The Poor Little Rich Girl

• Directors: Maurice Tourneur; Adolph Zukor
• AMG Rating:
• Genre: Drama
• Movie Type: Melodrama, Childhood Drama
• Themes: Mothers and Daughters, Fathers and Daughters
• Release Year: 1917
• Country: US
• Run Time: 64 minutes

Plot

A bittersweet tale of a little rich girl so sheltered by the parents she hardly ever sees that she has no idea of what is going on in the real world sounds like the quintessential Mary Pickford movie. In reality, after 23 films, Pickford had never before played a girl so young -- Gwendolyn, the protagonist, is celebrating her 11th birthday -- and she rarely stayed a child throughout an entire picture. Yet despite her "advanced" age of 23, Pickford created the perfect illusion of childhood, even without resorting to old gimmicks such as enlarged furniture. (Granted, the supporting cast was selected partially with an eye toward size.) This was the second of two Pickford productions directed by Maurice Tourneur (the first had been the less successful The Pride of the Clan), a Frenchman gifted with a great sense of composition but also with an unbending iron will. Pickford refrained from clashing with the serious, brooding Tourneur, but their methods of filming were not really compatible. Despite all that, The Poor Little Rich Girl was Pickford's greatest box-office success to date and returned her to her usual elevated position in the industry after having suffered a minor career setback in the wake of middling fare such as Hulda from Holland (1916) and Less than the Dust (1916), the latter disparagingly referred to by Pickford as "Cheaper than Dust." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Cast

Frank B. Andrews - Potter, the Butler; Charles Craig - Thomas, the Footman; Gladys Fairbanks - Jane, the Nurse; George Gernon - Johnny Blake; Marcia Harris - Miss Hoyle, the Governess; Maxine Hicks - Susie May Squaggs; Emile La Croix - The Organ Grinder; Frank McGlynn, Sr. - The plumber; Mary Pickford - Gwendolyn; Herbert Prior - The doctor; Madlaine Traverse - Her Mother; Charles Wellesley - Her father

Credit

Maurice Tourneur - Director, Adolph Zukor - Director, Lucien Andriot - Cinematographer, Adolph Zukor - Producer, Frances Marion - Screenwriter, Ralph Spence - Screenwriter

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