Tess of the Storm Country (1914)

Mary Pickford is "Tess" - a penniless girl who lives with her father in what we might, nowadays, call a shanty town on the shores of a lake. He makes his living by poaching until one day a corpse - the gamekeeper - is discovered and father (David Hartford) is in the frame for the murder. Needless to say, this leaves "Tess" in a bit of a tizz, before she is befriended by "Frederick" (Harold Lockwood) and his sister "Teola" (Olive Carey) who introduce her to God. With the aid of a filched bible, she begins to find hope and a case for optimism - which is duly rewarded when local law professor "Young" (H.R. Macy) helps her to secure a re-trial for her father. Meantime, "Teola" is having a pretty torrid time with her man "Dan" (Jack Henry) who abandons her, and their child. "Tess", seeing how down and ill her friend has become takes the child and cares for him. "Frederick" comes to the wrong conclusion about his protégée and together with his puritanical father and the rest of their community, they shun her. It is only when the child is gravely ill, and "Tess" takes him to be "sprinkled" in church, that the truths come out and redemption for all is sought. Pickford is superb in this - she has mastered the looks, gestures and nuance of the street urchin. Despite the obvious social disadvantages of her position, she is a kind and thoughtful soul - and that does come across well here. The production isn't great, though. Outdoors, not so much, but the indoor scenarios are too rigidly staged. There is precious little camera movement and, particularly during one of the not uncommon storms, the whole thing has a sterility that not even she - and, to be fair Lockwood, can really enliven. It is very much a vehicle for the star, and she does her best (a little too enthusiastically at times) with this story that is not without it's tragedy. Edwin Porter keeps the pace moving along well, and if you do get the chance to hear it with a decent score, then it is indeed worth watching.