It seems that Mary Pickford and writer Frances Marion both disliked this film and found it cloying, so my feelings about the film are not coming from out in left field! However, I STILL liked the film despite poor writing.
Mary plays the title character--an unrealistically chipper and nice young lady who always seems to find the good in everything. The problem was not the ridiculousness of the character (though she was), but that how the intertitle cards were written and how everything was 100% telegraphed. In other words, instead of just SHOWING Pollyanna being optimistic and sweet, the film literally kept telling us this again and again--not just in the intertitle cards but in how everyone talked about her. So, when Pollyanna would talk down the street, people would make comments like "Wow...that Pollyanna...she's ALWAYS so sweet and optimistic"!! It all came off a bit like drivel...BUT Mary Pickford's characters still were so endearing that even though this comes off a bit heavy-handed, it still was a sweet film despite its shortcomings.
While this film is very much like most of Pickford's full-length films, it is perhaps among the most schmaltzy. But, the acting is still generally good and the film is technically well made, so I say watch it anyway! By the way, if you do, get a load of the turnip sequence--you'll know what I mean when you see it!
