Pollyanna
Release date: 1920-01-18
Votes: 20
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Family
When Pollyanna is orphaned, she's sent to live with her crotchety Aunt Polly. Pollyanna discovers that many of the people in her aunt's New England hometown are as ill-tempered as her aunt. But Pollyanna's incurable optimism - exemplified by her "glad game", in which she looks for the bright side of every situation - brings a change to the staid old community.
Reviews
Peter McGinn
It seems unfair to even review a movie like this. After all, I didn’t find it to be particularly entertaining and I didn’t feel the adaptation from the book was done well. That usually would translate into a low rating for a film, right? But I don’t feel it is appropriate to pan a movie that was made 100 years ago. The film industry was in its infancy and indeed, the world was a different place. I would want to see a lot of the other silent movies before I even attempt a critical review. Lacking that, I will just make some observations about stuff I found interesting. This version begins showing a scene not in the book. In fact, we are ten minutes into the film before we get to where the book starts. It might have been done to establish the nature of Pollyanna and to show her father dying, an event not specifically described in the book. I didn’t quite buy into Pickford looking like a young girl, as others seem to have done. She has the body shape and size to play a child, but her face screams adult to me. That is odd, as some pictures of Mary Pickford do look rather young to me. Perhaps the make-up needed on film worked against the character’s age. I often think modern movies utilize actresses who are too beautiful to portray a plain woman, sometimes having her transform into a more beautiful lady. But oddly, I thought the Aunt Polly actress was too plain, so that when her hair was done up, there seemed to be no improvement to my eyes. That was weird. There are cute scenes here and there. I am guessing Pickford enjoyed physical humor. She leaps around like a young girl, and her face was expressive. It did jar me when she used the phrase “wife beater.” That didn’t seem like Pollyanna. I guess the script is also based on a play being performed at the time. Perhaps it came from that, which would be seen by more adults. This is an hour long, so they did the best they could developing the plot under such a time constraint. As I said, my rating is probably meaningless in this case. I would have rated it lower based only on how entertained I was, but perhaps higher if I knew more about the quality and production value of other silent movies of this era.
Movie Recommendation
A Forest Is Swaying1982-01-01"A Forest is Swaying" is the story of a former soldier (Pak Sŏng-ryong) who struggles to plant a pine forest and raise and orphaned child in an area devastated by American bombs in the Fatherland Liberation War (Korean War). A young agricultural expert comes to judge the work Pak has been doing. She finds that it is impossible to have a pine forest in this area, and surmises that he should plant other trees instead. He continues to plant pine trees regardless of her advice.More...
The Huntsman: Winter's War2016-04-06As two evil sisters prepare to conquer the land, two renegades—Eric the Huntsman, who aided Snow White in defeating Ravenna in Snowwhite and the Huntsman, and his forbidden lover, Sara—set out to stop them.More...
The DUFF2015-02-20Bianca's universe turns upside down when she learns that her high school refers to her as a ‘DUFF' (Designated Ugly Fat Friend). Hoping to erase that label, she enlists the help of a charming jock and her favorite teacher. Together they'll face the school's mean girl and remind everyone that we are all someone's DUFF… and that's totally fine.More...
Justice League: Throne of Atlantis2015-01-13After the events of Justice League: War, Ocean Master and Black Manta have declared a war against the surface in retaliation of the aftermath of Apokoliptian-tyrant Darkseid's planetary invasion. Queen Atlanna seeks out her other son, Ocean Master’s half-brother Arthur Curry, a half-human with aquatic powers with no knowledge of his Atlantean heritage, to restore balance. Living with powers he doesn’t understand and seeing the danger around him, Curry takes steps to embrace his destiny, joining the Justice League, and with his new teammates he battles to save Earth from total destruction.More...
Star Trek Beyond2016-07-07The USS Enterprise crew explores the furthest reaches of uncharted space, where they encounter a mysterious new enemy who puts them and everything the Federation stands for to the test.More...
How to Train Your Dragon 22014-06-05Five years have passed since Hiccup and Toothless united the dragons and Vikings of Berk. Now, they spend their time charting unmapped territories. During one of their adventures, the pair discover a secret cave that houses hundreds of wild dragons -- and a mysterious dragon rider. Now, Hiccup and Toothless find themselves at the center of a battle to protect Berk from a power-hungry warrior.More...
Pitch Perfect 22015-05-07The Bellas are back, and they are better than ever. After being humiliated in front of none other than the President of the United States of America, the Bellas are taken out of the Aca-Circuit. In order to clear their name, and regain their status, the Bellas take on a seemingly impossible task: winning an international competition no American team has ever won. In order to accomplish this monumental task, they need to strengthen the bonds of friendship and sisterhood and blow away the competition with their amazing aca-magic! With all new friends and old rivals tagging along for the trip, the Bellas can hopefully accomplish their dreams.More...
I Give It a Year2013-02-08After a quick courtship, two lovers hastily decide to tie the knot. As their first year of marriage unfolds, temptation and incompatibility put their relationship in jeopardy.More...
