Daddy-Long-Legs: Amazon.ca: Mary Pickford, Milla Davenport, Percy Haswell, Fay Lemport, Mahlon Hamilton, Lillian Langdon, Betty Bouton, Audrey Chapman, Marshall Neilan, Carrie Clark Ward, Wesley Barry, True Boardman, Charles Rosher, G.W. Bitzer, D.W. Griffith, Agnes Christine Johnston, Jean Webster, Stanner E.V. Taylor: DVD

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In Daddy-Long-Legs, Mary Pickford plays an orphan, Jerusha (Judy) Abbott, abandoned as a baby in an alley and raised in a cruel orphanage. The scenes in the orphanage are extraordinary. Pickford, although in her late '20s when the film was shot, is absolutely believable as a pigtailed 12-year-old; she's the epitome of a child-woman, the essence of gamine. Protector and champion of her fellow orphans--truly adorable kiddies dressed in identical gingham outfits--Pickford's Judy is brave and kind but full of piss and vinegar, never sticky-sweet. One scene in particular is a showcase for Pickford's mastery of physical comedy. She and an orphan lad, played by Wesley Barry, a little boy whose slapstick flair matches Pickford's own, get drunk on applejack. It's plain hilarious.

After Judy grows up, a secret benefactor, whom she dubs "Daddy-Long Legs," bankrolls her college education. At graduation, Judy is the model of young womanhood: beautiful, intelligent, kind, and fascinating to the opposite sex. Two tony suitors vie for her favors. (The characteristic Pickford message, reflecting her own life story, is implied here: in America, one can hail from an ashcan and still rise to the top.) The film preserves its sweet surprise ending until the last happy moment. (The movie was remade in 1955 with Fred Astaire and Leslie Caron.) The tape also includes a rare early Pickford short, What the Daisy Said (1910), directed by D.W. Griffith, with a racy plot about a Gypsy who seduces young country maidens. --Laura Mirsky

Video Details

Daddy-Long-Legs (1919, 85 min.) - One of Mary Pickford's most delightful films. A mysterious benefactor pays to send Judy, the oldest and cutest kid in the orphanage, to college. Restored by the Mary Pickford Foundation, "Daddy-Long-Leg" includes the rarely seen Pickford short film "What the Daisy Said" (1910, 13 min.), directed by D.W. Griffith.

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8 Reviews

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4.4 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars 'Little Mary' grows up., Feb 20 2004

By

Astrid Morgan (Lilydale, Victoria Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Daddy-Long-Legs (DVD)

'Daddy Long Legs' is a beautifully crafted film in which Pickford's character, Judy Abbott, grows up. Pickford plays the role of an abandoned child who pits her wits against a child who is born with a silver spoon in her mouth, Angelina.
As a child in an orphanage, the unloved, unwanted Judy skillfully and hilariously outwits both the orphanage mistress and Angelina, by inciting the inmates to rebel against their diet of prunes, stealing Angelina's doll and by delivering it minus an arm to a dying child.
Despite the film's hilarity, it makes a genuine statement about social acceptability. As an orphan, Judy is neither worthy of Angelina's company nor is she her social equal. Even the young Angelina looks down her nose at Judy who wears the orphanage gingham with dignity.
Years later, as a young woman at college, sponsored by a much older gentleman, Judy again meets Angelina who treats her as inferior and lacking social connections. Later, Judy's writing finally enables her to socialise with the wealthy but when this breakthrough occurs, she is mindful of her origins and cannot bring herself initially to wed into the snobbish families she encounters.
Judy arrives at a decision involving which beau to accept after heartfelt thought and agonising. Then a well hidden secret is disclosed, to Judy's embarrassment.
The ending is happy and satisfying. Any Pickford fan would enjoy this film. It is intellectual as well as entertaining and is delightfully photographed.

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5.0 out of 5 stars A Film of Pain and Romance, Mar 7 2001

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Mr Peter G George (Ellon, Aberdeenshire United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Daddy-Long-Legs (DVD)

Daddy Long Legs is a wonderful example of Mary Pickford's talent for portraying adolescent girls even when she herself was much older. She was 26 when the film was made in 1919, but she is convincing even when she plays a 12-year-old orphan and is quite captivating when she grows up to go to college. Pickford may have gone on playing the teenager a little too long. Some of her later films stretch credibility too much, but this is not the case here. Interestingly this DVD includes a Biograph short from 1910, What the Daisy Said, where 17-year-old Mary appears to be older than in many of her later roles. Ironically, at this time she wanted to appear older than she was and it has been said that one of the reasons why she left Biograph was that Griffith would not allow her to develop into full adult roles.

Daddy Long Legs starts as a sort of exposé of an orphanage. There is one particularly gruesome scene of Mary being deliberately burned on a stove as a punishment. The picture gets redder and redder to emphasise the pain and the heat. But the story also has moments of fine comedy to counterbalance the more serious elements. Pickford makes a fine comic drunk and a scene where she pretends to be strangled with her own arm is as good a piece of comic ingenuity as I have seen. When she leaves the orphanage the film becomes a delightful romance. This love story keeps the viewer guessing, and shows the many faces of love, the joy as well as the despair. It is wholly believable.

The picture quality of this film is almost perfect. There is some occasional fading of the image and brief moments of apparent damage, but overall the restoration is extremely good. The picture is tinted and uses a number of colours to accompany the variations in the settings and the moods of the scenes. The titles are especially noteworthy as many of them include drawings which along with the words comment on the action. The chamber music for this film fits in well with the action. It is well played and includes some fine themes.

As I mentioned this DVD contains a Biograph short. It is about 12 minutes long and is very welcome as an additional feature. I've only seen about 10 of the hundreds of films Griffith made at Biograph and on the whole find them difficult to appreciate. These early shorts are possibly the hardest of films for the modern viewer to grasp. Nevertheless, a film like What the Daisy Said is intriguing and in a curious way entertaining. It makes me want to find out more about this period of filmmaking. Someone should bring out a series of DVD's featuring Biograph shorts.

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4.0 out of 5 stars A charming movie, July 22 2000

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"alphacentauri" (Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Daddy-Long-Legs (DVD)

This turns out to be a very charming movie with a splendid performance by Mary Pickford which proves why she was one of the biggest stars of the silent era. The film alternates between comedy and drama working well in the latter category but excelling in the first. Beautifully photographed and directed it's a highly entertaining movie which makes you forget that you are watching a silent film because you get involved in the story right away. Also the acting is very understated and natural so that you really believe in the characters. Unlike many early movies where you have to watch them from a historical perspective to enjoy them this should work for a modern audience just as well.

The transfer to DVD is excellent in my opinion. It contains a chamber score by Maria Newman which is superior to most scores you will hear on videos for silent films even though it is not in the same league as Carl Davis' scores for the British channel 4 silent movie series (some of which are available on video in the U.S. e.g. The Big Parade).

The DVD also contains a short by D.W. Griffith which is entertaining in its way although it can hardly be considered one of his best works.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars VHS Version of Film Delightful
I don't know anything about the DVD version, but for those of you who read the item below and said to yourself, "Well, I don't know if I should risk getting the tape,"... Read more

Published on April 19 2000 by Cynthia Whittington

4.0 out of 5 stars Great movie, poor transfer to disc
In this, one of her best films, Pickford plays an orphan who becomes the beneficiary of a mysterious man whom she comes to call her "Daddy Long Legs. Read more