POOR LITTLE RICH GIRL
Starring Mary Pickford
MOTION PICTURE MAGAZINE
June, 1917
The film version of Eleanor Gates' play. A chain of incidents presenting Mary Pickfod as a very saucy, tomboyish little girl. The element of pity which, if we recollect correctly, was the prevailing emotion of the stage version, is lacking here. Nevertheless, a thoroughly enjoyable enertainment, lavishly produced.
POOR LITTLE RICH GIRL
Starring Mary Pickford
MOVING PICTURE WORLD
March 17, 1917
It may be as well to start off with the statement that those who remember the heroine of the stage play when they see the screen version of Eleanor Gates' "A Poor Little Rich Girl" will be introduced to an entirely different Gwendolyn in the person of Mary Pickford. The writer of the scenario has used the utmost freedom in departing from the original work, and Miss Pickford has followed the scenarioists's example. The Gwendolyn of the play was a somewhat toplofty little miss who seemed born to the purpose and never forgot her station in life. Her airs and graces appeared to harmonize with the rather artificial story and its many touches of symbolism; the moving picture star's Gwendolyn is a very human, lovable child who is just aching to break away from all restraint and play in the dirt with the street children.
The wisdom of these deviations admits of no dispute. As a stage play, "A Poor Little Rich Girl" harped too long on one key, and there was altogether too much made of the delirium scenes. These points have been judiciously shortened, and the additional matter is along the comedy lines that Mary Pickford does so well. The biggest laughs in the picture occur in the new material and are the results of such dependable bits of comic business as leaky plumbing, a mud-throwing contest - in which the gardener is obliged to turn the hose on his young mistress before he can recognize her - and the seating of a priggish young lady on a plate of chocolate cake. Other and more original bits are sprinkled all through the screen play, and little Miss Pickford extracts the last ounce of fun from them with that deft touch of hers which knows just how far to go, and never lacks the saving grace of a sure senses of humor.
A separate paragraph is due the star for her portrayal of this eleven-year old girl. Entirely free from the stock tricks of the ordinary child impersonator, she looks the part amazingly well, especially in the close-ups, and acts it with a skillful blending of her own personality and that of a bright and winsome "kiddie" that makes the illusion perfect. Her Gwendolyn will rank as one of her best screen creations.
As aids to such a pleasing achievement, Miss Pickford has been surrounded by a company excellent in every respect, of which Charles Wellesley, Frank McGlynn, Emile LaCroix, Charles Craig, Frank Andrews, Madeline Traverse, Marcia Harris and Maxine Hicks are members. Artistic direction has been given the entire production by Maurice Tourneur, and every adjunct in the way of appropriate settings had been provided by the Artcraft Pictures Corporation.