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12 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
Mabel Normand and Great Music by Neil Moret, 14 August 2005

Author: drednm

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.

13 out of 14 people found the following review useful:
Campy fun with Mabel (Mickey), 24 August 2003

Author: overseer-3 from Florida

I sure wish someone would restore the prints and create new soundtracks for these silent gems. This one, Mickey, a Mabel Normand - Mack Sennett comedy, is virtually screaming out for a restoration. It was extremely popular when it first came out in 1918, and a song "Mickey" sold a million sheets, and was recorded by many of the orchestras and singers of the day on 78 rpm records.

It's great fun, with Mabel (Mickey) playing a country miner's daughter who is sent East to live a privileged life in Great Neck, Long Island. Only the aunt who takes her in discovers that Mickey's mine is failing and so the poor girl is made a servant.

There is a sweet romance that brightens up the action, fight scenes, and a rather risque sequence where Mabel runs through the woods and dives from a rock into a lake stark naked. Definitely made before censorship came in!

Mickey is a great feature to watch if you are interested in what made Mabel Normand such a great star in her day. Drama queens in the silents are a dime a dozen, but true comedy stars, especially female, are rare and should never be forgotten.

9 out of 9 people found the following review useful:
Spunky Gal, Wicked Witch, Cute Animals, Dashing Gentleman: "Mickey" Has It All, 8 May 2003

Author: Ralph Michael Stein (riglltesobxs@mailinator.com) from New York, N.Y.

Mack Sennett and star Mabel Normand co-produced this 1918 silent comedy/melodrama which, surely, satisfied the era's moviegoers. Normand, a natural comedienne, plays "Mickey," an orphan raised by a rough and grizzled down-on-his-luck miner abetted by a corpulent, exasperated but loving woman-of-all-chores.

Back East, New York to be exact, Mickey's aunt, as impecunious as she is extravagant, skirts with ruin as she hopes her daughter will win the affections of The Decent Man. Scheming mom and grasping daughter hope an engagement will bring them real solvency.

Not too hard to guess what happens. As the piano music goes on - and on and on and on - the hero goes West to handle a mine boundary issue. He meets the sparkling Mickey and her menagerie before she leaves for the East with her miner guardian. But the seeds of love have been planted.

Mickey's been cordially invited to live with auntie under that harridan's very mistaken and soon to be blown belief that the young girl is the key to a rich mine's bounty. Finding that to be very wrong, Mickey is ordered into domestic service by nasty auntie. Yep, Cinderella story, sort of. And we all know - as did the Great War audiences - how such stories MUST end. A happy Mickey and her guy.

Sennett was a master at comedies that entertained without surprising. No dazzling or innovative cinematography here, just a guaranteed good hour and a half at the theater (or, now, in front of a TV).

Normand strayed off the reservation of both respectability and sobriety not that many years after "Mickey" when she was at the height of popular acclaim with a Goldwyn contract. Stars didn't have the bounce-back capability many seem to enjoy today and her close association with two lurid murders, neither of which she was implicated in, hastened a downward spiral already in freefall.

She died fairly young of tuberculosis, her career practically ended. But she remains alive in films that show the depth of comedic ability of a talented actress who could make audiences laugh without their ever hearing her utter a syllable. "Mickey" is one of her best efforts.

In 1970, Bernadette Peters, who just opened in a well-received Broadway revival of "Gypsy," played Mabel in "Maude and Mack," a musical about the director/star duo. The play didn't do well on the Great White Way but it's become something of a staple for amateur theatrical groups. Normand would have appreciated that.

Well worth renting or buying.

8/10.

7 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Mabel Normand Extravaganza, 11 August 2004
Author: Ion Martea from London, UK

'Mickey', as all Mabel Normand films, has her at the centre of attention from the beginning till the end. The camera, the action, the entire plot, are all attracted to her like magnets. And Normand is excellent in this film, establishing her status as silent era's first lady of comedy.

And we do have a great comedy. Full of suspense, 'Mickey' is never tiring, never boring. We are to witness the adventures of a mine-owner young girl, who cares for mining as much as donkeys care for belts being pushed down their throats. She is a mischievous child who, even when she is brought in the rich household of her aunt in the East, never tires to be a child. Yet it is remarkable what love can do.

