This is an odd little film that looks a lot like a re-telling of the first half of another Mary Pickford film, DADDY LONG LEGS combined with the films PAPILLON and NIGHT OF THE HUNTER!! In other words, Mary once again is a poor little orphan who has a heart of gold AND she lives in a gator-infested swamp and ultimately makes her escape with the other orphans from an evil menace.
The film begins at a hellhole in the middle of a swamp. They don't say where it is but it looks a lot like Louisiana or northern Florida. An evil man and woman live there with their evil son and on their farm they have about ten kids (the number changes from time to time) who they work as slaves. Some were entrusted to their care by others--the man and wife claiming they ran a foster home for poor kids. And some others were actually stolen from their parents and brought there! On the farm, the kids are starved, beaten and some even die due to the horrid conditions--during which time, the oldest (Mary Pickford) acts like the mother to the brood and keeps their spirits high. Eventually, though, when Mary learns that the evil man is planning on tossing one of the kids into quicksand to get rid of her, she plans a daring escape with the kids. In the process, they must survive many obstacles to reach safety.
The film is beautifully filmed for a movie from 1926 and the production values are high throughout. However, despite being well-made and interesting, the film is also pretty heavy-handed at times--especially with some of the religious imagery. Back in the twenties, this probably played a lot better than it does now. Today it seems a tad dated because of this. But, considering how entertaining the film STILL is and how well it stacks up against other movies of the day, it does deserve an eight. Not my favorite Pickford film (these would be SUDS, MY BEST GIRL and DADDY LONG LEGS), but well worth seeing.
The film begins at a hellhole in the middle of a swamp. They don't say where it is but it looks a lot like Louisiana or northern Florida. An evil man and woman live there with their evil son and on their farm they have about ten kids (the number changes from time to time) who they work as slaves. Some were entrusted to their care by others--the man and wife claiming they ran a foster home for poor kids. And some others were actually stolen from their parents and brought there! On the farm, the kids are starved, beaten and some even die due to the horrid conditions--during which time, the oldest (Mary Pickford) acts like the mother to the brood and keeps their spirits high. Eventually, though, when Mary learns that the evil man is planning on tossing one of the kids into quicksand to get rid of her, she plans a daring escape with the kids. In the process, they must survive many obstacles to reach safety.
The film is beautifully filmed for a movie from 1926 and the production values are high throughout. However, despite being well-made and interesting, the film is also pretty heavy-handed at times--especially with some of the religious imagery. Back in the twenties, this probably played a lot better than it does now. Today it seems a tad dated because of this. But, considering how entertaining the film STILL is and how well it stacks up against other movies of the day, it does deserve an eight. Not my favorite Pickford film (these would be SUDS, MY BEST GIRL and DADDY LONG LEGS), but well worth seeing.