Little Miss Optimist
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Little Miss Optimist
| image = Little Miss Optimist poster.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = Robert Thornby
| producer =
| screenplay = Gardner Hunting
| starring = Vivian Martin
Tom Moore
Charles West
Ernest Joy
Charles K. Gerrard
Helen Bray
| music =
| cinematography = James Van Trees
| editing =
| studio = Pallas Pictures
| distributor = Paramount Pictures
| released = {{Film date|1917|8|26}}
| runtime = 50 minutes
| country = United States
| language = Silent (English intertitles)
| budget =
| gross =
}}
File:Littlemissoptimist-lobbycardA-notbw-1917.jpg
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.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/99841/Little-Miss-Optimist/overview|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150104033042/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/99841/Little-Miss-Optimist/overview|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 January 2015|department=Movies & TV Dept.|work=The New York Times|author=Janiss Garza|date=2015|title=Little-Miss-Optimist - Trailer - Cast - Showtimes - NYTimes.com|access-date=4 January 2015}}{{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=1&Movie=14724|title=Little Miss Optimist|publisher=AFI|access-date=4 January 2015}}
Plot
As described in a film magazine,{{cite journal |title=Reviews: Little Miss Optimist |journal=Exhibitors Herald |volume=5 |issue=9 |publisher=Exhibitors Herald Company |date=August 25, 1917 |location=New York |page=30 |url=https://archive.org/details/exhibitorsherald05exhi}} 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
- Vivian Martin as Mazie-Rosie Carden
- Tom Moore as Deal Hendrie
- Charles West as Ben Carden
- Ernest Joy as John West
- Charles K. Gerrard as Samuel Winter
- Helen Bray as Belle Laurie
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.{{cite journal |title=Official Cut-Outs by the Chicago Board of Censors |journal=Exhibitors Herald |volume=5 |issue=10 |page=33 |date=September 1, 1917 |url=https://archive.org/stream/exhibitorsherald05exhi#page/n484/mode/1up |access-date=2015-07-14}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{Commons category|Little Miss Optimist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|0008192|Little Miss Optimist}}
Category:1910s English-language films
Category:Silent American drama films
Category:Paramount Pictures films
Category:Films directed by Robert Thornby
Category:American black-and-white films
Category:American silent feature films
Category:English-language drama films
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