This Bret Harte story was filmed in 1915 and 1918. While this sort of tale played reasonably well back in the day, by 1936 this sort of thing most likely was perceived as very old fashioned. On top of this, the 1918 version (with Mary Pickford) is one of her more disappointing films. So why did they bother remaking it? Perhaps the studio just wanted to capitalize on their latest find, Anne Shirley.
M'Liss is short for Melissa. She is daughter of the town drunk (Guy Kibbee)--a man who drank up his fortune and this has resulted in the family being tossed out of their nice home. But M'Liss is ever faithful to her no account dad because she's so gosh-darn sweet. In fact, she's so sweet everyone loves her except for a few jerk-faces in town--especially snotty Clytie (Barbara Pepper--Mrs. Ziffel from "Green Acres") and her nasty parents. So what's next for this sweet thing?
If you like saccharine films, then perhaps you'll like this one. But I felt that the script is dated, a bit heavy-handed and the romance was odd to say the least. You could easily find a better way to spend 90 minutes of your life.
M'Liss is short for Melissa. She is daughter of the town drunk (Guy Kibbee)--a man who drank up his fortune and this has resulted in the family being tossed out of their nice home. But M'Liss is ever faithful to her no account dad because she's so gosh-darn sweet. In fact, she's so sweet everyone loves her except for a few jerk-faces in town--especially snotty Clytie (Barbara Pepper--Mrs. Ziffel from "Green Acres") and her nasty parents. So what's next for this sweet thing?
If you like saccharine films, then perhaps you'll like this one. But I felt that the script is dated, a bit heavy-handed and the romance was odd to say the least. You could easily find a better way to spend 90 minutes of your life.