I have been a fan of Mary Pickford since I first read Kevin Brownlow’s book THE PARADE’S GONE BY way back in the 1960s. By the late 1980s when I finally got to see some of her silent films on VHS I became even more of a fan. It wasn’t until this century that her movies began to appear on DVD and later Blu-Ray in proper editions prepared by The Mary Pickford Foundation. Many of these used the best available prints, had been speed corrected, and for the most part had proper musical accompaniment. In the past 10 years several have actually been restored. The best of the lot are those released by Milestone Films or more recently by Flicker Alley.
All of this is great news for Pickford fans. What is not is this re-issue on Warner Archive of COQUETTE, the 1929 movie that won her a Best Actress Oscar and was her first sound film. Even by 1929 standards this was not a good movie and Pickford’s award was for her 20 years in the developing motion picture industry not for her performance. So why did Mary choose this material to make her sound debut? A couple of reasons. 1) At age 36 she no longer wanted to play young girls and was on the lookout for adult roles. 2) COQUETTE had been a huge stage success for Helen Hayes and Mary wanted to prove her worth as a dramatic actress.
What works well on stage does not always translate well to film especially at this early stage of the sound era. Everyone is so concerned with making sure that their dialogue is heard that the delivery is wooden and artificial. This is singularly unfortunate as most of the dialogue is really bad (how many times can we hear the word “honey”) as are the so-called Southern accents. Because of the limitations of sound technology, the visual look of COQUETTE is quite static and uninteresting. It literally is, for the most part, a filmed stage play. There are some nice exteriors such as the plantation house, the small Southern Main Street and the poor man’s shack but that’s it.
However the biggest problem with the film, which would not have been foreseen in 1929, is how politically incorrect it is today. An Old South setting with black servants (Maid Louise Beavers has an Aunt Jemima bandana) and a pre-Civil War code of Southern honor even though the film is supposed to be contemporary (ca.1929). The plot revolves around flirtatious upper class Pickford falling in love with a boy from “the other side of the tracks” and the rash action that her father ultimately takes to stop it which ends in tragedy. I’ll give COQUETTE this, the ending is not at all what you expect and still packs a surprise.
The performances range from not bad to “Oh Dear”. Mary is unbelievable at first but gets much better as the film progresses from drawing room comedy to melodrama. John Mack Brown who was quite effective as Garbo’s husband in A WOMAN OF AFFAIRS is extremely tentative as Mary’s boyfriend being clearly hampered by the new technology. Silent film veteran John St Polis (PHANTOM OF THE OPERA) is over-the-top as her honor avenging father while suitor Matt Moore and brother William Janney get saddled with the worst lines. Top acting honors easily go to Louise Beavers who would later do IMITATION OF LIFE with Claudette Colbert.
It’s a shame that this is the only one of Mary Pickford’s sound films available in a quality release. Between 1929 and 1933 she only made 4 films. Her last movie, SECRETS with Leslie Howard and directed by Frank Borzage, was the best of the lot and a very good film.. The other two are TAMING OF THE SHREW (1929) with Douglas Fairbanks which currently exists in a truncated, “improved” 1966 re-issue and KIKI, a 1931 comedy that Pickford hated but which shows off her comic skills to good advantage. Hopefully these three will be made available in quality, updated editions so everyone can see that Mary still had it when she retired in 1933.
The Capsule Critic 