Serial (Bad) Weddings 22019-01-30Claude and Marie Verneuil face a new crisis. The four spouses of their daughters, David, Rachid, Chao and Charles decided to leave France for various reasons. Here they are imagining their lives elsewhere.More...
Ghost in the Shell2017-03-29In the near future, Major is the first of her kind: a human saved from a terrible crash, then cyber-enhanced to be a perfect soldier devoted to stopping the world's most dangerous criminals.More...
Resident Evil: Retribution2012-09-12The Umbrella Corporation’s deadly T-virus continues to ravage the Earth, transforming the global population into legions of the flesh eating Undead. The human race’s last and only hope, Alice, awakens in the heart of Umbrella’s most clandestine operations facility and unveils more of her mysterious past as she delves further into the complex. Without a safe haven, Alice continues to hunt those responsible for the outbreak; a chase that takes her from Tokyo to New York, Washington, D.C. and Moscow, culminating in a mind-blowing revelation that will force her to rethink everything that she once thought to be true. Aided by new found allies and familiar friends, Alice must fight to survive long enough to escape a hostile world on the brink of oblivion. The countdown has begun.More...
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith2005-05-17The evil Darth Sidious enacts his final plan for unlimited power – and the heroic Jedi Anakin Skywalker must choose a side.More...
Pixels2015-07-16Video game experts are recruited by the military to fight 1980s-era video game characters who've attacked New York.More...
Jurassic World2015-06-06Twenty-two years after the events of Jurassic Park, Isla Nublar now features a fully functioning dinosaur theme park, Jurassic World, as originally envisioned by John Hammond.More...
Firehouse Dog2007-04-04Rexxx, Hollywood's top canine star, gets lost and is adopted into a shabby firehouse. He teams up with a young kid to get the station back on its feet.More...
Resident Evil: Afterlife2010-09-01In a world ravaged by a virus infection, turning its victims into the Undead, Alice continues on her journey to find survivors and lead them to safety. Her deadly battle with the Umbrella Corporation reaches new heights, but Alice gets some unexpected help from an old friend. A new lead that promises a safe haven from the Undead takes them to Los Angeles, but when they arrive the city is overrun by thousands of Undead - and Alice and her comrades are about to step into a deadly trap.More...
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows2016-06-01After supervillain Shredder escapes custody, he joins forces with mad scientist Baxter Stockman and two dimwitted henchmen, Bebop and Rocksteady, to unleash a diabolical plan to take over the world. As the Turtles prepare to take on Shredder and his new crew, they find themselves facing an even greater evil with similar intentions: the notorious Krang.More...
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales2017-05-23Thrust into an all-new adventure, a down-on-his-luck Capt. Jack Sparrow feels the winds of ill-fortune blowing even more strongly when deadly ghost sailors led by his old nemesis, the evil Capt. Salazar, escape from the Devil's Triangle. Jack's only hope of survival lies in seeking out the legendary Trident of Poseidon, but to find it, he must forge an uneasy alliance with a brilliant and beautiful astronomer and a headstrong young man in the British navy.More...
Arthur and the Revenge of Maltazard2009-11-26Arthur answers a distress call from Princess Selenia, who is menaced by the nefarious Maltazard.More...
The Last Witch Hunter2015-10-21The modern world holds many secrets, but by far the most astounding is that witches still live among us; vicious supernatural creatures intent on unleashing the Black Death upon the world and putting an end to the human race once and for all. Armies of witch hunters have battled this unnatural enemy for centuries, including Kaulder, a valiant warrior who many years ago slayed the all-powerful Witch Queen, decimating her followers in the process. In the moments right before her death, the Queen cursed Kaulder with immortality, forever separating him from his beloved wife and daughter. Today, Kaulder is the last living hunter who has spent his immortal life tracking down rogue witches, all the while yearning for his long-lost family.More...
Similar Movies
Basquiat
1996-08-09The brief life of Jean Michel Basquiat, a world renowned New York street artist struggling with fame, drugs and his identity.Dogville
2003-05-21A woman on the run from the mob is reluctantly accepted in a small Colorado community in exchange for labor, but when a search visits the town, she learns that their support has a price.The Cuckoo
2002-10-25September of 1944, a few days before Finland went out of the Second World War. A chained to a rock Finnish sniper-kamikadze Veikko managed to set himself free. Ivan, a captain of the Soviet Army, arrested by the Front Secret Police 'Smersh', has a narrow escape. They are soldiers of the two enemy armies. A Lapp woman Anni gives a shelter to both of them at her farm. For Anni they are not enemies, but just men.Dances with Wolves
1990-03-30Wounded Civil War soldier John Dunbar tries to commit suicide—and becomes a hero instead. As a reward, he's assigned to his dream post, a remote junction on the Western frontier, and soon makes unlikely friends with the local Sioux tribe.The Terminal
2004-06-17An Eastern European tourist unexpectedly finds himself stranded in JFK airport, and must take up temporary residence there.The Birth of a Nation...
