The New York Hat (1912)

Time to close out 1912 with a rather slight tale from D.W. Griffith, The New York Hat.  When a mother in a small town dies, she leaves money to the local pastor to buy her daughter all of the fine things she never could own. The pastor notices the girl admiring a fine, but expensive, hat from the big city and buys it for her.  Soon, the town gossips are speculating as to why their pastor would be purchasing such a gift for the beautiful young woman.  Can the pastor and the woman avoid the scandal?

Okay, as I said above, it is a slight tale.  The story itself attempts to be very dramatic, but (and it may be my modern sensibilities), it's just a hat.  In true sitcom fashion, the story hinges on characters postponing the conversations that provide the easy and obvious resolution.  The act that sets the drama of the story in motion shows a real naivete on the part of the pastor as he never stops to consider what a shop full of patrons might think of man of the cloth buying a woman's hat.

The positive I really find worth highlighting here is the acting. Griffith allows Mary Pickford room to act in the lead role and she does a remarkable job.  Her sadness as she pantomimes wearing the hat of her dreams is palpable despite the absence of soundand her joy and trepidation at receiving the gift are very well-conveyed.The movie features Pickford before she became the first real Hollywood celebrity.  It also showcases a young Lionel Barrymore, who hails from my hometown of Philadelphia and will go on to become one of the biggest stars of the 1920s.

So long 1912!

Random fact speculation:  Do not know this for certain, but the girl's apartment appears to be the same apartment from The Musketeers of Pig Alley, which would be the first reused set I have noticed.