100th Anniversary Screening: Pollyanna

Spend Valentine’s Day Weekend with America’s Sweetheart in her most iconic role! Plus a live musical act and live accompaniment by Retroformat Musical Director Cliff Retallick!

Directed by Paul Powell and based on Eleanor H. Parker’s 1913 novel of the same name, Pollyanna was the first Mary Pickford film released through the new company she co-founded with Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin and D.W. Griffith, United Artists. A blockbuster hit a century ago, Pollyanna grossed over a million 1920 dollars.

Charmingly nostalgic today, Pollyanna is also fast paced and well made. The 28-year-old star’s believability and charm as a 12-year-old make it easy to see why she was given the nickname, “America’s Sweetheart.” Also excellent are fifteen-year-old Howard Ralston as Jimmy and Katherine Griffith as surly Aunt Polly, whose nerves are rattled by Pollyanna’s cheerfulness.