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

Writers:

Hampton Del Ruth (story), J.G. Hawks

Stars:

Mabel Normand, George Nichols, Laura La Varnie

Cast

Cast overview:
Mabel Normand	...	Mickey
George Nichols	...	Joe Meadows (as George O. Nicholls)
Laura La Varnie	...	Mickey's Aunt - Mrs. Geoffrey Drake
Lew Cody	...	Reggie Drake (as Lewis J. Cody)
Minta Durfee	...	Elsie Drake (as Minta Durffy)
Wheeler Oakman	...	Herbert Thornhill
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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Plot Keywords:

slapstick comedy | orphan | horse racing | female protagonist | aunt niece relationship | 

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Taglines:

- Seven Parts -

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

August 1918 (USA)

Also Known As:

Micky

Filming Locations:

24th Street, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$125,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$17,200,000

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

Known by the same title in Denmark.

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Goofs

Immediately after skinny-dipping, Mickey is seen with fully dry hair.

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Quotes

Mickey: She's my aunt - but she's got no use for me 'cause my mine's a flivver.

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Alternate Versions

The April 17, 1920 issue of Ciné Pour Tous claims the version released in France was shortened.

User Reviews

Spunky Gal, Wicked Witch, Cute Animals, Dashing Gentleman: "Mickey" Has It All

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.