''A Girl of Yesterday'' is a 1915 American silent

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Allan Dwan Allan Dwan (born Joseph Aloysius Dwan; April 3, 1885 – December 28, 1981) was a pioneering Canadian-born American motion picture director, producer, and screenwriter. Early life Born Joseph Aloysius Dwan in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Dwan, wa ...

, and distributed by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

and

Famous Players-Lasky Famous Players-Lasky Corporation was an American motion picture and distribution company formed on June 28, 1916, from the merger of Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company—originally formed by Zukor as Famous Players in Famous Plays—and ...

. The film starred

Mary Pickford Gladys Marie Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American stage and screen actress and producer with a career that spanned five decades. A pioneer in the US film industry, she co-founde ...

(who also wrote the scenario) as an older woman. Before this film, Pickford was mainly cast in "little girl" roles which were popular with the public. ''A Girl of Yesterday'' costarred Pickford's younger brother Jack,

Marshall Neilan Marshall Ambrose "Mickey" Neilan (April 11, 1891 – October 27, 1958) was an American actor. Early life Born in San Bernardino, California, Neilan was known by most as "Mickey." Following the death of his father, the eleven-year-old Mickey ...

Donald Crisp Donald William Crisp (27 July 188225 May 1974) was an English film actor as well as an early producer, director and screenwriter. His career lasted from the early silent film era into the 1960s. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor ...

and

Frances Marion Frances Marion (born Marion Benson Owens, November 18, 1888 – May 12, 1973) was an American screenwriter, director, journalist and author often cited as one of the most renowned female screenwriters of the 20th century alongside June Mathis a ...

, who later became a prolific screenwriter. Real life aviation pioneer Glenn L. Martin also made a cameo in the film.

Plot

Jane Stuart (

), a sweet old-fashioned girl brought up with her brother John ( Jack Pickford), by their poor Aunt Angela (

Gertrude Norman Gertrude Norman (May 19, 1848 or 1851 – July 20, 1943), was an English/American theater and Hollywood silent film actress. She is credited with being in 44 films between 1911 and 1936. She was also a screenwriter and director for early silent ...

), suddenly inherits wealth. While she tries to retain her traditional wardrobe, customs and ways, her brother likes the attention that is now being paid to them by people like their neighbours, the Monroes (

), (Lillian Langdon), who previously shunned them. Rosanna Danford (

), is “the wicked sophisticate” who has her eye on Stanley Hudson (

), Mary's beau. At her first reception, Jane, now wealthy, is still wearing her grandmother's old-fashioned gown. She, however, is dressed more demurely compared to the other girls at the event and attracts a group of male admirers. Jane later tries to fit in with a new crowd, and attempts tennis and golf. She accepts an invitation to go yachting from Stanley, who, hoping to win Jane, has attempted to introduce her to a new luxurious life. Rosanna is jealous and arranges for a pilot to take Jane flying, planning that she will miss the outing and be far away from Stanley. Jane is "kidnapped" and taken away by an aircraft. Although a misunderstanding follows, Jane later accepts Stanley's belated proposal.

Cast

as Jane Stuart * Jack Pickford as John Stuart *

as Aunt Angela *

as A.H. Monroe *

as Stanley Hudson *

as Rosanna Danford * Lillian Langdon as Mrs. A.H. Monroe * Claire Alexander as Eloise Monroe * Glenn L. Martin as Pilot Girl From Yesterday Still.gif, Promotional still A Girl of Yesterday 1915.jpg, Kenneth Douglas, aviator Glenn Martin, and Mary Pickford

Production

The flying scene in ''A Girl of Yesterday'' where Mary Pickford is taken away by an aircraft, was filmed in

Griffith Park Griffith Park is a large municipal park at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains, in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The park includes popular attractions such as the Los Angeles Zoo, the Autry Museum of the ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. When Mary and Jack Pickford, appeared in roles as brother and sister in this film, it was the first time actual brother and sister were cast. ''A Girl of Yesterday'' was notable for the screen debut of famous pioneering aviator Glenn Martin. He flew a Martin TT

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a ...

