Little Miss Optimist

Last updated
Little Miss Optimist
Little Miss Optimist poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Robert Thornby
Screenplay byGardner Hunting
Starring Vivian Martin
Tom Moore
Charles West
Ernest Joy
Charles K. Gerrard
Helen Bray
Cinematography James Van Trees
Production
company
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date
  • August 26, 1917 (1917-08-26)
Running time
50 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageSilent (English intertitles)
Contemporary lobby card Littlemissoptimist-lobbycardA-notbw-1917.jpg
Contemporary lobby card

Little Miss Optimist is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by Robert Thornby and written by Gardner Hunting. The film stars Vivian Martin, Tom Moore, Charles West, Ernest Joy, Charles K. Gerrard, and Helen Bray. The film was released on August 26, 1917, by Paramount Pictures. [1] [2]

Contents

Plot

As described in a film magazine, [3] when the foster mother of Mazie-Rosie Carden (Martin) marries, she is forced to find another home. She is sent to Hope Mission where she is given a place to stay. A millionaire named West (Joy) is murdered in his home, and Mazie's brother Ben (West) is accused of the crime. Fear of the police drives Mazie to flee to a church where she hides for several days. On Sunday, she is forced to hide in the pulpit and from here she is able to identify the killer through a much damaged coin West had on his person at the time of his murder. With the real murderer brought to justice and her brother free, Mazie is happy. She discovers that she is loved by a young man whom she befriended when he first came to the town, and like a fairy tale they live happily ever after.

Cast

Reception

Like many American films of the time, Little Miss Optimist was subject to cuts by city and state film censorship boards. The Chicago Board of Censors cut two views of a stamp (the board always cut close-ups of envelopes), and scenes of the murder striking man on his head with a bronze, man striking Carden with the bronze, and two theft scenes. [4]

Related Research Articles

The Guilty Man is a lost 1918 American silent drama film directed by Irvin Willat and starring William Garwood, Vivian Reed, and Gloria Hope. The film was based on a play by Charles Klein.

<i>Nan of Music Mountain</i> 1917 film

Nan of Music Mountain is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by George Melford and Cecil B. DeMille. The film is based on Frank H. Spearman's novel of the same name and stars Wallace Reid and Anna Little.

<i>The Whispering Chorus</i> 1918 film

The Whispering Chorus is a 1918 American silent psychological drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. It is the first and earliest film was considered a psychological drama.

<i>The Brass Bullet</i> 1918 film

The Brass Bullet is a 1918 American adventure film serial directed by Ben F. Wilson. It is now considered to be a lost film.

<i>The Bulls Eye</i> (serial) 1917 film

The Bull's Eye is a 1917 American film serial directed by James W. Horne. It is now considered to be a lost film.

<i>The House of Hate</i> 1918 film

The House of Hate is a 1918 American film serial directed by George B. Seitz, produced when many early film studios in America's first motion picture industry were based in Fort Lee, New Jersey.

<i>The Legion of Death</i> 1918 film

The Legion of Death is a 1918 American drama film directed by Tod Browning, and released by Metro Pictures Corporation.

Justice is a 1917 British silent crime film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Gerald du Maurier, Hilda Moore, and Lilian Braithwaite. It was based on the 1910 play Justice by John Galsworthy. It is not known whether the film currently survives, which suggests that it is a lost film.

<i>The Rise of Jennie Cushing</i> 1917 American film

The Rise of Jennie Cushing is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by Maurice Tourneur, produced by Famous Players-Lasky, and distributed by Artcraft Pictures, an affiliate of Paramount Pictures. The story based upon the novel The Rise of Jennie Cushing by Mary Watts and stars Broadway's Elsie Ferguson. The film marked Ferguson's second motion picture. It is a lost film.

<i>Rimrock Jones</i> 1918 film

Rimrock Jones is a lost 1918 American silent Western film directed by Donald Crisp and starring Wallace Reid.

<i>On the Level</i> (1917 film) 1917 film

On the Level is a lost 1917 American silent Western film directed by George Melford and written by Marion Fairfax and Charles Kenyon. The film stars Fannie Ward, Jack Dean, Harrison Ford, Lottie Pickford, James Cruze, and Jim Mason. The film was released on September 10, 1917, by Paramount Pictures.

