M'Liss (1918)

So much average

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

"M'Liss" is a pleasant, if pointless, Marry Pickford vehicle. In it, the then-26-year-old played a mischievous teenage mountain girl who sports a slingshot. Mary often played child roles, but it's somewhat unseemly here considering that little time elapses between her character placing a doll in a coffin and grave to her and her schoolmaster falling in love. Today's audiences might also find it interesting to see in the film a public classroom where Bible stories appear to be the main curriculum (and Mary is amusing playing the skeptic)."M'Liss" is a mostly breezy and light film, but it would've benefited from further shortening, namely in the plentiful number of title cards. Scenarist Frances Marion deserved much credit for helping to launch Mary's stardom and typecasting her in child roles, beginning with "The Poor Little Rich Girl", and Marion is one of the most important screenwriters in film history, but in the silent era, she sometimes had the vice of talking too much. The subplot of inheritance from a rich relative, which helps tack on a happy ending, was also unnecessary.

This is a little fun piece by Mary and it allows her to let go to a chirpy carefree girl. Pickford always seems to leave a few precious moments in all her movies and you always get the feeling they are spontaneous and, there are a number of them here as well.Her climbing on table to give a hug to big grown men showing just how small she is, but so cute and fun. There is a point where Mary stalks the teacher just prior to trying to hopelessly hide behind a very small tree. The long shot of the teacher in front and Mary stalking behind is just so Monty Python - and is just one of those small pieces that builds the overall feeling of this little movie.There are few points where you can read Mary's lips very clearly and it was intended which gives momentary intimate feeling with her.The support cast were just great especially the old man who almost up-stages Mary.The plot line doesn't kick in until well into the movie and so you get the feeling of just floating around having some fun until the movie 'starts'. Not a great story line or plot development however the performance of all the characters are in fact the movie.There is always something to see in a Pickford movie.

I have little or anything to add the comments of others who have spotted this movie for what it is, a story-vehicle for Mary Pickford, which is okay.The story itself isn't worthless but it feels a little worn in. I did however appreciate the messages ingrained in about families not being traditional, it's mediations on alcoholism, vigilantism and even pedophilia are interesting peaks into a time and a place we missed, but they don't occupy a lot of screen time. Some of the cinematography is great, but really the supporting cast is excellent, in particular the drunk old dad.The most relevant story convention is that of the indigent people ousted by cruel capitalist bent on their land, but that story is told better in both "Tess of the Storm Country" and "Heart O' The Hills" (this movie is featured on Milestone's "Heart O' The Hills DVD release.)

It may not be Pickford's best movie, but it's definitely her cutest. I can't help but be a little biased, however: I always felt that her melodramas were a little too dated, and the ones that really last are these scantily plotted, silly comedies that don't take themselves too seriously.It's priceless to see her "hold up" a stagecoach with a sling shot, or wonder what "-??-" means when put between "none of your" and "business." (They already showed a willingness to print "damn," so that narrows it down.)The inter titles are funny, although in a silent film they don't have to be, and the supporting characters are just as fun to watch as Mary. It's on the "Heart o' the Hills" DVD that came out in '05 as only a special feature, but it's the more enjoyable of the two.