Little Annie Rooney

Although it might seem a bit bizarre to see a 32-year-old woman play the part of a 12-year-old, Mary Pickford soon makes you forget the incongruities and simply enjoy the fun.

Mary is a street kid in New York City, with her own lovable gang of mischief makers, whose attentions are engaged by the older William Haines (he was 25 at the time & just on the cusp of his own screen stardom.)

To give away too much of the plot would not be fair. Suffice it that Mary is great fun to watch & amply displays why she was Hollywood's first and most beloved super star. Production values are very good, with lots of extras making the NYC street scenes quite believable.

Honestly, if you're thinking of seeing your first ever silent film, this probably shouldn't be the one you see. Things like a 33-year-old actress playing a child are a little bizarre even if you think you're used to the style of the era. But as a showcase for Mary Pickford, it's a great film. The story and pacing is a little uneven, but her acting is excellent. The Flicker Alley DVD is a beautiful restoration and the score on the DVD is fascinating - not old-fashioned like a "typical" silent film score but not so modern like some other scores (usually for movies like Nosferatu or Metropolis) that are so good at making things seem terrifying or futuristic - I think it's a good fit for the movie, which is not horror or science fiction but has a little bit of just about every other genre you could imagine. Basically, you're in for quite a ride when you watch this movie. So glad this was available on DVD!

While there is not much to "Little Annie Rooney" aside from the way that it showcases Mary Pickford's many talents, that's not a bad focus for a movie to have. The story does seem to be planned almost entirely with that goal in mind, as most of the other characters are not developed very much, and most of the plot likewise comes back to the ways that events affect Annie. Of course, Pickford is more than up to carrying the load, and while this picture has to rank a little lower than a good number of her other movies that have more depth to them, it's still worthwhile.

Through the course of the story, Annie finds herself in numerous kinds of situations, and several sides of her character come out. She has a tomboyish, boisterous side, yet she can plead with her father on behalf of a misunderstood friend. The scene where she prepares her father's birthday party could very easily have become unbearably cloying or melodramatic, yet she handles it very well, making use of the best possibilities available rather than resorting to cheap sentiment. (In that particular scene, a couple of creative camera shots also help it to work.)

There are very few actresses, especially in the present, who could make so many different things work believably and without undue emoting. While much of the movie is simple and sometimes even a bit contrived, It's still worth seeing as one of many chances to see such a fine actress at work.

Even at 5'1" and 33 years old, Mary Pickford pulls off the part of the 12 year old daughter of a policeman pretty well, and this is a silent film worth seeing. She looks a little out of place in the madcap early scenes where rival gangs are brawling and hurling a flurry of bricks at one another (think a slightly harder edged version of Little Rascals), but she's also pretty cute all wound up and throwing haymakers. The film includes Asian, Jewish, African-American, Greek, and Irish characters, and while there is a cringe-inducing scene where the black boy dances "the shimmy" in a grass skirt, stereotypes are reasonably contained. Nevertheless, these scenes with the gang were my least favorite, and they are a bit on the long side.

Where the film picks up is with little Annie Rooney's home life. Walter James is great as her even-keeled father, and the scenes of sibling rivalry with her older brother (Gordon Griffith) are cute. The other actors seem to tower over the petite Pickford, and I have to believe they made some of the furniture larger than normal to help her pull of the role. Director William Beaudine also takes advantage of the beautiful sets that were built, and captures some nice city shots. I don't want to spoil the plot, accept to say it takes an unexpected dramatic turn, and that made it interesting for me.

Pickford was a powerful force in Hollywood in 1925, and it's fascinating to me that she produced, wrote, and then took the part at her public's request. Four years later she was still pulling off a role of much younger woman in Coquette, a film I liked a little more, and so it's surprising that just four years after that, in 1933, she would play her final part as an actress. She had a rough time of it in life thereafter, battling alcoholism and depression. It seems this film captures her at the height of her powers, when she was on top of the world, and that adds to its charm for me.

