VCI Entertainment’s Blu-ray releases of Mary Pickford movies have been nothing short of stellar in my opinion. Little Annie Rooney is another film with the iconic silent film star which has given new life to. Directed by William Beaudine, whose career spanned over 40 years, directing over 75 movies including Charlie Chan films, B-movies including Billy the Kid vs Dracula and other B-movies, Little Annie Rooney can be considered one of his masterpieces as the movie was one of the biggest money makers in 1925!
In this 1925 silent comedy-drama Mary Pickford is the rough and rugged Annie Rooney who lives in a tenement which houses a multicultural community and is part of a gang of kids who are threatened by a street gang called the Kid Kelleys. Annie and gang leader Joe (William Haines, Free and Easy), start to get closer together and take a hankering for each other. Annie Rooney’s father, Officer Rooney (Walter James, The Panther’s Claw) wants Joe to stop leading the gang or else he will no longer be allowed to see Annie or her brother Tim Rooney (Gordon Griffith, Tarzan of the Apes)! Tensions later mount as Joe winds up fighting with his fellow gang members at a dance hall leading to the accidental death of Annie’s father. Poor Joe is accused of murdering her father and must set things straight by tracking down the real killer!
In my opinion, Little Annie Rooney is a tremendous film with Mary Pickford’s Annie Rooney being one of her best roles and gives a great performance. The movie has lots of action scenes, some wonderful acting and a superb musical score. Director Beaudine’s direction is smooth and is leaps and bounds superior to his later work.
VCI in what appears to be in a partnership with Flicker Alley as their logo appears on the back of the Blu-ray case have given Little Annie Rooney a Blu-ray release. A DVD is also included to make this a 2-disc set. The movie has been given a 4K scan, and the film looks as good as it ever will be. This is a beautiful restoration, with the black and white film which has a wealth of scenes tinted yellow simply look marvelous. Blacks and whites look healthy with a strong grey scale. Overall, it is a nice clean polished image throughout, though there is still some print damage and speckles, with noticeable scratching, but nothing that spoils watching the movie.
Per the booklet for this release and on the VCI Entertainment website –
“The fact that Little Annie Rooney exists today is a minor miracle. Over 80 percent of all silent film shave been “lost”: a euphemism for films that were sold for a penny a foot, dumped into the ocean or simply allowed to rot in the can. Of those that do remain, few are complete or in good condition.
The process of restoring and scoring Little Annie Rooney took several years. The original tinted nitrate in Mary Pickford’s personal collection at the Library of Congress, made from the camera negative in 1925, was brought to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences archive in Los Angeles.
The Academy Film Archive preserved the film photochemically, creating new 35mm preservation masters and prints. The preservation master was then scanned at 4K high definition so that the Mary Pickford Foundation, in cooperation with AMPAS, could create a digital version, evaluating the film frame by frame, removing dirt and other signs of deterioration to perfectly match the original nitrate tints and tones.”
Regarding the audio, which was also mentioned by VCI for this release, “The Mary Pickford Foundation commissioned Andy Gladbach to compose a new, original soundtrack for the film, which features a 12-piece orchestra, including three percussionists”
That being said about the audio, the English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack is perfectly clear and problem free. Gladbach’s orchestration is nothing short of robust and dynamic which remains stable throughout.
This release offers a booklet featuring rare photographs and essays by Cari Beauchamp. In addition to the booklet, there is an extra ‘Scoring Little Annie Rooney’ which is a short five-minute featurette with the film’s composer Andy Gladbach.
Little Annie Rooney is an excellent classic silent film that sounds and looks fantastic on this Blu-ray. Don’t let the lack of extras prevent you from adding this to your movie collection!
Little Annie Rooney
Director – William Beaudine
Cast- Mary Pickford, William Haynes, Walter James
Country of Origin-USA
Distributor – VCI Entertainment
Number of Discs –2 (one Blu-ray, one DVD)
Reviewed by – David Steigman
Date –3/16/2025