Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1917)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Marshall Neilan

Writers:

Frances Marion (writer)
Charlotte Thompson (play)

Release Date:

22 September 1917 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

The end of Rebecca's circus career.

Plot:

With her family in financial difficulties, Rebecca is sent to live with her two strict, unfeeling aunts...

Plot Keywords:

Based On Play | Based On Novel | Character Name In Title

Cast

Mary Pickford	...	Rebecca Randall
Eugene O'Brien	...	Adam Ladd
Helen Jerome Eddy	...	Hannah Randall
Charles Ogle	...	Mr. Cobb
Marjorie Daw	...	Emma Jane Perkins
Mayme Kelso	...	Jane Sawyer
Jane Wolfe	...	Mrs. Randall (as Jane Wolff)
Josephine Crowell	...	Miranda Sawyer
Jack McDonald	...	Reverend Jonathan Smellie
Violet Wilkey	...	Minnie Smellie
F.A. Turner	...	Mr. Simpson (as Frank Turner)
Kate Toncray	...	Mrs. Simpson
Emma Gordes	...	Clara Belle Simpson

Runtime:

78 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Filming Locations:

Pleasanton, California, USA

Company:

Mary Pickford Company

Trivia:

The original Broadway production of "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" by Kate Douglas Wiggin and Charlotte Thompson opened at the Theater Republic on October 3, 1910 and ran for 216 performances.

Movie Connections:

Version of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1932)

Lost Little Girl

After her mother mortgages the family's "Sunnybrook Farm", Mary Pickford (as Rebecca Randall) is sent to live with two aunts: Josephine Crowell (as Aunt Miranda) is stern and heartless; she overrides kinder, broken-hearted, Mayme Kelso (as Aunt Jane). Predictably, Ms. Pickford finds things are not so sunny in Riverboro. Moreover, she finds her self at odds with teasing peers, like Violet Wilkey (as Minnie Smellie). Pickford perseveres. And, eventually, she warms folks up, like her older man crush Eugene O'Brien (as Adam "Mr. Aladdin" Ladd), who Pickford hopes to marry when she "grows up"…

In a first class production, Pickford has some nice moments; though, her affected "little girl" persona doesn't really succeed in effectively portraying the young heroine of Kate Douglas Wiggins' "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm", as evidenced on film. In sometimes startling contrast, several of the other young performers are noticeably more natural and/or charming. Ms. Wilkey, one of the younger set, regrettably "retired" shortly after her convincing portrayal of "Minnie Smellie". Wilkey, who also played young "Flora" in "The Birth of a Nation" (1915), was one of many marvelous young players Pickford employed, to shine by her side. Happily, kids like Wesley Barry and Milton Berle did not retire after appearing herein.

******* Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1917) Marshall Neilan ~ Mary Pickford, Eugene O'Brien, Violet Wilkey