Mary Pickford is Molly, the oldest of around 10 children held captive by evil Mr Grimes (Gustav von Seyffertitz) in a place in the middle of an alligator-infested swamp somewhere in the American South. Grimes forces the children to work for him, and Molly cares for them as well as she can. Eventually things come to a head and she leads an exciting escape through the swamp. This is a well-made film that has been beautifully photographed and that is mostly well-directed. There are very few parts of the plot that seem to sag a little (maybe the last few scenes do), but all in all the picture generates a lot of suspense. Pickford, who was approaching her mid-30s when the film was made, convinces as a child of about eleven or twelve (definitely still pre-adolescent) with a sense of responsibility shaped by her experiences at Grimes' place. To keep the children in line she is inventing quotations from scripture that are so good they could be authentic if they were not so funny. For that, I am willing to forgive director William Beaudine the kitschy Jesus-scene he evidently felt he had to include. For my taste, though, von Seyffertitz is the star of 'Sparrows'. I believe he played many comical roles, but here he manages to embody evil in a way I have seen few other actors do. All in all this is an exciting film, well worth watching.
Review of Sparrows
