, of course she's the one that leads and/or cares for the other children in the orphanage which is run by a tyrant (Milla Davenport) while its unawares board members eat high on the hog with the public money.So what's new in this Mary Pickford drama? Well, there's a rich girl (Fay Lemport) who's raised in luxury with all the comforts of home that provides a stark contrast to Pickford's orphan.So what's new in this Pickford drama? It's not so much that anything is new in this one (in fact, actually, this was probably one of the first of this type that was later copied - e.g. in Sparrows (1926), among others - ad nauseam to give the public what it wanted from her throughout her career) as much as it is the quality of its execution and the mysterious benefactor angle.Jerusha Abbott (Pickford), so named by a conveniently seen gravestone and a random page turned in the phonebook, grows up to be the "protector of the small" other orphans in the facility. Her care for the others is recognized by one of the wiser trustees (Percy Haswell) who then selects Jerusha as the recipient of a wealthy benefactor's charity - he offers to pay for her college education. The benefactor chooses to remain anonymous, but insists on written accounts from "Judy" about her experiences. Without knowing his name, she dubs him "Daddy Long Legs" because of an image she believes she saw of him though a translucent window. Living at a better place now, she meets, and is then courted by, a "goofy" young lad named Jimmie McBride (Marshall Neilan, this film's director!). She also spends time with her roommate's Uncle (Mahlon Hamilton), an older gentleman whom she doesn't know is also her benefactor. As his interest in her turns to love, she doesn't take him seriously enough to allow their relationship to become more than just friends.Eventually, her benefactor reveals who he is and, though she initially exhibits disdain (for his lechery?), she has a change of heart.
MartinHafer
A few years back, I started to watch this film and stopped. What bothered me was that Mary Pickford near the beginning of the film playing a 12 year-old and that just seemed so silly I switched it off! However, after recently having forced myself to actually watch it all, it turned out to me amazingly good. Now this isn't to say this is a perfect film--the whole 12 year-old aspect is pretty tough to believe AND the time-line of the film is a real mess (if you pay attention, it seems that Mary goes to college and falls in love at age 12!)--they really needed to explain that a lot of time lapses between the opening scene of 12 year-old Mary and the closing scenes. However, if you ignore this, the rest of the film is very worth seeing.The first part of the film is mostly light comedy with Mary playing a plucky trouble-maker with a heart of gold at the orphanage. Some of the stuff she gets into is pretty funny and she is about the most unwanted orphan in the film. However, about halfway through the movie, it abruptly changes to a romance. Mary is sent to college by an anonymous benefactor who does not want to be known to her, and so she labels him "Daddy Long Legs" and sends update letters to him telling him her progress--never knowing exactly who it is. Both parts of the film work very well, but some might be bothered by it being almost like two totally different films--since the tone is so different in each. However, both elements DO work and work well. While this isn't my favorite Pickford film (I liked SUDS better and I still have a lot more of her films to see), this is among the better silent films I've seen (and I've seen a lot). A good story, excellent acting and a general likability of Pickford's character make this a good example of the genre.
pamelaowen
One evening my daughter and I were at home - I was cleaning in another room, but after a time, I realized the program my daughter was watching had no words. So I went into the living room and promptly was entranced. It was our first silent film (thanks A&E for showing it) - we were hooked. I didn't find myself treating it like a film with subtitles...reading and missing the scenes - instead it was appropriately sub'd prior to a scene, then the silent film told the story all on it's own. It was a great plot of an orphan (back then, that was a social climbing status killer) who broke the ranks and found herself. She had a bit of fun along the way (the scene in the garden when she was young was hilarious!) and eased past the social-highlife land mines. A great family movie for sure.
Dr. Ed
stars in the first film version of Daddy Long Legs and is dazzling. A peerless comedianne of the silent screen, Pickford plays the spunky orphan as Chaplin would have---lots of physical comedy, sight gags, and pathos. In the 2nd half of the film, Pickford "grows up" and displays here usual warmth. Surely as Pickford films become more available, she will reclaim her place in the Hollywood pantheon. She ranks with Lillian Gish and Gloria Swanson as the best actresses of the silent era, but Pickford remains untouched (even by Mabel Normand and Marie Dressler) as a comedienne!
