The New York Hat

The New York Hat (1912) is a short silent film directed by D. W. Griffith from a screenplay by Anita Loos, and starring Mary Pickford, Lionel Barrymore, and Lillian Gish.

The New York Hat
(left to right) Lionel Barrymore, Mary Pickford, and Charles Hill Mailes
Directed by	D.W. Griffith
Produced by	Biograph
Written by	Anita Loos Frances Marion
Starring	Mary Pickford Lionel Barrymore Kate Bruce Charles Hill Mailes Alfred Paget Lillian Gish
Music by	Robert Israel (new score)
Cinematography	G.W. Bitzer
Distributed by	Biograph
Release date	December 5, 1912 (1912-12-05)
Running time	16 minutes
Country	United States
Language	Silent film English intertitles

Production

The New York Hat is one of the most notable of the Biograph Studios short films and is perhaps the best known example of Pickford's early work, and an example of Anita Loos' witty writing. The film was made by Biograph when it and many other early U.S. movie studios were based in Fort Lee, New Jersey at the beginning of the 20th century.[1][2][3]

Plot

Mollie Goodhue leads a cheerless, impoverished life, largely because of her stern, miserly father. Mrs. Goodhue is mortally ill, but before dying, she gives the minister, Preacher Bolton, some money with which to buy her daughter the "finery" her father always forbade her.

Mollie is delighted when the minister presents her with a fashionable New York hat she has been longing for, but village gossips misinterpret the minister's intentions and spread malicious rumors. Mollie becomes a social pariah, and her father tears up the beloved hat in a rage.

All ends well, however, after the minister produces a letter from Mollie's mother about the money she left the minister to spend on Mollie. Soon afterwards, he proposes to Mollie, who accepts his offer of marriage.

Cast

• Mary Pickford as Miss Mollie Harding[4] (the girl)
• Charles Hill Mailes as Mr. Harding (her father)
• Kate Bruce as Mrs. Harding (her mother)
• Lionel Barrymore as Preacher Bolton (minister)
• Alfred Paget as The Doctor
• Claire McDowell as First Gossip
• Mae Marsh as Second Gossip
• Clara T. Bracy as Third Gossip
• Madge Kirby as Shopkeeper/At Mother's Deathbed
• Lillian Gish as Customer in Shop/Outside Church
• Jack Pickford as Youth outside church
• Robert Harron as Youth outside church
• Gertrude Bambrick as In Shop/Outside Church (uncredited)
• Kathleen Butler as Windowshopper (uncredited)
• John T. Dillon as Church Board Member (uncredited)
• James Kirkwood as Undetermined Role (uncredited)
• Adolph Lestina as Church Board Member (uncredited)
• Walter P. Lewis as Church Board Member (uncredited)
• Marguerite Marsh as Windowshopper (uncredited)
• W. C. Robinson as In Shop (uncredited)
• Dorothy Gish (uncredited)
• Mack Sennett (uncredited)

See also

• D. W. Griffith filmography
• Lillian Gish filmography
• Lionel Barrymore filmography

References

1. Koszarski, Richard (2004), Fort Lee: The Film Town, Rome, Italy: John Libbey Publishing -CIC srl, ISBN 0-86196-653-8
2. Amith, Deninis (January 1, 2011). "Before there was Hollywood there was Fort Lee, NJ". J!-ENT.
3. The New York Hat at silentera.com
4. "The New York Hat". Library of Congress. Retrieved 28 December 2011.

External links

• The New York Hat at the Internet Archive
• The New York Hat on IMDb
• The New York Hat on YouTube
• The New York Hat available for download from Archive.org