Shadows and Sunshine (1916)
Comedy-drama | 12 November 1916
Shadows and Sunshine was a follow-up to the wildly successful Little Mary Sunshine (1916, see entry), starring Baby Maria Osborne, who was given the sobriquet "Little Mary Sunshine" for promotional purposes. In the 11 November 1916 Motography, reviewer Thomas C. Kennedy delivered the usual praise about the wunderkind's natural personality: "Marie is a star who has not been taught how to act and she does not act; it's just a case of being magnetic of personality and perfectly natural even if the camera is looking on." In that same week's Moving Picture World, Edward Weitzel wrote, "Written for the sole purpose of exploiting the remarkable personality of this mite of a child, [the movie] fulfills its mission in a thoroughly satisfactory manner. In other words, it permits this gifted bit of precociousness to dominate every scene and work her sweet will with the heart of the spectator." In that same week's Motion Picture News, George N. Shorey had this to say: "All she does through four reels is win the hearts of the father and mother, and the audience, in a hundred different ways. There is comedy, pathos, surprise, and almost every conceivable dramatic quality imaginable in the portrayal of child character. It is really wonderful what this actress and her director have made out of so little plot."
This film contains a racially insensitive scene in which Little Mary dons blackface and attempts to wash the skin color off of the face of her African-American playmate.
An inter-title card binds this film to the earlier Little Mary Sunshine, when the son says to his father, ...
Shadows and Sunshine was a follow-up to the wildly successful Little Mary Sunshine (1916, see entry), starring Baby Maria Osborne, who was given the sobriquet "Little Mary Sunshine" for promotional purposes. In the 11 November 1916 Motography, reviewer Thomas C. Kennedy delivered the usual praise about the wunderkind's natural personality: "Marie is a star who has not been taught how to act and she does not act; it's just a case of being magnetic of personality and perfectly natural even if the camera is looking on." In that same week's Moving Picture World, Edward Weitzel wrote, "Written for the sole purpose of exploiting the remarkable personality of this mite of a child, [the movie] fulfills its mission in a thoroughly satisfactory manner. In other words, it permits this gifted bit of precociousness to dominate every scene and work her sweet will with the heart of the spectator." In that same week's Motion Picture News, George N. Shorey had this to say: "All she does through four reels is win the hearts of the father and mother, and the audience, in a hundred different ways. There is comedy, pathos, surprise, and almost every conceivable dramatic quality imaginable in the portrayal of child character. It is really wonderful what this actress and her director have made out of so little plot."
This film contains a racially insensitive scene in which Little Mary dons blackface and attempts to wash the skin color off of the face of her African-American playmate.
An inter-title card binds this film to the earlier Little Mary Sunshine, when the son says to his father, "We knew you couldn't see little Mary Sunshine without loving her and so we planned to make you forgive and forget the past."
Actress Helen Marie Osborne (1911-2010) was one of the most popular child stars of the 1910s, before she retired from the screen in 1919. In the 1930s, Osborne returned to the film world in minor roles and was a stand-in for Ginger Rogers before becoming a studio costumer and wardrobe supervisor. One of her last credited films was The Godfather Part II (see entry).
A film release list in the 18 November 1916 Motography cited a 13 November 1916 date.
The National Film Preservation Board (NFPB) included this film on its list of Lost U.S. Silent Feature Films as of February 2021.
Greatly disappointed when his son returns from college married to a waitress, status-conscious Gilbert Jackson, who had other plans for his boy, severs all relations. His wife Amelia is so angry that she refuses to speak to Gilbert until he brings their son back home. Five years later, the son goes out West for a few months to earn a living, but first moves his wife and Little Mary, their small daughter, into a cottage next to his parents' house. Unaware that the young girl is their granddaughter or that her mother is their daughter-in-law, the middle-aged couple immediately falls in love with Little Mary when she slips through the fence along their property and involves herself in a series of little adventures, as when a goat eats her dolly. Softened by his relationship with Little Mary, Gilbert hires a detective to find his son. Once the son is located, Gilbert wires him to come back to his family. Finally, the real identities of Little Mary and her mother are revealed, and a reconciliation takes place between the elder Jacksons and the younger ...
Greatly disappointed when his son returns from college married to a waitress, status-conscious Gilbert Jackson, who had other plans for his boy, severs all relations. His wife Amelia is so angry that she refuses to speak to Gilbert until he brings their son back home. Five years later, the son goes out West for a few months to earn a living, but first moves his wife and Little Mary, their small daughter, into a cottage next to his parents' house. Unaware that the young girl is their granddaughter or that her mother is their daughter-in-law, the middle-aged couple immediately falls in love with Little Mary when she slips through the fence along their property and involves herself in a series of little adventures, as when a goat eats her dolly. Softened by his relationship with Little Mary, Gilbert hires a detective to find his son. Once the son is located, Gilbert wires him to come back to his family. Finally, the real identities of Little Mary and her mother are revealed, and a reconciliation takes place between the elder Jacksons and the younger ones.
Viewed by AFI
Partially Viewed
Offscreen Credit
Name Occurs Before Title
AFI Life Achievement AwardTOP SEARCHES
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
According to HR news items, "The Gentleman from Montana" (an unpublished story by Lewis R. Foster, alternately called "The Gentleman from Wyoming" by both contemporary and modern ... >>