1915-03-08Two families, abolitionist Northerners the Stonemans and Southern landowners the Camerons, intertwine. When Confederate colonel Ben Cameron is captured in battle, nurse Elsie Stoneman petitions for his pardon. In Reconstruction-era South Carolina, Cameron founds the Ku Klux Klan, battling Elsie's congressman father and his African-American protégé, Silas Lynch.Trainspotting
1996-02-23Heroin addict Mark Renton stumbles through bad ideas and sobriety attempts with his unreliable friends --Sick Boy, Begbie, Spud and Tommy. He also has an underage girlfriend, Diane, along for the ride. After cleaning up and moving from Edinburgh to London, Mark finds he can't escape the life he left behind as Begbie and Sick Boy come knocking.Sunrise: A Song of Tw...
1927-11-04A married farmer falls under the spell of a slatternly woman from the city, who tries to convince him to drown his wife.When Harry Met Sally....
1989-07-12Sex always gets in the way of friendships between men and women. At least, that's what Harry Burns believes. So when Harry meets Sally Albright and a deep friendship blossoms between them, Harry's determined not to let his attraction to Sally destroy it. But when a night of weakness ends in a morning of panic, can the pair avoid succumbing to Harry's fears by remaining friends and admitting they just might be the perfect match for each other?Wilbur Wants to Kill ...
2002-11-08The strange comedy film of two close brothers; one, Wilbur, who wants to kill himself, and the other, Harbour, who tries to prevent this. When their father dies leaving them his bookstore they meet a woman who makes their lives a bit better yet with a bit more trouble as well.Knockin' on Heaven's ...
1997-02-20Two young men, Martin and Rudi, both suffering from terminal cancer, get to know each other in a hospital room. They drown their desperation in tequila and decide to take one last trip to the sea. Drunk and still in pajamas they steal the first fancy car they find, a 60's Mercedes convertible. The car happens to belong to a bunch of gangsters, which immediately start to chase it, since it contains more than the pistol Martin finds in the glove box.Maybe... Maybe Not
1994-10-05The heterosexual man Axel is thrown out of his girlfriends home for cheating and ends up moving in with a gay man. Axel learns the advantages of living with gay men even though they are attracted to him and when his girlfriend wants him back he must make a tough decision.The Big Blue
1988-05-10Two men answer the call of the ocean in this romantic fantasy-adventure. Jacques and Enzo are a pair of friends who have been close since childhood, and who share a passion for the dangerous sport of free diving. Professional diver Jacques opted to follow in the footsteps of his father, who died at sea when Jacques was a boy; to the bewilderment of scientists, Jacques harbors a remarkable ability to adjust his heart rate and breathing pattern in the water, so that his vital signs more closely resemble that of dolphins than men. As Enzo persuades a reluctant Jacques to compete against him in a free diving contest -- determining who can dive deeper and longer without scuba gear -- Jacques meets Johana, a beautiful insurance investigator from America, and he finds that he must choose between his love for her and his love of the sea.Dead Poets Society
1989-06-02At an elite, old-fashioned boarding school in New England, a passionate English teacher inspires his students to rebel against convention and seize the potential of every day, courting the disdain of the stern headmaster.Berlin is in Germany
2001-11-01When Martin, a former GDR citizen, is released from jail, he lately becomes confronted with the consequences of the German re-unification.The Cabinet of Dr. Ca...
1920-02-27Francis, a young man, recalls in his memory the horrible experiences he and his fiancée Jane recently went through. Francis and his friend Alan visit The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, an exhibit where the mysterious doctor shows the somnambulist Cesare, and awakens him for some moments from his death-like sleep.Stand by Me
1986-08-08After learning that a boy their age has been accidentally killed near their rural homes, four boys decide to go see the body. On the way, Gordie, Vern, Chris and Teddy encounter a mean junk man and a marsh full of leeches, as they also learn more about one another and their very different home lives. Just a lark at first, the boys' adventure evolves into a defining event in their lives.Muriel's Wedding
1994-09-29Socially awkward Muriel Heslop wants nothing more than to get married. Unfortunately, due to her oppressive politician father, Muriel has never even been on a date. Ostracized by her more socially adept friends, Muriel runs into fellow outcast Rhonda Epinstalk, and the two move from their small Australian town to the big city of Sydney, where Muriel changes her name and begins the arduous task of redesigning her life to match her fantasies.About a Boy
2002-04-26Will Freeman is a good-looking, smooth-talking bachelor whose primary goal in life is avoiding any kind of responsibility. But when he invents an imaginary son in order to meet attractive single moms, Will gets a hilarious lesson about life from a bright, but hopelessly geeky 12-year-old named Marcus. Now, as Will struggles to teach Marcus the art of being cool, Marcus teaches Will that you're never too old to grow up.Am I OK?
2024-06-06Lucy and Jane have been best friends for most of their lives and think they know everything there is to know about each other. But when Jane announces she's moving to London, Lucy reveals a long-held secret. As Jane tries to help Lucy, their friendship is thrown into chaos.