Mickey (1918)

User Rating:

8.2/10   

Directors:

F. Richard Jones
James Young

Writer:

J.G. Hawks (writer)

Release Date:

August 1918 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

- Seven Parts -

Plot:

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

Cast

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)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Filming Locations:

24th Street, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Mabel Normand Feature Film Company

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.

Goofs:

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

Mabel Normand and Great Music by Neil Moret

The adventures of a gold miner's daughter, Mickey stars Mabel Normand, who was one of the biggest film stars of the teens and 20s. In a series of episodes that are loosely connected, Normand plays a Cinderella-like character who goes to live with a relative (Laura La Varnie) but when it's discovered the gold mine is a bust, she is made a maid in the household. But she catches the eye of the old lady's daughter (Minta Durfee) and is eventually sent back to the country just as the mine strikes it big. The suitor (Wheeler Oakman) follows her. The plot seems to stray here and there without much narrative thread. At one point, a lecher (Lewis Cody) is chasing Mabel around a mansion, and then we're off to the horse races. But while the episodes are tacked together, Mabel Normand holds the viewer's attention throughout the 90 minutes.

This film was co-produced by Normand and Mack Sennett. George Nichols, Minnie Devereaux, Tom Kennedy, and Edgar Kennedy co-star. And yes Minta Durfee was famous for being the wife of Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, a famous co-star with Normand in many short films. And the music by Neil Moret (who died in 1943) is absolutely great. I hummed the songs for days and learned to play them on the piano.