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The heart of this spunky, sweetly beautiful film is lovely, feisty Mary Pickford, of the baby face, lush curls, and sturdy little body. Pickford is Amarilly Jenkins, a poor lass from San Francisco's Clothes-Line Alley, hard by Chinatown. She's proud of her heritage, a long line of Irish washerwomen: "I
likes scrubbin'!" She's content in her poverty, sharing "Irish turkey" (meatloaf?) dinners with her roly-poly ma, played by Kate Price--one can hear her infectious laughter even though the film is silent--and her five rambunctious baby brothers. Young bartender Terry McGowen (William Scott), with whom Amarilly keeps company, has waited three years for a good-night kiss. Then fate sweeps Amarilly into an entanglement with handsome, upper-crust artist Gordon Phillips (Norman Kerry). It's clear that this won't last. As Amarilly tells Gordon, "You can't mix ice cream and pickles!" But Amarilly and her family have to learn this the hard way, deliberately humiliated by Gordon's snooty aunt (Ida Waterman, as the film's requisite battle-ax).
The picture effortlessly mixes comedy, social commentary, drama, and melodrama. The legacy of the literature of American social realism can be felt here in the business about haves and have-nots. But there is none of the grim tragedy of, say, Stephen Crane's novel Maggie: A Girl of the Streets. Although effectively emotional, the film has an appealing lightness, deriving from the simplicity of its shots and acting style. This edition has been masterfully restored from the original negative, with gorgeous atmospheric tinting (indigo for exterior night scenes, golden for day, etc.) and an affecting new score by the Mont Alto Orchestra. Also included on the tape is a bonus short film, The Dream, from 1911, in which a drunk, philandering husband dreams of his wife's revenge. (Note the beautiful Arts and Crafts period d&eaacute;cor in the couple's home.) --Laura Mirsky
Video Details
Amarilly of Clothes-Line Alley (1918, 67 min.) - Amarilly is the belle of Clothes-Line Alley, a neighborhood near San Francisco's Chinatown. One night, after a fight breaks out in the club where she works as a cigarette girl, Amarilly (Mary Pickford) brings an injured socialite home with her. Grateful for her care, he hires Amarilly to clean his apartment and, over time, begins falling in love with her. But when Amarilly is presented at a posh social gathering, the disastrous results fuel the battle of high and low society. Mary Pickford is thoroughly charming and delightful as the feisty Amarilly.
