“My Best Girl”

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 430, 11 August 1928, Page 25

“My Best Girl”

MARY PICKFORD AT LAST

Attractive Strand Feature

Mary Pickford has reappeared at last After a long absence from the Auckland screen, she has stepped forward to reclaim the plaudits of her countless admirers. “My Best Girl,” a Pickford-United Artists production, opened at the Strand yesterday. The season promises to be an unusually popular one, for there is no doubt that the World's Sweetheart is still one of the greatest box-office attractions in filmland A simple little story about every-day people who live in plain, homely surroundings —that is “My Best Girl.” It is the simplicity—the human touch —that makes it a picture worth seeing.

Surely Mary Pickford lias found the secret of eternal youth! For years she has been playing super-ingenue parts with the greatest success, yet in “My Best Girl” she is as fresh and dainty as a spring flower. Mary is a great believer in strengthening a production from every angle. She, like others, sees to it that the cast is suited to her personality, but she is also careful in the selection of story, director, camera-man and publicity agent. “My Best Girl” is from the story by Kathleen Norris, and its original beauty has not been lost by the clever people who adapted it for the screen. It might have been written expressly for the famous leading lady, for its “little girl” heroine is just the sort of person that Mary likes to offer to her public. The director Is Sam Taylor, who has many successes to his credit, •while the photography, which is one of the special features of the picture, has been handled by famous a ™‘*“ Charles Kosher. Mary Pickford Mary appears as Maggie Johnson, a little, under-paid assistant in a 10-cent store. Her Prince Charming is Joe, who also works In the store and who Is the

son of the owner. Maggie is unaware of Joe’s real position in the establishment, but a strong attachment springs up between the pair. Maggie takes Joe to her home, but the squalor of the place and the attitude of her family Is such that she is forced to send him away. There is the old Cinderella situation of the rich man’s son loving the poor man’s daughter, and the triumph of the young people follows only after a great deal of domestic unhappiness. There is, however, an intimate human twist to the story—an appeal that is strengthened by the wonderful acting of the principal and the clever support of her associates. Charles Rogers is a film “find” who makes his debut in “My Best Girl.” He is little more than a boy; in fact, he was taken from college to play opposite Miss Pickford. Incidentally, it is a great tribute to the youthfulness of the star that she is able to sustain her part as the sweetheart of this youngster.