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Sparrows | Year: 1926 Classification: Documentary Directed: - William Beaudine Little Mother Although this movie has its slow moments, Mary is once again successful in holding her audience. It is too bad she couldn't have children. She was great at caring for the orphans in this movie on and off film. The movie is adventurous and fun and one's heart goes out to the children on the screen. One of Pickford's Best The reason why Sparrows works so well as a film is that there is a genuine sense of threat. This is partly because the sets used for the film, although constructed on the Pickford-Fairbanks backlot, are remarkably convincing. The baby farm, where Mary Pickford and her group of orphans are held prisoner, looks old, rundown and dirty, while the swamp surrounding the farm looks fetid, diseased and fully of dangers. The quicksand, which was actually made from sawdust and cork ground up with water, seems ready to swallow up the unwary. The alligators guarding the swamp are real, but their apparent proximity to Pickford and the children is an illusion brought about through clever splicing of two separate images. The sense of menace which pervades the film also owes a great deal to the performance of Gustav von Seyffertitz as Grimes the owner of the farm. His limping gait means that he creeps everywhere, becoming a looming presence. His looks can be compared to those of Max Schreck in Nosferatu, but von Seyfferitz's performance is not that of a monster from a horror film. The threat that his acting suggests is more realistic than the threat of a nightmare. Sparrows is a film with a great deal of suspense mixed with some fine humour and emotion. Pickford, as usual, gives a sympathetic performance. She is feisty, resourceful and courageous. The black and white print used for this DVD is in very good condition. The only slight query I have is with regard to its length. Sparrows is often listed as being between 81 and 84 minutes in length, yet the print for the Milestone DVD runs 107 minutes. It could be that DVD print includes additional material, alternatively it could be that it runs slower than other prints. The DVD has as a bonus two Pickford Biograph shorts directed by D.W. Griffith. Both Wilful Peggy and The Mender of Nets are entertaining and considering their age look remarkably fine. Mary, Mary, your movie's quite scary Listen, contrary to the above, them ain't real alligators in the swamp chase; I saw it on a theatre screen, and I'm pretty sure I glimpsed their strings. That said, this movie is scrumdiddlyumptious. It might be sentimental, but it's also macabre and intense enough that I've occasionally seen it referred to as a horror film. The atmosphere is so thick you can almost smell the swamp. I fell for it completely and was gasping through it along with the rest of the audience. Pickford wasn't the shrinking violet her current image might suggest; as here, she played strongwilled girls who held up under awful conditions, and in real life she was one of the most powerful women in Hollywood's history. Here, she gets a villain & a challenge worthy of her. Buy Sparrows at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Sparrows Search with the Priority Search Engine on Sparrows This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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