Heart O' the Hills

Released December 1, 1919, Heart O' the Hills, now available on DVD from Milestone Film & Video, was adapted from a story by John Fox, Jr. Mary Pickford is Mavis Hawn, a wild Kentuckian girl born and raised in the mountains. She is introduced holding a rifle, practicing for the day when she is finally able to confront the unknown person responsible for her father's death. Her mother's farm is soon threatened by rich city businessmen who want to run off all the mountain folk off their newly acquired coal-rich lands. This inspires Mavis to lead a resistance of sorts that becomes a metaphor for her growth from a wild child to a responsible woman. Soon she is confronting a group of capitalist interlopers on her property with a rifle (holding it quite convincingly and confidently), and in another scene, standing up to her mother by refusing to be subjected to a punishing switch on the back. Both scenes are symbolic moments where the mountain girl has grown up into her father's daughter. Mary adjusts to wearing the pants in the family even further by leading a raid against the lowlanders. In one of the few uncomfortable moments, the raiders disguise themselves by wearing white sheets, although they are never actually identified as members of a certain infamous, clandestine Southern group. Pickford's Mavis Hawn character was another opportunity for Pickford to scrub off a little bit of the luster of her squeaky-clean, virginal typecast, thanks to one of Frances Marion's best scripts for Pickford. It is also an excellent example of Pickford's fine comedic performing. Take a look at a scene where she is tried for murder. In what is expected to be a pathos-filled moment of dread instead turns into an opportunity for some subtle comedic acting. In what we could now call a "Spartacus," practically the entire courtroom, including the jury, stands up and confesses guilt in the murder, in support of Mavis. Startled by this unexpected turn of events, you can see the gamut of emotions wash across Pickford's face, sometimes all at once--fear, acceptance, confusion, amusement, determination, and relief to be exonerated. In Photoplay magazine's February 1920 review, a critic said of her performance, "Mary Pickford...once more enters her physical descriptions with the fury of a novice who has everything to gain and nothing to lose...and the painstaking care and cunning detail of the celebrated performer who has everything to lose and very little to gain. Charles Rosher's camera is expert at capturing the mixture of light and shadows from trees and mountain passes. Kevin Brownlow, author of the indispensable book Mary Pickford Remembered, described the film's unique look: "The entire film has a feeling of warm sun and fresh air - you can practically smell the pine needles. And when Charles Rosher photographs Mary, her golden hair bathed in the late afternoon light - one feels quite awestruck." In addition to Rosher's naturalistic camera, there is also a depth to many of the scenes that underscore this film's commitment to looking like a page right out of a Great Smokey Mountains travelogue. One critic is quoted in Brownlow's book raving about the film's authenticity, "It has been my privilege at one time in life to study these people and I wish to congratulate Miss Pickford here and now upon the faithfulness with which the characters of the play have been assembled and presented." The one bonus feature is indeed a bonus feature: the 1918 feature M'LISS, also written by Frances Marion and directed by one of Pickford's most important directors, Marshall Neilan, a protege of D.W. Griffith. And one of the best features of Heart O' The Hills is the wonderful, bluegrass-inspired score by Maria Newman and the New Millenium String Quartet. It is a marvelous addition to a marvelous example of Mary Pickford's artistry. For more information about Heart O' the Hills, visit Milestone Films. To order Heart O' the Hills, go to TCM Shopping. by Scott McGee