Mickey (Silent) (DVD)

Where Mickey (Mabel Normand) goes, trouble follows, from a backwoods mining shack to an opulent New York estate - even a high-stakes horse race where she takes the place of one of the jockeys!

The orphaned Mickey, a pants-wearing child of nature, gets into constant mischief in and around the California wilderness shack where she is being raised by her father's mining partner. Unhappily she is shipped off to a Great Neck, Long Island aunt who is going to "learn her to be a lady." In reality her fancy aunt is broke, and has her avaricious eye on Mickey's inherited gold mine. When the aunt learns that the mine went bust, Mickey becomes a modern Cinderella, forced to work as a servant in the dark, unfriendly home. Mickey is rescued from servitude by handsome Joe Meadows, and a big surprise awaits for her.

Mickey is one of the first motion pictures to feature an original theme song that became a top selling record. The soundtrack of this DVD contains both versions of the hit single.

Silent screen superstar Normand also co-produced Mickey, which set box offices afire in 1918. Watch for future funnymen Tom Kennedy and Edgar Kennedy in bit parts. For a finale, a slimy rejected beau (Lew Cody), chases Mickey to a high rooftop with just one thing on his mind. Eight years later, Cody caught Normand in real life. She became his wife in 1926.

BONUS: "Mabel and Fatty Viewing the World's Fair", 1915.

• silent