Poor Little Peppina

I enjoyed "Poor Little Peppina" and can't really understand some of the negative criticism of this film. Sure, it's rather old fashioned and way too many coincidences happen in it, but it WAS made in 1916--and compares very favorably with other melodramas of the era.

The film begins with an evil member of the mafia (Soldo) murdering someone. He is soon caught and a man testifies against the killer. Soldo soon escapes from prison with the aid of his fellow mafia members and vows revenge on the man who helped convict him. He and a friend kidnap the man's young daughter and make it appear as if the child drowned. Despondent, the man and his wife leave Italy and return to America--assuming their daughter was dead. However, the child was dropped off to be raised by a poor family and she after she grows up (now played by Mary Pickford), she thinks these are her real parents and her step-brother (Jack Pickford) is her brother. But, when her parents try to force her to marry a jerk, she runs off and stows away on a boat heading to America. What happens next is made up of one coincidence after another--I know the viewer might groan a bit at this. However, the film is well made and Mary gives it her best. An interesting film even if so many coincidences may not sit well with everyone today. Plus, it was nice seeing Mary play a boy during part of the film. Worth your time but not nearly as good any many of her later full-length films.

Poor Little Peppina is the story of a little girl who is kidnapped in the middle of the night by an escaped convict and his mafia. Her parents are led to believe that their daughter drowned with the convict who kidnapped her and are devastated. However, the girl was really sent to live in another home as Peppina, their daughter.

Years later, Peppina refuses to marry a disgusting old man that has paid for her hand in marriage, so she dresses as a boy and escapes.

For a 1916 film, this one has a surprisingly good plot filled with twists and turns. The photography is more advanced than one might expect; the film is not entirely shot far away from the actors.

Mary Pickford is good in her role, but her part is not very typical. Instead of being able to show off her vibrant personality, Pickford is restrained in the film, but effectively so.

Jack Pickford, Mary's brother, has a small part as her "brother" in the film, one of the few times the two were in a film together. In their scenes together, they seem genuinely close, but his character fades away near the end.

Most of the actors use elaborate stage gestures throughout the film, but this is appropriate since the characters are supposed to be Italian.

Overall, this is an engaging film.

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS***

'Poor Little Peppina' is not one of Mary Pickford's better efforts, although it's a creditable attempt at a change of pace for Little Mary. There's a long prologue in which she doesn't appear at all, her screen character being only an infant. Peppina's father is a wealthy landowner who helps send a Mafiosa to gaol. Seeking revenge, the gangster escapes and abducts Peppina. When a man and a child are rumoured to be drowned, Peppina's father assumes that the dead child is his daughter and he makes no attempt to find her. He sounds a devoted dad, he does...

Fade out, fade in years later, and now the girl Peppina is Mary in a long black wig. When she finds herself heading for a forced marriage, she escapes with the aid of a duchess who gives her enough money to reach America. Peppina is also given the address of the duchess's brother in New York City, who will help Peppina become an American citizen.

For safety's sake, Peppina disguises herself as a boy (like Shakespeare's Rosalind) for the trip, in which she stows aboard an ocean liner with her paisan buddy Beppo. Instead of cutting off her long tresses, Peppina becomes a 'boy' by tucking her hair under a cap. In New York, she easily finds work as a messenger 'boy' ... but she loses the address of her patroness's brother.

SPOILERS COMING. This film's plot has many, many, MANY coincidences. In New York, Peppina meets ... none other than the villain who snatched her in the first place. Seeking protection, she asks for help from a handsome district attorney, who turns out to be the duchess's brother. Mama mia!

I give Mary Pickford credit here for one of her rare attempts at playing a sexually mature woman, rather than the little girl-character who could always be relied upon to get the cash registers ringing in Mary's box office. Also, this is one of Mary's rare attempts at an ethnic role. Her boy disguise is almost convincing ... though not quite as convincing as in 'Little Lord Fauntleroy', in which she played a biological male.

Cesare Gravina is excellent in a supporting role. A fatal flaw is the casting of Mary's brother Jack as her peasant friend Beppo. Jack Pickford was an actor with decent looks but no talent, whose career was entirely due to his sister's stardom. In the scenes between Mary and Jack Pickford, their physical resemblance is quite obvious ... which is unfortunate here, as their characters aren't meant to be siblings. And the plot of this movie is unbearable. I'll rate 'Peppina' one point out of 10. Marron'!

I can think of several explanations why this movie does not seem to me a particularly good Mary Pickford. First, the copy I looked at on Youtube is 48 minutes, as opposed to its purported 7 reels; this might be why the first half of the movie seems telegraphic. Second, the director is Sidney Olcott, whose static compositions and poor direction of actors and crowds is apparent -- only Miss Pickford and her brother, Jack do particularly well. Third, every time Charlie Chaplin cut a new deal, Pickford got a raise and was cast in more and more movies. Last, Pickford was going through a phase in which she was playing non-Americans: Japanese Cio-Cio-San in MADAME BUTTERFLY; Dutch HULDA FROM Holland; and French. They did not suit her.

In any case, a small girl is in Italy with her rich American parents. She is kidnapped by the Mafia and reared by Italian peasants. After she grows up to be Mary Pickford, her parents sell her in marriage, but she runs away, disguises herself as a boy, stows away to America, runs into all the same people. Eventually things turn out all right thanks to the usual Amazing Coincidences that seem possible in a world in which there seems to be only about thirty people in all of Italy and New York State.

Miss Pickford tries hard, but seems uncomfortable with the big gestures that playing Italian required in this era; even the Italian actors in the movie don't seem to understand what their gestures mean. Her brother Jack (playing her thought-to-be brother Beppo) is good in their scenes, and Eugene O'Brien, playing Love Interest for Miss Pickford gets through his scenes without embarrassing himself. However, no one covers himself in cinematic glory.