At this point in her career, Mary Pickford hadn't played a little girl throughout a picture since "The Little Princess" made three years earlier. Her fans had been clamouring for years for Mary to do Pollyanna. Mary's mother Charlotte, had bought the rights to the novels Pollyanna and Daddy-Long-Legs, and Pickford was determined that her films would match the wondrous fame of these beloved books. Pickford plays the glad girl very well through this fast paced film, but admitted growing tired of the saintly Pollyanna and decided to inject a moment of deviltry to the character. She writes in her autobiography, While the cameras were grinding away one day, I caught a fly on the table, scooped it up and said, " Little fly, do you want to go to heaven?" With that I smacked my two hands together and said, "You have!" That fly in the ointment of Pollyanna's purity was definitely not in the script, but it remained in the picture. Mary also talks about the difficulty, to keeping up the facade of looking like a little girl. It was while they were shooting a scene of Pollyanna at the railroad station in Pasadena, that she overheard a child make a remark she never forgot. The little girl of about seven, was one of the many spectators who had gathered to watch. Mary distinctly heard her say, "Mama, she's not a real little girl, she's got long fingernails." Mary promptly lopped off the incriminating nails. Even though Mary Pickford grew tired of playing the glad girl, her fans certainly weren't disappointed by her outstanding and sensitive portrayal of the ten-year old orphan. It should also be noted this was Pickford's first film released through United Artists, and grossed more than a million dollars in 1920. For fans of Pollyanna and Mary Pickford, this is a very delightful movie to watch.
Review of Pollyanna
