Sparrows (1926)

Off I went to the National Film Theatre to view this silent starring Mary Pickford, America's sweetheart -- even if she was Canadian.  What a hoot.  We have our Mary aged 34 playing a youngster -- teenaged at best, but she was something of a midget.  The story tells of a "baby farm" in the Southern swamps run by a mean old coot played by the brilliantly-named Gustav von Seyffertitz.  He takes the hard-earned pennies from mothers who can not afford to look after their children and starves them, works them to the bone, and eventually drowns them in the quicksand.  But they have valiant Mary to look after them and to lead them in an escape when they learn that a recently-arrived kidnapee might be killed.   So off they go across the marshes, avoiding the gaping jaws of alligators with all the baddies in pursuit.  It was very nicely filmed -- for some reason there were three cinematographers, and fun to watch, but really a pile of old tosh.  It is hard to fathom just how popular the actress was in her day.