"You know, you're awfully dumb."Mary (Pickford)'s last silent film, made in 1927, was My Best Girl, and her leading man was the much younger, charming new favorite of the fans, Charles "Buddy" Rogers. He was to become, in time, the closest and most devoted man in her life, but whether any spark had been lit at that time I never knew. Mary was always circumspect. As experienced as she was in taking care of herself in the tough spots, everyone always wanted to take care of and protect her. And even though she's gone now, everyone, including me, still does.-Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., The Salad DaysWho'd have ever guessed that "America’s Sweetheart"* would share a big screen meet-cute with "America's Boyfriend" (who'd become her real-life third hubby a decade later) wherein she demonstrates her considerable talent at blowing. Just look at that technique! Wait . . . what did you think I was talking about? Age seems to be rendering me an ever-increasing grump regarding romcoms, and the "plucky five-and-dime stock girl falls for a rich boy pretending to be an Average Joe" story here isn't apt to surprise anyone. But heck if this isn’t pretty charming. Mary's still rather too good to be true, but she's no child-woman brandishing fetishized ringlets. The curls are pinned up, and her Maggie is not only an adult, but the sensible anchor of a flighty family. (While the parallel isn't identical, one can't help but think of the real-life Smith-turned-Pickford clan.) And that possible "spark" Doug, Jr. (Mary's stepson by way of her marriage to Fairbanks, Sr.) mentioned? It's not hard to believe, at least based on the adoring way Rogers gazed at his leading lady. Always a treat, as well, to bask in the elegant fluidity of the late silent era (soon to be dealt a cruel blow by the advent of talkies and their subsequent awkward adolescent phase).I did bristle at Joe (Rogers)'s dumbass move of taking Maggie to the "boss" (actually his dad)'s house for dinner, not only because it was bound to end badly, but I feared Maggie might be eaten by what was either a massive canine or an unusually svelte cow. Either way, Pickford was of famously Lilliputian proportions. She'd barely suffice as an amuse-bouche to that creature. -"It's my family, Joe - - they need me more than you do."-"Like hell we do!"*Imported from Canada.Dug my old Milestone Collection DVD out of retirement for this viewing, but, as it's long out-of-print (Amazon currently lists a couple of used copies at $140+!), you can check the film out here. Hopefully, the 2015 restoration by UCLA Film and Television Archive will one day merit a Blu-ray release. Postscript - Lucien Littlefield, who was more than three years younger than onscreen daughter Mary, appears to have been a sufferer of the same premature geezer syndrome that afflicted Walter Brennan. Post-postscript - Somewhere under all that eye makeup is an eighteen-year-old Carole Lombard.