LITTLE ANNIE ROONEY (United Artists, 1925), directed by William Beaudine, stars Mary Pickford in one of her famous signature roles, that of a pre-teen girl in the POLLYANNA tradition. Though now a grown woman in her thirties, being of short stature, she was able to be convincing playing a character much younger in her years, down to her blonde curls and pony tails. Playing an Irish girl, naturally she is tough but charming, even characterized as a "wildcat" by one of the neighborhood kids. Yet this is what the public liked, and very much preferred, and for this, Pickford gave them what they wanted playing not Miss, but Little Annie Rooney.



Taken from a story by Catherine Hennessey, the opening title reads, "Uptown a gang calls itself "society," - downtown a gang calls itself a gang - and let it go at that. LET'S GO DOWNTOWN. Following a scenic view of the New York City tenements of multi-ethnic residents ranging from Negroes, Jews, young and old, but most of all, the Irish, including a young tomboy named Little Annie Rooney (Mary Pickford). Following a gang fight started by little Mickey Kelly (Joe Butterworth), leader of the "Kid Kellys," sworn to make life miserable for Annie by singing the title song she hates. Annie has a father (Walter James), a widower who not only copes with his daughter and older son, Tim (Gordon Griffith), but his beat being the officer of the law by profession. Also in the area of the slums is Mickey's older brother, Joe (William Haines), leader of the "Big Kelly Gang." Aside from being a loafer "whose hardest work is selling tickets to a dance or benefit," he also hangs out with a gang of crooks, including Tony (Carlo Schipa) and Spider (Hugh Fay). Even though Annie takes an interest in Joe, Officer Rooney warns this young man to change his ways. On the night of Rooney's birthday, where his children prepare a celebration for him, a fight breaks out at the Pansy Club Dance where Rooney gets shot and killed in the dark. One of the gang members puts the blame on Joe, leading Annie to prevent her brother from avenging her father's murder. Others in the cast include: Spec O'Donnell (Abey Levy); Viola Vale (Mamie); and Eugene Jackson (Humidor).

A fine mix of humor and sentiment in the Pickford tradition that no doubt made LITTLE ANNIE ROONEY a box office success in 1925. Mary, director Beaudine, and co-star, O'Donnell would reunite the following year in SPARROWS (1926), hailed by many to be Pickford's best or most memorable performance. Director Beaudine keeps the pace going here, even through the first hour of plot development, character introduction and daily activities take precedence before changing to the basics are provided. Showing children together of all ethnic background makes one think of the Hal Roach "Our Gang" comedy shorts featuring children as the center of attention. Other than street fights where Annie isn't afraid to fight with the boys, there's also a scene where the kids stage a neighborhood play for a benefit.

By the time of Mary Pickford's death in 1979, several of her silent movie works were distributed as part of the rediscovery of her movies that haven't been shown in decades, especially LITTLE ANNIE ROONEY and SPARROWS, presented either in revival movie houses or public television as LITTLE ANNIE ROONEY did on New York City's WNET, Channel 13, June 1, 1979 . Part of the Paul Killian collection, LITTLE ANNIE ROONEY had been shown on television to excellent William Perry piano scoring, even including that old tune to "Little Annie Rooney." This was the print used for home video by Blackhawk Films in the 1990s as well as Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere, September 19, 1999), before restoration and re-scoring took place around 2014 and television broadcasts thereafter.

Regardless of visual restoration to this fine movie with additional footage, the new orchestral scoring, found on DVD and TCM, is unsatisfactory, giving it a different feel, taking away from the film's initial enjoyment from its 1970s "The Silent Years" television series appeal. Not to be confused with MISS ANNIE ROONEY (United Artists, 1942), starring Shirley Temple as a remake or sequel, the original LITTLE ANNIE ROONEY comedy-drama ranks one of many Pickford titles that deserves modern-day recognition. (***)