The School Teacher and the Waif

Little Mary Pickford plays in this picture a pathetic, but very attractive waif, "Mad-cap Madge," who is forced to go to school. She is a very original harem-scarem who is the butt of the other school children. The plot of the story is very simple. She falls in love with a traveling patent medicine man. The teacher (a man) saves her from making a false step and falls in love with her himself. In the way the changing situation is developed, and in the quality of the acting, there is much Biograph atmosphere, but while part is as fine as can be, parts (the schoolhouse scenes), are very conventional. The waif is a praiseworthy bit of work; the school teacher is disappointing. As a whole, for its story, for its human-nature, and for its scene-making, including photography, we commend it as an excellent offering. It will please. - The Moving Picture World, July 13, 1912