Sweetie

Sweetie (1923)

25 Apr 1923 • Comedy, Short • 0h 20m
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Another Baby Peggy two-reeler shown on Vimeo as part of the UCLA Film & Television Archive tribute for the 103rd birthday of the late silent-era child actress, later known as Diana Serra Cary, "Sweetie" casts the kid as a waif from the "Latin Quarter," although of what city exactly I don't know. Perhaps, such an ethnic reference was an appeal to the large audience of recent immigrant movie-goers in the United States. Indeed, much of Hollywood was run by immigrants, as well, in the "nation of immigrants." Carl Laemmle, head of the studio, Universal, behind these Baby Peggy films, was himself a Jewish immigrant from Germany.Anyways, life is harsh in this Latin Quarter, as pedestrians routinely ignore or are otherwise rough with the poor waif. She begins as a newsgirl selling papers. One intertitle joke is probably even funnier today because of how dated it is: "Extree paper!--The Flapper's Union goes on strike!"Soon, though, Baby Peggy finds herself in a fierce competition with other musical buskers. She teams up with a trained monkey, and the only change they manage to earn is what they steal from another begging duo who only get money tossed at them by an angry man in a window so as for them to "go back to Italy." Things get wilder from there, as Peggy finds herself being chased as she drives a car all over the place, including through buildings. Eventually, she's adopted, but an old, and seemingly blind, violinist, for whom Peggy initially sets out to help, is never seen again. Another reminder of a culture that values youth, I suppose, which would soon be a lesson for Cary, as she aged out of Hollywood, so to speak, by the time she hit her teens. Those of the Latin Quarter aren't the only harsh streets out there.

Alfred J. Goulding
Writer
Baby Peggy, Jerry Mandy, Louise Lorraine
Starring

Language: None, English
Awards:
Country: United States
Metacritic Score:
DVD Release Date:
Box Office Total:

6.4

IMDb (17 votes)
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