Stella Maris (1918)

We get two quite contrasting doses of Mary Pickford in this touching drama about two girls. One is a cosseted lass, who cannot walk and is shielded by her wealthy, well meaning, family. The other a bit of an urchin - able bodied but living the harshest of lives in an orphanage. When the latter is adopted, she is optimistic - but that soon fades as her new "mother" turns out to be a wrong un' (and is imprisoned after violently beating her). The rather weak-willed, prosperous, husband "Risca" (Conway Tearle) is not quite so objectionable, though, and he is soon as drawn to "Unity" as he has been for quite a while to the invalid "Stella". When a surgeon manages to get "Stella" walking, she sets about entering a world full of war, pain, anguish - and love - and the story takes off with Pickford in her element. She plays both characters with aplomb and distinction. In "Stella" we have a more typically beautiful, breezy performance; in "Unity" a much grittier, earthier, frankly uglier, one - and she pulls them both off superbly. Though both roles target our sympathy glands, neither drag us into the cheesy world of sentiment nor of too much melodrama. Tearle is strong in his role as the would-be suitor, as is Marcia Manon as the truly odious "Louisa". I wasn't hugely impressed by the ending - but I'm equally unsure how I would have liked it to conclude. The photography borders on the insightful - the use of close ups almost seems to let us see into their minds, to tell us what they are thinking. Certainly one of Pickford’s best.