M’LISS – Mary Pickford, Thomas Meighan
M’Liss (1918)
Direction: Marshall Neilan
Screenplay: Frances Marion; from Bret Harte’s story
Cast: Mary Pickford, Thomas Meighan, Theodore Roberts, Tully Marshall, Charles Ogle, Monte Blue, Winifred Greenwood
Mary Pickford, Thomas Meighan in M’Liss
Directed by Marshall Neilan and written by Frances Marion – two frequent Mary Pickford collaborators — M’Liss is one of Pickford’s very best films. In this comedy-drama, Pickford plays a spirited and unruly mountain girl, that’s the M’Liss of the title, who falls in love with the new schoolteacher (Thomas Meighan) — who is later falsely accused of murder.
Pickford, by then already a superstar, gives a sterling performance; she is ably supported by (future star) Thomas Meighan as the schoolteacher, as well as a fine collection of character actors including Theodore Roberts as M’Liss’ drunken father, Tully Marshall as the town judge, and Charles Ogle as the stagecoach driver.
M’Liss also boasts beautiful outdoor cinematography thanks to Walter Stradling’s lenses.
Note from the editor: Walter Stradling died of pneumonia that same year at the age of 43. He was the uncle of cinematographer Harry Stradling (Johnny Guitar, My Fair Lady) and great-uncle of cinematographer Harry Stradling Jr (Little Big Man, The Way We Were).
Reviewed at Cinesation 2009
© James Bazen
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Tags: Cinesation 2009, Classic Movies, Film Reviews, Frances Marion, M'Liss, Marshall Neilan, Mary Pickford, Silent Films, Theodore Roberts, Thomas Meighan, Walter Stradling
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Where can people watch those films?
Film Festivals, mostly. Cinesation, Cinefest, Cinecon, etc.
Some of those titles are available on video/DVD.
There’s a beautiful “official” DVD release of “M’liss” with another film…I think it’s Romance of the Redwoods? I’m blaning out…but M’Liss is a very funny film with Mary at her wildcat best-and looking particularly gorgeous to boot. Also if at ALL possible, you’ve got to try & see these films with an audience, projected on a big screen. It makes a world of difference.
I haven’t watched M’LISS, but I have watched ROMANCE OF THE REDWOODS, a very funny comedy that feels as fresh today as when it was first released in 1917.
(Okay, so I wasn’t around in 1917 to evaluate the film’s level of freshness, but you get what I mean…)