Tom Sawyer / Little Mary Sunshine

Description

One of the few surviving films of doomed director William Desmond Taylor, this is surely the most realistic version of the popular Mark Twain classic. Publicity claimed that the film was shot in Hannibal, Missouri, and it sure does look like it. Everything has an authentic 19th-century feel to it, and Jack Pickford is a natural as Tom Sawyer. He's grubby, awkward and practically a juvenile delinquent, but with a streak of real humanity within him. That's exactly how Twain wrote the character, and it's definitely not the way Hollywood usually portrays him. Director Taylor brings a vividness to each scene that will remind many of D.W. Griffith, with the same careful attention to characterization and dramatic rhythm.

Supplemental material: Also on this disc is a complete five-reel feature, "Little Mary Sunshine" (1916). Henry King directed, and the title role features Baby Marie Osborne, who became a child star for the rest of the decade on the strength of this film. It's a simple light drama about a timy orphan girl who escapes the slums, finds a home with a wealthy family... and helps reunite her new father with the woman he loves. The sequence with the trained bear is a real charmer. Organ scores by Bob Vaughn.

Customer Reviews:

Two delightful and enjoyable stories on one DVD.......2005-01-05

Unknown Video has put two rather special early silent films on this DVD; the main one featuring Jack Pickford playing Tom Sawyer very convincingly in a charming and realistic rendition of the famous story, and "Little Mary Sunshine" is apparently the only surviving film (of 22 in total) featuring 'Baby Marie' Osborne, an adorable child star of the WWI era with a mop of curly hair (move over, Shirley Temple!) and it is also one of the first films directed by Henry King, who also co-stars in this short feature film. I really enjoyed them both: "Tom Sawyer" for its excellent character portrayals and authentic feel, and "Little Mary Sunshine" for its 'charm factor' - not only the cute little girl, but a playful young bear plays a role and the story itself is also heart-warming. Poor little Mary escapes the slums when her drunken father kills her mother, and she is taken in by an unhappy young man and his family. Mary soon turns into a ray of sunshine in her new home and plays a part in fixing the young man's troubles. Both short features (both just under an hour long) are very well directed and overall a pleasure to watch. A good organ score by Bob Vaughn for both films is another nice aspect, but the picture quality of both is only average at times, and there is no real menu on the disc, only basic scene selection, so for general presentation I would only rate this as 3 stars, but for the good quality stories and significance of the films, I give it 4 stars. I'm sure any lover of early silent films (they are from 1917 and 1916, respectively) would enjoy this double feature, and perhaps anyone curious about an early Tom Sawyer version would also not be disappointed.

DVD:

DVD

DVD