The supporting cast is all first rate, with Wheeler Oakman, George Nichols, Minnie Devereaux or Laura La Varnie, all delivering some great comedic performances that seem to be untouched by the axe of time. But they are all there for Normand, who does everything from jumping nude into the water to riding horses and some impressive high altitude stunts. She was one of a kind, and 'Mickey' is there to prove it.

6 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
A Lively, Engaging Performance By Mabel Normand, 4 August 2005
Author: Snow Leopard from Ohio

Mabel Normand gives a very lively, engaging performance that makes "Mickey" an entertaining movie with several other strengths. The supporting cast all help out as well, and the story effectively moves back-and-forth between the backwoods and the big city. It combines comedy and melodrama effectively, and while it contains mostly familiar elements, it's the kind of movie that is quite enjoyable to watch.

The role of "Mickey" gives Normand some good material to work with, and as always she is sympathetic and charming. Part of the story is set in a mining settlement, where Mickey is right at home, and part of it moves into high society, where she is ill at ease. Both settings are believable and make good backdrops for comedy, and both are also used to bring things out about Mickey and the other characters.

The supporting cast, which includes Wheeler Oakman as Mickey's suitor, has its own comic moments, and Minta Durfee gives an effective performance as the snobbish society girl who is Mickey's romantic rival.

While none of the components of "Mickey" are especially imaginative or innovative, they are all of good quality. It all fits together to make an enjoyable movie.

3 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
In the right vein, 26 May 2010

Author: hte-trasme from United States

Mack Sennett had a strong reputation for producing wild, violent, fast- paced slapstick that often got its laughs without even a superficial attempt to make sense. He got that reputation for the simple reason that it's true. However, it's interesting to see how when Sennett knew he had on his hands a comedian whose laughs come from subtleties or reactions rather than fast antics, he knows to slacken the pace. That was true with many of the brilliant Harry Langdon shorts he would produce later, and it is true here in "Mickey" with Mabel Normand.

Mabel is the star and it is she on which the movie turns. She steals every scene she appears in and has infinite screen magnetism, with her attractive, fascinating face, constantly changing expression, and childlike and uninhibited yet somehow ironic manner. The greatest moments of comedy come in little bits of performance, as Mabel comes up with many ingenious ways to hide dust she has swept up, or simply can't resist eating cherries off a cake.

That said, there are not actually a lot of scenes of overt comedy in this film, and sometimes when there is overt comedy it comes out as a digression or bit of broad slapstick that is well-executed but has a different feel -- the battle in the country store (which looks a lot like the one Arbuckle worked at in "The Butcher Boy") over Mable's dog or the animal the scurries up her pantleg. It's not actually an uproariously funny film, but doesn't usually try to be, and it's always pleasant.

The plot is simple and of a kind that has spawned infinite variations. Mabel is a rough-hewn girl from a miner town who loves playing with animals and skinny dipping (from a very wide angle); she is sent to her rich aunt and becomes involved in a kind of love square through no fault of her own. It's really as much melodrama as anything else, but it comes off. There are plenty of twists, especially as the end draws near, involving who is rich and who is poor when; these remain able to keep the interest, and make a kind of commentary too, intentional or not, on the true insignificance of wealth.

This has been cited as the first feature-length comedy starring a single comedian rather than an ensemble cast, but even so it feels fairly developed as a form, with decent pacing and plot developing in two places at once. This is a simple story well told, and really made by its star, who is well showcased.

2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Normand Keeps the Film Going, 21 September 2012
Author: Michael_Elliott from Louisville, KY

Mickey (1918)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

When Mack Sennett and Mabel Normand's personal relationship took a hit (two stories are out there), he tried to bring some peace by forming the Mabel Normand Feature Film Company, a separate division of Keystone. This new studio only turned out one film but it was a hit for the studio even after a disastrous production. In the film Normand plays Mickey, a poor girl helping her uncle in a worthless mine. Feeling she's all grown up, the uncle sends her to New York to live with an aunt hoping that she will turn the young lady into a woman. MICKEY is pretty predictable from start to finish and I even though some of the 74-minute running time dragged in spots. Still, it's easy to see that everything going on was just done so that Normand could shine and I think she does just that. There's no question that it's Normand who makes the film worth seeing due to her very strong performance. She's pleasant no matter what situation is in front of her. It could be the early tomboy stuff in the mines, the scenes where she's trying to figure out you don't sweep dirt under a rug or the scenes where she must make decisions for the rest of her life. Mabel is clearly the star of this picture and without her the bland story would have killed any shot at an entertaining movie.

