Mary Pickford plays Fanchon, the granddaughter of a woman considered a witch by the villagers, who grows up wild in the woods somewhere in pre-revolutionary France. The film is about how Fanchon falls in love with Landry, the son of the wealthiest villager (Jack Standing) and eventually wins him despite his initial betrothal to village beauty Madelon (Mary's sister Lottie). In many ways this is a delightful film. It is beautifully photographed; the scenes in the woodland are outstanding. In this respect, 'Fanchon the Cricket' has the feel of an early and extraordinarily well-made nature film. It is quite different from well-photographed films of the German expressionist kind that began to develop in the years before the First World War, but it is no less artistic. Besides, 'Fanchon' has been preserved in pristine condition (or expertly restored). The copy I watched looked as sharp and clear as if it had been filmed yesterday, and the tinting (amber for daylight, blue-grey for dusk etc.) enhances the mood of the film. Another plus is Pickford's acting. She is vivacious and has a huge range of expressions. On the downside is James Kirkwood's direction, which I found distinctly uninspired. The plot does drag occasionally, and it could also have been fleshed out quite a bit more. Over fairly large parts of the film the title cards are too rare to clarify what is going on. What I found really disturbing was the modern music, which apparently has been specially composed for the film. It fits in no way. It has the wrong instruments and does not match the plot. I turned it off after a while and watched 'Fanchon' without sound. In sum, this film isn't perfect, but it is still beautiful and good to watch. It made me want to read George Sand's novel on which it is based.
Plot summary
A young wild girl, Fanchon, lives in a forest with her eccentric grandmother who is suspected by the villagers of being a witch. The unkempt Fanchon suffers from her grandmother's sorceress reputation. One day the girl rescues a boy from drowning and they fall in love, but Fanchon won't agree to marry him unless his father asks her. A year later the boy has fallen very ill and it is only the presence of the enchanting Fanchon that helps to restore his health.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
September 10, 2024 at 05:32 PM
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Not perfect but still beautiful
Pickford rarity is no classic
A rare screening of this obscure Mary Pickford title was one of the most anticipated events from the 2014 Cinefest in Syracuse, N.Y., but, as is so often the case, rarity doesn't equate with quality. The film, lamely directed by James Kirkwood, lacks technique. Kirkwood keeps the actors grouped in tight bunches, more like a faithful sheepdog than a movie director, reflecting none of the dynamic energy of films from the same period produced under the auspices of D.W. Griffith, Cecil B. DeMille and Thomas Ince. The lovely and entrancing Pickford is always worth watching, but her role here doesn't provide enough dramatic weight, and nothing she does lingers in the memory except for a lively scrap with her real-life brother, Jack Pickford, who plays a bratty villager. Mary's rather homely sister, Lottie, also has a role, making this picture perhaps the only extant example of all three Pickford siblings appearing in the same film.
Pickford, the Waif
This was considered a lost movie when Mary Pickford died. A copy turned up in the Cinematheque Francaise, as they so often do, and in cooperation with the Mary Pickford Foundation, the BFI, Flicker Alley.... oh, the usual suspects, it has been preserved, restored somewhat and made available on a Blu-Ray/dvd set. I looked at the dvd version. It's a handsome offering, with only a few imperfection on the print, and a handsome toning to the affair: golden for daylight, blue for night, red for interiors.
It's based on a novel and written for the screen by director James Kirkwood and Frances Marion. Mary is Fanchon, a poor girl of a French village. Her grandmother is supposed to be a witch, but Mary is a free spirit, running around in rags. She takes a shine to Jack Standing, but all of the young villagers despise her; she beats up real-life brother Jack Pickford, sticks her tongue out at real-life sister Lottie, saves Standing from drowning and finds his idiot brother and has a grand time romping around the wild in the Delaware Water Gap for the first half of the movie. Then, as so often happens, the plot eventuates.
It's the second Pickford vehicle that Frances Marion had a hand in writing (I don't count THE NEW YORK HAT), and Pickford gets a lot out of the 'waif' role. The two women would have a fruitful collaboration, and Marion would direct a movie or two for America's sweetheart. Still, things slow down in the second half, and Standing is pretty much a stiff all the way through. Costume design is partially to blame. With his knee pants, wide-brimmed hat and collar, he winds up looking like Grady Sutton; he performs his role with the lack of brio that Sutton put into his comic nullities.... but Standing is simply a nullity.
Still, it's always good when a long-lost feature of Miss Pickford shows up. I'm glad I saw it.