The film begins with a society lady agreeing to marry a man--even though the rich guy tells her that he hates kids and wants to send the lady's child away! She leaves the child with a family of farmers in Belgium and doesn't come back to get her for many years. When she finally gets around to it and says how much she missed the child (who is now played by Mary Pickford), but the farmers love Mary and can't stand to see her go back to a family that really didn't want her. So, they lie and tell the mother that Mary has died!
More years pass and WWI is approaching. So, to keep Mary safe, the family sends her to America after explaining to her that she'll stay with Madame Reeves. She gives her a letter top give Mrs. Reeves but somehow this gets misplaced.
Along the way to the boat, she picks up two war orphans and brings them with her. Mary doesn't realize it, but Reeves is her biological mother, nor does Reeves realize this. Instead of treating her like family, Mary is one of her maids.
Over the years, Mrs. Reeves has blamed her husband for making her give up her child. There's an obvious chill in their relationship and he's now making eyes at other women (nice guy, huh?). One of these women is Mrs. Brewster, whose husband is played by a younger and dashing Adolphe Menjou. However, the Brewsters tell everyone that they are brother and sister and they plan on conning Reeves out of his money. Mary hears ab9out this and tells the Reeves--saving them from a serious scandal.
Just after saving the Reeves' butt, they discover who Mary really is. This leads to an amazingly satisfying and heart-warming conclusion. Every loose end is tied up very nicely and everyone (except the nasty old Brewsters) lives happily ever after. Some might find it all a tad schmaltzy, but the bottom line is that for a film from this era, it is sweet and satisfying. While the film is a bit hard to believe, it's clearly one of Pickford's best as well as one of the best of 1921.
More years pass and WWI is approaching. So, to keep Mary safe, the family sends her to America after explaining to her that she'll stay with Madame Reeves. She gives her a letter top give Mrs. Reeves but somehow this gets misplaced.
Along the way to the boat, she picks up two war orphans and brings them with her. Mary doesn't realize it, but Reeves is her biological mother, nor does Reeves realize this. Instead of treating her like family, Mary is one of her maids.
Over the years, Mrs. Reeves has blamed her husband for making her give up her child. There's an obvious chill in their relationship and he's now making eyes at other women (nice guy, huh?). One of these women is Mrs. Brewster, whose husband is played by a younger and dashing Adolphe Menjou. However, the Brewsters tell everyone that they are brother and sister and they plan on conning Reeves out of his money. Mary hears ab9out this and tells the Reeves--saving them from a serious scandal.
Just after saving the Reeves' butt, they discover who Mary really is. This leads to an amazingly satisfying and heart-warming conclusion. Every loose end is tied up very nicely and everyone (except the nasty old Brewsters) lives happily ever after. Some might find it all a tad schmaltzy, but the bottom line is that for a film from this era, it is sweet and satisfying. While the film is a bit hard to believe, it's clearly one of Pickford's best as well as one of the best of 1921.