<i>Exile</i> (1917 film) 1917 American film

Exile is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by Maurice Tourneur and written by Charles E. Whittaker based upon the 1916 Dolf Wyllarde novel. The film stars Olga Petrova, Wyndham Standing, Mahlon Hamilton, Warren Cook, Charles Martin, and Violet Reed. The film was released in September 1917, by Paramount Pictures. It is not known whether the film currently survives, which suggests that it is a lost film.

<i>The Trouble Buster</i> 1917 American film

The Trouble Buster is a lost 1917 American drama silent film directed by Frank Reicher, written by Tom Forman and Gardner Hunting, and starring Vivian Martin, James Neill, Paul Willis, Charles West, Louise Harris, and Mary Mersch. It was released on October 8, 1917, by Paramount Pictures.

<i>The Call of the East</i> 1917 American film directed by George Melford

The Call of the East is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by George Melford and written by Beulah Marie Dix. The film stars Sessue Hayakawa, Tsuru Aoki, Jack Holt, Margaret Loomis, James Cruze, and Ernest Joy. The film was released on October 15, 1917, by Paramount Pictures. It is not known whether the film currently survives, which suggests that it is a lost film.

<i>The Son of His Father</i> 1917 silent film by Victor Schertzinger

The Son of His Father is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by Victor Schertzinger and written by Ridgwell Cullum. The film stars Charles Ray, Vola Vale, Robert McKim, George Nichols, Charles K. French, and J. P. Lockney. The film was released on October 22, 1917, by Paramount Pictures.

<i>Who Is Number One?</i> 1917 American film

Who Is Number One? is a 1917 American silent mystery film serial directed by William Bertram and written by Anna Katharine Green. The film stars Kathleen Clifford, Cullen Landis, Gordon Sackville, Neil Hardin, Bruce Smith, and Ethel Ritchie. The film serial was released on October 29, 1917, by Paramount Pictures. It is presumed to be a lost film.

<i>The Fair Barbarian</i> 1917 American film

The Fair Barbarian is a 1917 American silent comedy film directed by Robert Thornby and written by Edith M. Kennedy, based on an 1881 novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett. The film stars Vivian Martin, Clarence Geldart, Douglas MacLean, Jane Wolfe, Josephine Crowell, and Mae Busch. The film was released on December 17, 1917, by Paramount Pictures. It is not known whether the film currently survives.

<i>Jules of the Strong Heart</i> 1918 American film

Jules of the Strong Heart is a lost 1918 American silent drama film directed by Donald Crisp and written by William Merriam Rouse, Frank X. Finnegan' and Harvey F. Thew. The film stars George Beban, Helen Jerome Eddy, Charles Ogle, Raymond Hatton, Guy Oliver, and Ernest Joy. The film was released on January 14, 1918, by Paramount Pictures.

<i>Viviette</i> 1918 American film

Viviette is a 1918 American silent drama film directed by Walter Edwards, written by Julia Crawford Ivers and William J. Locke, and starring Vivian Martin, Eugene Pallette, Harrison Ford, Kate Toncray, Clara Whipple, and Donald Blakemore. It was released on June 9, 1918, by Paramount Pictures.

<i>The Sunset Trail</i> (1917 film) 1917 film by George Melford

The Sunset Trail is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by George Melford, written by Beulah Marie Dix and Alice McIver, and starring Vivian Martin, Henry A. Barrows, William Elmer, Harrison Ford, Charles Ogle, and Carmen Phillips. The picture was released on October 13, 1917, by Paramount Pictures.

References

  1. ↑ Janiss Garza (2015). "Little-Miss-Optimist - Trailer - Cast - Showtimes - NYTimes.com". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . Baseline & All Movie Guide. Archived from the original on 4 January 2015. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  2. ↑ "Little Miss Optimist". AFI. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  3. ↑ "Reviews: Little Miss Optimist". Exhibitors Herald. New York: Exhibitors Herald Company. 5 (9): 30. August 25, 1917.
  4. ↑ "Official Cut-Outs by the Chicago Board of Censors". Exhibitors Herald. 5 (10): 33. September 1, 1917. Retrieved 2015-07-14.


Drama film icon.svg

This 1910s drama film-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.