The Dawn of a Tomorrow

Nattens skuggor [the title on print]. US 1915. PC: Famous Players Film Co. Original distributor: Paramount. Presented by Daniel Frohman. D: James Kirkwood. SC: Eve Unsell - based on the novel (1906) and play (1909) by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Starring Mary Pickford (Glad) David Powell (Dandy), Forrest Robinson (Sir Oliver Holt), Robert Cain (his nephew). Considered lost, a Swedish print of the film was found in 2005. Originally 1339 m, cut by the Swedish censor, preserved from a tinted print with Swedish intertitles, 1283 m /17 fps/ 66 min. Grand piano: Matti Bye. Presenta Jon Wengström. Viewed at Lumière 1, Bologna, 5 July 2008. - In the opening scene Mary is a bit like Eliza in Pygmalion / My Fair Lady. - "The poorest girl of London, and happiest" meets "the richest and the unhappiest man in England". The slum girl is surrounded by the rich young Holt and the poor Dandy. Mary overhears the burglary plan of her friends, and because of her plea Dandy withdraws. Mary also stops also an evicted lady from drowning, quoting the Sermon on the Mount. Mary meets the old, mortally ill Sir Oliver on a railway platform disguised as a poor man; she preaches him the sermon of life. - Typical Mary Pickford material, but mediocre and uninspired, far from the 10-20 great Mary Pickford masterpieces.