A spunky orphan girl, enslaved on a horrible baby farm, looks after the younger children as tenderly as Christ cares for His little SPARROWS.
Mary Pickford, America's Sweetheart and the most popular movie star in Hollywood's history, had made a career out of playing little girls in general & orphans in particular. Her legions of international fans thrilled at her adventures in harsh orphanages, dealing with stony-hearted adults. Time relentlessly marched on, however, and it became obvious that Little Mary could not carry on the adolescent act forever.
Thus, in 1926 at the age of 34, Pickford appeared in her final orphan picture and she made sure it was a doozy. Never before had one of her characters been subjected to such hideous conditions, surrounded by quicksand, starved & overworked, living at the mercy of a self-avowed baby killer - a reptilian old reprobate who doesn't hesitate to `chuck children into the swamp' whenever he feels like it. Mary's audiences ate it up like sweet molasses on hot cornbread.
Several sequences are memorable. The selling of a little boy to a hog-buying farmer sets up a remarkably poignant shot: as the little fellow is driven out of the gates of the baby farm he feebly waves farewell towards the barn, where Mary & the other children remain hidden; poking through cracks & crevices in the wooden structure several hands sadly wave back. Later, the coming of The Good Shepherd for the dead baby cradled in Mary's arms would have been maudlin in less reverent hands; here it succeeds because it is presented with true emotion. Finally, the escape & chase across the swamp, with desperate Mary leading eight tiny children through the perils of mud & crocodiles, is still as exciting & suspenseful now as it was at the film's inception.
Gustav von Seyffertitz makes a marvelously hissable villain; abetted by his vile wife & unspeakable son, old Grimes is evil to his very core. His final fate is both just & emphatically well-deserved.
SPARROWS boasts very high production values, and although burdened with a couple of climaxes too many, Mary's lively performance should effortlessly win over the toughest of critics.
Mary Pickford, America's Sweetheart and the most popular movie star in Hollywood's history, had made a career out of playing little girls in general & orphans in particular. Her legions of international fans thrilled at her adventures in harsh orphanages, dealing with stony-hearted adults. Time relentlessly marched on, however, and it became obvious that Little Mary could not carry on the adolescent act forever.
Thus, in 1926 at the age of 34, Pickford appeared in her final orphan picture and she made sure it was a doozy. Never before had one of her characters been subjected to such hideous conditions, surrounded by quicksand, starved & overworked, living at the mercy of a self-avowed baby killer - a reptilian old reprobate who doesn't hesitate to `chuck children into the swamp' whenever he feels like it. Mary's audiences ate it up like sweet molasses on hot cornbread.
Several sequences are memorable. The selling of a little boy to a hog-buying farmer sets up a remarkably poignant shot: as the little fellow is driven out of the gates of the baby farm he feebly waves farewell towards the barn, where Mary & the other children remain hidden; poking through cracks & crevices in the wooden structure several hands sadly wave back. Later, the coming of The Good Shepherd for the dead baby cradled in Mary's arms would have been maudlin in less reverent hands; here it succeeds because it is presented with true emotion. Finally, the escape & chase across the swamp, with desperate Mary leading eight tiny children through the perils of mud & crocodiles, is still as exciting & suspenseful now as it was at the film's inception.
Gustav von Seyffertitz makes a marvelously hissable villain; abetted by his vile wife & unspeakable son, old Grimes is evil to his very core. His final fate is both just & emphatically well-deserved.
SPARROWS boasts very high production values, and although burdened with a couple of climaxes too many, Mary's lively performance should effortlessly win over the toughest of critics.