Figure 1.--Little Lord Fauntleroy, Cedric Erol, was usually played by boys, but some actresses like America's sweetheart, Mary Pickford, also played him.

Plucked from the sloppy streets of 19th Century New York to live in a mammoth English estate, young Cedric finds himself swaddled in the trappings of wealth. He inocently proceeds to teach his dour and miserly grandfather, the Earl of Dorincourt, to once again embrace life and happiness. Film legend Mary Pickford, America's Sweetheart, plays both Little Lord Fauntleroy and his mother, in this early silent version. A double-exposure camera trick allows Mary Pickford to play two roles in this 1920s classic. I believe that this was the first film productions, at least the earliest one I know of. It was not unusual for a girl or young woman to play Little Lord Fauntleroy in many theatrical productions. This is the only film production, however, that I know of with Cedric played by a girl or woman. The costuming was quite close to that depicted by Reginald Birch in the first edition of Mrs. Burnett's book, long curls, elaborate lace collar, lace wrist trim, and sash. Mary's velvet pants were not kneepants, but worn above the knees. None of the latter films with boys playing the role had such elaborate costuming. Interestingly, Mary by this time was tiring of playing sickely-sweet little girl movie roles. I'm not sure what she thought of the Fauntleroy role.

Plot

Plucked from the sloppy streets of 19th Century New York to live in a mammoth English estate, young Cedric finds himself swaddled in the trappings of wealth. He inocently proceeds to teach his dour and miserly grandfather, the Earl of Dorincourt, to once again embrace life and happiness.

Figure 2.--While Mary's curls diverged from the original Reginald Birch drawings, her above the knee knickers were the costume he portrayed. Mary in this image is mugging it up with the monacle of Cedric's grandfather.

Mary Pickford

Film legend Mary Pickford was perhaps more responsible for popularizing the early film industry than any other actress and there were many legends in the early silent films. One film writer claims, "Hers was the face that launched 100 million film fans." Despite her position as "America's Sweetheat", Mary eas born in Canada. She was also a hard nosed businessman in contrast to her screen image. She was the first woman to make a million dollars. It was her acumen that launched United Artists--a challenge to the studios of the day who often treated actors unfairly. Pickford is one of the more neglected film pioneers. Until recently she was generally dismissed--perhaps because of her roles. There has been little serious scholarship on her and her movies. One of Mary Pickford's roles was a dual assignment playing both Little Lord Fauntleroy and his mother. Interestingly, Mary by this time was tiring of playing sickely-sweet little girl movie roles. I'm not sure what she thought of the Fauntleroy role. Mary was a talented and creative acctress. Much to her frustration, however, her many fans simply would not accept her as anything other than the stereotype of a beautiful, childish girl in need of resue.

Book

The film was of course based on the book of the same name by Frances Hogdsen Burnett. The story was first published in 1885 and proved enormously popular on both sides of the Atlantic. It was still being read in the 1920s. I do not know at this time how closely the film followed the actual plot of the book.

Filmography

I believe that this was the first film productions of Little Lord Fauntlero, at least the earliest one I know of. One of Mary Pickford's roles was a dual assignment playing both Little Lord Fauntleroy and his mother. This is the only film I know of where the same actress played both Cedric and his darling mother. This film in many ways was a mileston in film history. A double-exposure camera trick allows Mary Pickford to play two roles in this 1920s classic. The film was done by United Artists. It was directed by Alfred E. Green and Jack Pickford. Precision photography and special effects were developed for this film by the inovative Charles Rosher.

Figure 3.--I'm not sure who the boy is in this scene where Cedric has to learn to defend himself. Click on the image to see the result. It shows a colorized image from an advertisement for the film. Cedric seems to be giving the usurper a good hiding! He lerned how to fight did the boy! Who said Cedric was a a sissy! Gave me quite a laugh finding this."

Cast

It was not unusual for a girl or young woman to play Little Lord Fauntleroy in many early theatrical productions. I am not entirely sure why this was, but hair styling may have been a factor. This was not the case of the film versions. The Mary Pickford 1921 version is the only film production, however, that I know of with Cedric played by a girl or woman. Other important roles were played by Claude Gillingwater, Joseph Dowling, James Marcus, and Kate Price. In obe scene, Mary has a fight with another boy less elegantly attired, "Little Lord Fauntleroy better learn how to defend himself - he'll need to." I'm not sure who played the part of this boy. You can see him here (figure 3).

Costuming

The costuming seems quite close to that depicted by Reginald Birch in the first edition of Mrs. Burnett's book, long hair, elaborate lace collar, lace wrist trim, and sash. Mary wears a collar buttoning jacket rather than a cut-away jacket that was the classic Fauntleroy jacket. She also wears bloomer knickers rather than the knee pants tht were common in America. She wore long stockings, but they do not seem to be black stockings. One difference is that Mary wore her trade-mark curls. In fact many American boys who wore Fauntleroy did also wear ringlet curls. The Reginald Birch illustrations in the first edition of Mrs. Burnett book, however, show Cedric wearing straight uncurlled hair. While many boys who played the part in stage productions did wear ringlets, none of the boys who played the part in film productions wore ringlets. Mary's costume had above the knee kickers. This was how Cedric was pictured by Birch, although its not clear whether he is wearing kneepants or knickers. None of the latter films with boys playing Cedric had him wearing ringlet curls or above the knee knickers.

Figure 4.--Of course this version also has the dog which made friends with Cedric.

Created: July 27, 2001
Last updated: 8:41 PM 9/4/2007