2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Mabel - "as beautiful as a spring morning", 31 May 2008

Author: kidboots from Australia

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

That's how Mack Sennett described her. She was very beautiful but also extremely talented. This was the first and only feature that was produced by Mack Sennett and Mabel Normand's production company. It was made in 1916 but not released, surprisingly until 1918. It was a huge hit but by then Mabel had already signed with Samuel Goldwyn.

Mickey (Mabel Normand) is a young tomboy whose gruff old guardian (George Nichols) owns a gold mine. All the animals and most of the town love Mickey. The proprietor of the general store doesn't like her dog and when he is bitten threatens to shoot the dog. There is a funny sequence as Mickey tries to hide the dog (probably Teddy, the Keystone dog) under the bed in a room that Herbert Thornhill (Wheeler Oakman) has just taken.

Mickey's guardian is determined to send her to distant relatives in New York so she can become a lady. Unbeknown to him they are not wealthy and are eyeing Mabel's mine with greed. They have sent Herbert down to evaluate the mine and welcome Mickey with open arms thinking she is rich. Minta Durfee (wife of Fatty Arbuckle) plays Mickey's cousin, who is also making a play for Herbert.

When they find out she is poor they put her to work as a skivvy. After a hilarious scene where she borrows an evening gown and cuts a caper with cousin Reggie (Lew Cody) she is sent home. No sooner has she left than a telegram arrives telling that gold has been found in the mine!!

The aunt then kidnaps her off the train. There are some hilarious parts. Mabel looks very fetching - whether down at the mines or in society. Her scenes with the animals are very cute - whether rescuing a cute kitten, hanging out with her faithful hound or being bothered by a pesky squirrel. There is a nude swimming scene, which would have been very risqué at the time. There is a big horse race at the end, there is a romantic interest (Wheeler Oakman) and a dashing cad (Lew Cody, who would marry Mabel years later).

The DVD I have is from Unknown Video and has (although I am not quite sure) original organ music played by Bob Vaughn featuring the song "Mickey". I would heartily recommend this movie.

3 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Everyone loves Mabel, 17 September 2002

Author: boblipton from New York City

Dogs love her, cats love her, jackasses love her and squirrels love to run up her pants legs. Well, who can blame them, right after a scene where she is shown diving nude.... with a suitably long lens of course. Darn it.

There is nothing terribly novel about this Cinderella story of a movie, but it is all carried off with a great deal of charm. Mabel even gets to cut a few capers, instead of simply looking charming while the comedians around her make a mess of things. She's not a great physical comedian, but she is a fine actress and under the direction of comedy *wunderkind* Richard Jones, she gives a fine performance, as does just about everyone in this movie.

Comedy Works, Melodrama Less So, But With Mabel Who Cares?, 26 January 2013

Author: Jay Raskin from Orlando, United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

For almost an hour, Mabel Normand carries this film with delicious little bits of comedy. My two favorite scenes were Mabel getting a donkey to eat a strap, so her father doesn't beat her with it and her eating cherries off a cake and then denying it with her mouth full. We see why Mabel was called the Queen of comedy.

The last fifteen minutes slips into melodrama. Mabel did want desperately to be taken as a serious actress and so she was showing that she could do serious stuff too. Anybody who has seen her in D.W. Griffith's "Mender of Nets" knows that she was great at that too.

I found the transition from comedy to melodrama rather abrupt. I kept thinking of the irony that Lew Cody, the villain, in the film, turned out to be the man she married in real life. I have heard rumors that this was a marriage of convenience. Given the fact that their is so little chemistry between Cody and Mabel here, I now believe it. There is also unfortunately little chemistry between the lead actor and Mabel. She had far more chemistry with Charlie Chaplin and Roscoe Arbuckle as her leading men.

George Nichols is quite good as her fathers. Nichols directed four of Chaplin's earliest films at Keystone and Mabel directed at least three of them. Add Mack Sennett and you have the three people who are probably most responsible for Chaplin becoming a movie star.

This film is a must for any movie buff interested in silent cinema. Some other reviewer noted that it is the first feature comedy with a single star. Mabel beat Keaton "The Saphead" (1920), by two years, and Chaplin "The Kid" (1921) and Harold Lloyd "A Sailor Made Man" (1921) by three years to feature films. This film is one more reason we have to speak of the "five" great silent film clowns (and maybe six if we want to include Roscoe Arbuckle).

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