, one of his own designs at Griffith Park, where he operated a flying school. In 1912, Martin built an airplane factory in Los Angeles. To finance this business, he began stunt-flying at fairs and local airfields. In 1915, Martin saw an advertisement for a pilot/aircraft owner to play a role in a film. Sensing an opportunity, he replied to the ad and got the part. Martin would play the role of a dashing hero in ''A Girl of Yesterday'' starring Mary Pickford. The multimillion-dollar yacht that Mary Pickford and Marshall Neilan use on a date, belonged to "Sugar King"

John D. Spreckels John Diedrich Spreckels (August 16, 1853 – June 7, 1926), the son of German-American industrialist Claus Spreckels, founded a transportation and real estate empire in San Diego, California, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The entrepr ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

Reception

Resident Scholar Cari Beauchamp in writing at the "Mary Pickford Foundation", described the loss of ''A Girl of Yesterday'' as particularly poignant. "...one of her “lost” films – 'A Girl of Yesterday' from 1915 – that is particularly missed because there were so many things about it that made it special." The film brought together many old friends. "Mickey Neilan, a friend of Jack Pickford’s who had been working in films for several years, but wanted to direct. (Many filmographies credit Mary with writing the story, but in his memoirs, Mickey Neilan claims that Frances

arion Arion (; grc-gre, Ἀρίων; fl. c. 700 BC) was a kitharode in ancient Greece, a Dionysiac poet credited with inventing the dithyramb. The islanders of Lesbos claimed him as their native son, but Arion found a patron in Periander, tyrant ...

wrote it)." Further, "All those close inner connections simmering in the cast and crew could have wreaked havoc, but everyone involved seemed to enjoy each other and

llan Llan may be: * Llan (placename) Llan () and its variants ( br, lan; kw, lann; xpi, lhan; Irish and gd, lann) are a common element of Celtic placenames in the British Isles and Brittany, especially of Welsh toponymy. In Welsh an (often muta ...

Dwan was secure enough in his own abilities to include others in the creative process." The beautiful locales such as Santa Catalina Island were also featured in ''A Girl of Yesterday''. "In part it is the thought of seeing all these locations circa 1915 that makes the loss of 'A Girl of Yesterday' such a heartbreak for film fans. Of course it would also be great fun to see Jack Pickford, Mary Pickford, Mickey Neilan and Frances Marion all together on the screen, knowing as we do that Mary, Mickey and Frances would work together often in the years ahead and be lifelong friends."Beauchamp, Cari
"A Girl of Yesterday."
''marypickford.org'', 2019. Retrieved: June 14, 2019.

Preservation status

The film is now presumed to be a

lost film A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy ...

.Tarbox 1983, p. 245.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Beauchamp, Cari. ''Without Lying Down: Frances Marion and the Powerful Women of Early Hollywood''. Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1998. . * Brownlow, Kevin. ''The Parade's Gone By...'' Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1968 . * Farmer, James H. ''Celluloid Wings: The Impact of Movies on Aviation'' (1st ed.). Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania: TAB Books 1984. . * Pickford, Mary. ''Sunshine and Shadow''. New York: Doubleday, 1955. . * Tarbox, Charles H. ''Lost Films, 1895-1917''. Los Angeles, California: Film Classic Exchange, 1983. . * Wynne, H. Hugh. ''The Motion Picture Stunt Pilots and Hollywood's Classic Aviation Movies''. Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., 1987. .

External links

*
''A Girl of Yesterday'' at SilentEra
* * surviving production stills
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Girl of Yesterday, A 1915 films 1915 comedy films Silent American comedy films American silent feature films American aviation films American black-and-white films Famous Players-Lasky films Films directed by Allan Dwan Films shot in Los Angeles Lost American films Paramount Pictures 1915 lost films Lost comedy films 1910s American films