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I was sick for most of January, and then I was the Best Man in a wedding near the beginning of February so I had that to deal with. Finally am able to get back to this.
Sparrows (1926)
Directed by: William Beaudine
Starring: Mary Pickford, Roy Stewart, Gustav von Seyffertitz
Length: 84 min.
Genre: Drama
Mary Pickford, at age 32, plays a teenager named Molly that is living with nearly a dozen other children on a "baby farm" in the swamps. The farm is own by Mr. Grimes (Gustav van Seyffertitz). The children are worked all day. Whenever someone comes to the farm, Molly takes the children and hides.
Eventually, Molly leads the children on a daring excape through the swamps. At the same time, the police catch on to Mr. Grimes and the chase is on.
This movie has been highly rated by several websites, but I found the movie very boring. The pace is slow and it seems like, until the end chase scenes, that the movie simply repeats. The children work, the dhildren hide, over and over until they finally try to escape.
And, of course, at age 32, Mary Pickford doesn't pull off the young teenager look anymore. She had tried to get the studio to stop putting her in these roles for several years, but the studio insisted because she was "America's Sweetheart" and they were too worried about how the public would handle it if they put her in adult roles and romantic situations. This would be her last role playing a child.
Entertainment Rating: 5/10
Historical Rating: 7/10
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