Volume II: Filmography

DELIGHTFUL DOLLY

October 14, 1910 (Friday)

Length: 1,000 feet

Character: Comedy

Cast: Marie Eline (Marie Allen, who becomes "delightful dolly")

ADVERTISEMENT, The Moving Picture World, October 8, 1910:

"Delightful Dolly is the delightful tale of a doll who isn't a doll at all, but who in her effort to be doll-like makes you laugh until tears come to your eyes. We mean it. The tot is actually so funny in her imitation of her doll that you will yell every time she fools the child opposite with a stiff, jerky movement of the limbs that usually belongs to toy children."

SYNOPSIS, The Moving Picture World, October 15, 1910:

"Little Marie Allen, a penniless orphan, lives with her granddad. Out for a walk she admires a huge doll in a shop window. That night, after her granddad has fallen asleep, she slips out to have another look at the doll. Arriving at the toy shop, she sees that the doll is gone. Unseen by anyone, she enters the store. She finds the wonderful doll and lifts it out of its box to admire it. Hearing a clerk approaching, she becomes frightened and gets into the doll box. The doll rolls under the counter. The clerk sends the errand boy off with the box, thinking it contains the doll, which has been ordered for Daisy Smythe, a rich little girl. Arriving at Daisy's house, Marie steps out of the box as soon as the room is empty. She removes the doll clothes from the box and admires them greatly. She decides to try them on, and soon a little cap, shoes and garments are on her figure. Then she hears Daisy coming and retreats to the box. Daisy enters and takes the supposed doll from the box, falls in love with it instantly and enthusiastically works its arms and limbs. Marie lives up to her role well, imitating with stiff, jerky movements of the limbs that belong to real dolls.

"Then Daisy eats, and Marie grows hungry as she watches. When Daisy sets down her bowl of milk, Marie reaches over and drinks it down. Daisy is amazed when she misses the milk. Marie helps herself to all the food and Daisy's wonderment is amusing to see. Finally Daisy falls asleep in her chair and Marie falls asleep on the floor. Here she is found by her granddad, who managed to trace her from the toy shop, and Daisy and her mother laugh so heartily over Marie's adventure that they reward her cleverness with - the doll itself!"

REVIEW by Walton, The Moving Picture News, November 5, 1910:

"Good from A to Z."

REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, October 29, 1910:

"A picture that will please the little folk. It details the adventures of a little girl who acts the part of the doll. And she does it so well that she deceives even the little girl who supposed she had a new doll. The results is that she is rewarded with the gift of the big dolly she coveted."

REVIEW, The New York Dramatic Mirror, October 19, 1910:

"This film, intended for juvenile patrons, has yet a charm for older spectators as well, because it tells a pretty story in a pretty way. A rich girl buys a doll which a tiny poor girl covets. By an impossible chain of circumstances the poor girl takes the place of the doll and is delivered to the wealthy girl's home, where she is later discovered by her grandfather just as the real doll is sent in. The narrative is frankly impossible in plot, but that makes it no less entertaining to the youthful. A little make-believe is relished by the best of men. The acting of the wee heroine is really wonderful; it is spontaneous, lively, resourceful, graceful, and charming. The part of the rich girl, however, although it is capitally played, should have been entrusted to a smaller, if not to a younger, woman. The size of the actress makes the film look bizarre. The scenery is not all that might be desired, still it is passable."

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