The Little Lord (1921)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Little Lord Fauntleroy |
| Original title | Little Lord Fauntleroy |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1921 |
| length | approx. 112 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director |
Alfred E. Green , Jack Pickford |
| script | Bernard McConville |
| production |
Mary Pickford for United Artists |
| music |
Gaylord Carter , Louis F. Gottschalk |
| camera | Charles Rosher |
| occupation | |
| |
Little Lord Fauntleroy is a 1921 silent film starring Mary Pickford. Directed by her brother Jack Pickford and Alfred E. Green . The film is based on the novel The Little Lord by Frances Hodgson Burnett .
action
In the 1880s, after the death of his father, the boy Cedric "Ceddie" Errol grew up in New York with his American mother Mrs. Errol and the servant Mary. His paternal grandfather, the English Earl of Dorincourt, has ignored the family for years because he disapproves of Americans. But when all other possible heirs have died, he sends his administrator Havisham to New York to bring Cedric to England. Mrs. Errol hesitates at first, then she travels with her son to England to see grandfather. Cedric now bears the title " Lord ", but his mother is not allowed to live with him in the castle, but only in a nearby homestead. Cedric soon won the hearts of the people in the castle and that of his initially strict grandfather.
Then Mr. Havisham learns that Cedric is not supposed to be the right heir after all. The American Minna Tipton explains that her son Tom is also the earl's grandson, born before Cedric, and is therefore the legal heir. Cedric wrote about it in one of his letters to America to his friend, the general storekeeper Silas Hobbs. Another friend, the shoe shiner Dick, recognizes Minna as the former wife of his brother Ben on a photo that was sent along. Tom is really their son. Hobbs, Dick and Ben travel to England together and expose Minna as a fraud.
While Cedric is to be trained to exercise his role as a nobleman appropriately, a parallel development takes place in his grandfather. Originally only with the intention of not contradicting the extremely positive image Cedric has of his grandfather, the cold-hearted old man is actually changing. He begins to live up to his responsibility for his subordinates and especially those in need, and gradually shows interest and helpfulness. Cedric's mother is finally ready to move into the castle with her son.
backgrounds
As early as 1917, Mary Pickford had made a popular film called The Little Princess , which was based on a work by Frances Hodgson Burnett with Sara, the little princess . The second Burnett film adaptation by Mary Pickford was also a complete success: The little Lord took in a respectable 1.1 million US dollars at the box office for the time. It became one of the great hits of Mary Pickford, who played both Lord Fauntleroy and his mother and was responsible for the production. Since Mary Pickford took on the two roles, the three-second encounter between the two had to be filmed by cameraman Charles Rosher for a total of 15 hours to make the scene look real with various tricks.
The future US star comedian Milton Berle can be seen in a small role.
Reviews
The contemporary criticism of the Variety judged that Little Lord Fauntleroy was a "perfect Pickford film". In her dual role, the leading actress would demonstrate her acting diversity by convincingly portraying the grieving mother on the one hand and the playful child on the other. The film is not sensational, but a "human and appealing story."
Web links
- Little Lord Fauntleroy in the Internet Movie Database (English)