LITTLE OLD NEW YORK
starring Marion Davies and Harrison Ford
MOTION PICTURE MAGAZINE
November, 1923
"Little Old New York" emphasizes what "When Knighthood Was in Flower" suggested . . . that Marion Davies is an actress of ability and charm. And it succeeds in affording pleasant entertainment into the bargain.
The story finds New York as a village in 1840 . . . when Bowling Green was a country square; when Delmonico was laying the foundation for what later became not only a hotel but an institution; when Robert Fulton and Washington Irving were the young bloods of the town; and when Cornelius Vanderbilt and John Jacob Astor had already amassed enough wealth in their respective trades to be known as the rich men of the village. To this old New York comes Patricia O'Day, a little Irish girl who masquerades as her brother that she may save a rich inheritance for her poverty-stricken family. Her arrival robs her cousin, Larry Delevan, of the fortune which would have otherwise reverted to him, but as time passes, Larry finds his compensation and there is a joyful ending. Nothing profound or epoch-making but pleasant entertainment which has been well staged and well acted.
Its cast carries weight in names of such prominence as Stephen Carr, Harrison Ford, Courtenay Foote, Mahlon Hamilton and Louis Wolheim. Also we wish to mention Harry Watson, better known behind the footlights who provides hearty laughs in his characterization of Bully Boy Brewster, a prize-fighter form the Jersey shore.
We cannot emphasize enough the convincing and sympathetic way in which Miss Davis creates Patricia O'Day, seemingly Pat. She wears the boy's trousers and the jaunty cap with a gay daring and is equal at all times to the emotional demands which the story makes upon her. It was only at the very end where she forsook the boy's attire for the fluffy hoopskirts of the period that she faintly reminded us of the Marion Davies of other days who used to walk thru her production, giving little or nothing to her role. In her praise we are glad to spend our adjective while we await her next production with interest. We marvel at the strides she has made and cannot think of more than a very few actresses who would have done so well with this often-trying role.
No effort has been spared to make "Little Old New York" a worth-while production and the scenes of he old houses on Bowling Green are charming in their historical accuracy . . . as is the tryout of Robert fulton's Clermont and other events of that bye-gone day . . . but it was Marion Davies as the youthful masquerading Pat who charmed us far and above everything else.