Absolutely brilliant

Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.

Blistering performances.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

"M'Liss" is a pleasant, if pointless, Marry Pickford vehicle. In it, the then-26-year-old played a mischievous teenage mountain girl who sports a slingshot. Mary often played child roles, but it's somewhat unseemly here considering that little time elapses between her character placing a doll in a coffin and grave to her and her schoolmaster falling in love. Today's audiences might also find it interesting to see in the film a public classroom where Bible stories appear to be the main curriculum (and Mary is amusing playing the skeptic)."M'Liss" is a mostly breezy and light film, but it would've benefited from further shortening, namely in the plentiful number of title cards. Scenarist Frances Marion deserved much credit for helping to launch Mary's stardom and typecasting her in child roles, beginning with "The Poor Little Rich Girl", and Marion is one of the most important screenwriters in film history, but in the silent era, she sometimes had the vice of talking too much. The subplot of inheritance from a rich relative, which helps tack on a happy ending, was also unnecessary.

Not surprisingly, Mary Pickford plays a teenager in this film, though at the time she was 28. She played a young girl or teen in most of her movies of the period and the audiences of the day ate them up--making her the biggest film star of the day. While today you might laugh at the idea of a woman playing such childish roles, they were often very, very good--such as in "Sparrows" and "Daddy Long Legs". This one, however, is very far from her best. While it's enjoyable enough to make it worth seeing, the film lacks the charm of most of her other full-length films.Mary plays a "Tom boy" in this film--again, a pretty familiar role. However, seeing her running about shooting everyone with a slingshot and the infusion of so much humor (or, attempted humor) make this one a bit harder to enjoy.Her father is an alcoholic who she loves despite this. Oddly, after drinking heavily, the film says he is having a case of the D.T.s--like it is funny! First, D.T.s occur when you are withdrawing from alcohol--not when you are intoxicated. Second, the condition often resulted in death! Not exactly a funny topic for the film! In another part of the country, a rich man has just died. However, his servants are evil and conspire to locate the long-lost heiress (the simple poor girl, Mary Pickford) and steal her fortune. And, in the process, they end up framing the poor old school teacher--and the locals are thrilled with the idea of a hanging! Will the nice school teacher escape the crazed mob? Will Mary get what's rightfully hers? Will the town get some sort of "necktie party" to give them what they want? Tune in to see.The film has a few problems other than Mary's penchant for using her slingshot. First, the way the innocent school teacher got convicted seemed a bit silly. Second, there is a romance at the end between Mary and the school teacher that seemed to come from out of no where--plus it seemed a bit inappropriate due to her age and his position as her teacher. Overall, a bit of a disappointment. Whatchable but not especially good or deep.

This adaptation of the Bret Harte story is a ready-made vehicle for Mary Pickford, with a blend of comedy and melodrama that allows her to perform a lot of different material. Although there are some serious story developments, the tone is usually kept rather light, and Pickford is as engaging as ever.The story has her playing a wild daughter of a now-destitute miner, meeting the town's new schoolteacher, and contending with a plot to deprive her father of an inheritance. Actually, some of the incidental sequences are the best, and give her the best opportunities to develop her character while entertaining the audience.Theodore Roberts is sympathetic as the father, Thomas Meighan is solid as the schoolteacher, and some of the other cast members get an occasional good moment. The story largely follows a familiar formula, but it works, and it provides good entertainment with a great leading actress.

It may not be Pickford's best movie, but it's definitely her cutest. I can't help but be a little biased, however: I always felt that her melodramas were a little too dated, and the ones that really last are these scantily plotted, silly comedies that don't take themselves too seriously.It's priceless to see her "hold up" a stagecoach with a sling shot, or wonder what "-??-" means when put between "none of your" and "business." (They already showed a willingness to print "damn," so that narrows it down.)The inter titles are funny, although in a silent film they don't have to be, and the supporting characters are just as fun to watch as Mary. It's on the "Heart o' the Hills" DVD that came out in '05 as only a special feature, but it's the more enjoyable of the two.