''Amarilly of Clothes-Line Alley'' is a 1918 American silent

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typic ...

film starring

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 ...

that was directed by

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 ...

and written by

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 ...

based upon a novel by Belle K. Maniates.

Plot

Set in San Francisco during the early 1900s, the film revolves around Amarilly (

), the daughter of a widowed scrubwoman. Amarilly is proud of her hard-working Irish family, and takes care of her five roughhouse brothers. She is engaged to bartender Terry McGowan ( William Scott), who gets her a job as a cigarette girl in his cafe after a fire unfairly causes her to lose her job as a theater scrubwoman. While working as a cigarette girl, she meets Gordon Phillips ( Norman Kerry), a handsome and wealthy but frivolous young man, who is a society sculptor. Terry becomes jealous when Amarilly starts hanging out with Gordon, and he breaks off the engagement. Gordon offers Amarilly a job with his wealthy and snobbish aunt, Mrs. Phillips (Ida Waterman). When the neighborhood is quarantined after a breakout of

scarlet fever Scarlet fever, also known as Scarlatina, is an infectious disease caused by '' Streptococcus pyogenes'' a Group A streptococcus (GAS). The infection is a type of Group A streptococcal infection (Group A strep). It most commonly affects chi ...

, Mrs. Phillips decides to take the time to teach Amarilly high class manners in a '' Pygmalion''-like experiment. However, once she discovers her nephew has fallen in love with Amarilly, she turns against her. Mrs. Phillips tries to humiliate Amarilly by inviting her family over for a social party. Amarilly is outraged and returns to her old home. She sees Terry and invites him for supper. He is delighted, and on the way to her house, he stops to buy expensive 50 cent violets, even though he had earlier passed up violets at 15 cents. He is shot by accident, and barely makes it to Amarilly's house before collapsing. Terry survives. Amarilly visits him in the hospital and tells him that when he gets out, they have a date at City Hall. The final scene is five years later. Amarilly is in a sidecar on Terry's motor bike; they both are nicely dressed and seem to be doing well. Then it is revealed under the blanket she has a baby, and behind Terry is a little boy.

Cast

Reception

Like many American films of the time, ''Amarilly of Clothes-Line Alley'' was subject to cuts by city and state film censorship boards. For example, the Chicago Board of Censors required a cut, i Reel 1, of a closeup of money in a man's hand and, Reel 4, maid opening door to alleged house of ill-fame and man entering.

References

External links

* *
''Amarilly of Clothes-Line Alley''
available for free download at th
Internet Archive
* Maniates, Belle Kanaris (1915),
Amarilly of Clothes-Line Alley
', Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, on the Internet Archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Amarilly Of Clothes-Line Alley 1918 films 1918 romantic comedy films American romantic comedy films American silent feature films American black-and-white films Films based on American novels Films directed by Marshall Neilan Films set in San Francisco Films with screenplays by Frances Marion Articles containing video clips 1910s American films Silent romantic comedy films Silent American comedy films