Mickey (1918)

Mickey, an orphan who has been brought up in a mining settlement, is sent to New York to live with her aunt.

Directors:

F. Richard Jones, James Young

Writer:

J.G. Hawks

Stars:

Mabel Normand, George Nichols, Wheeler Oakman

Cast

Cast overview:
Mabel Normand	...	Mickey
George Nichols	...	Joe Meadows
Wheeler Oakman	...	Herbert Thornhill
Minta Durfee	...	Elsie Drake
Laura La Varnie	...	Mrs. Geoffrey Drake
Lew Cody	...	Reggie Drake (as Lewis Cody)
Tom Kennedy	...	Tom Rawlings
Minnie Devereaux	...	Minnie (as Minnie Ha Ha)

Storyline

As the surviving partner in a gold mining enterprise, Joe Meadows has also been raising his deceased partner's daughter, Mickey. Now that she is older, Joe plans to send her to live with her aunt Mrs. Drake in New York. Meanwhile, Mrs. Drake is hoping to have her daughter Elsie marry another mine owner, Herbert Thornhill, in order to alleviate the Drake family's financial struggles. When Thornhill goes to California to check on his mine, he meets Mickey and becomes fond of her. Later, when Mickey goes to New York to stay with the Drakes, she finds herself in an uncomfortable situation.

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Taglines:

The Picture You Will Never Forget

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

August 1918 (USA)

Filming Locations:

24th Street, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$125,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mabel Normand Feature Film Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min 74 min (TCM print) 75 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During the filming, Mabel was in very bad mental health. A year earlier she, who at that time was engaged to producer Mack Sennett, discovered that he had an affair with Mae Busch. Busch threw a vase in Mabel's head, and she was obliged to take an operation to survive. She never fully recovered. Her friend and colleague Minta Durfee supported her.

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Goofs

Palm trees and industrial bridges at the railroad station at Great Neck, Long Island, New York.

User Reviews

This is the sort of film Mary Pickford made famous.

Mable Normand is forever remembered for her comedies for Mack Sennett. These two-reel films were fun but also quite short and were done strictly for laughs. "Mickey" was a major change for Ms. Normand, as now she was making a full-length film and one which was more of a melodrama. In fact, it's very much a style film that Mary Pickford made famous from the late 1910s through the 1920s--playing a very young lady who, by the end of the film, has found love and happiness.

Mickey is a young tom-boy (Normand) who lives with her father's old mining partner. It seems her father died and this man has cared for her for many years. However, as she gets older, he realizes he's not much good teaching her how to become a lady and he sends her off to live with her aunt. As for the aunt, she only wants Mickey because she learns she owns a mine. When she discovers the mine isn't productive, she makes Mickey a servant in the home--much like Cinderella. But, just after the aunt gets rid of Mickey, she learns the mine has finally paid off and Mickey is rich--and suddenly she DOES want Mickey to live with her! Well, in the meantime, there is a man who has fallen for Mickey--and he cannot find her in order to propose. But the aunt decides to sic her no-good son on her and he proposes to Mickey. Can the old boyfriend find her before it's too late?!

While this film is a VERY predictable old fashioned melodrama (aside from the bizarre horse race sequence near the end--I did NOT see that coming), it's a NICE predictable old fashioned melodrama! Sure, you can figure out what's going to happen long before it does, but the film is so well made and enjoyable you don't really mind. Sweet and quite charming. It's sure a shame that Mable's career and life were cut so short--I would have loved to see more films like this one.

By the way, I think parts of the end of this film must have been missing. That's because there are very few intertitle cards early in the film. Yet, near the end, there are several with extensive exposition--like it's filling in for gaps in the film.