Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (1919 film)

Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch is a 1919 silent American comedy-drama film produced by Famous Players-Lasky Corporation and distributed through Paramount Pictures. Directed by Hugh Ford, the film stars Marguerite Clark and is based on the 1904 Broadway play by Anne Crawford Flexner,[1] which itself is taken from the novel of the same name by Alice Hegan Rice.

Scene from the film.(*Questionable as to the film this picture is associated. The woman in center looks to be Elsie Ferguson rather than any of the cast members from Mrs. Wiggs, an extant film available for viewing.)
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
Newspaper advertisement.
Directed byHugh Ford
Written byEve Unsell (scenario)
Based onMrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
by Alice Hegan Rice
play by Anne Crawford Flexner
StarringMarguerite Clark
Mary Carr
CinematographyWilliam Marshall
Production
company
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • February 16, 1919 (1919-02-16) (United States)
Running time
50 mins.
CountryUnited States
LanguageSilent (English intertitles)

The picture survives and is preserved at the Library of Congress, one of Clark's few surviving silent films.[2]

Plot

As described in a film magazine,[3] Lovey Mary (Clark) is an inmate of an orphanage who runs away a little boy with whom she has become strongly attached. She finds refuge on a rainy night with Mrs. Wiggs (Carr), a mother of five who lives in a wretched settlement known as the Cabbage Patch. Mrs. Wiggs feeds and shelters them, and lies to a sheriff looking to return them to the orphanage. There are a series of interactions with the amusing characters that live in the Cabbage Patch with brings about the growth and improvement in Mary. It is through Mary that the child she has been mothering becomes legitimate and the whole family obtains prosperity.

Cast
  • Marguerite Clark as Lovey Mary
  • Mary Carr as Mrs. Nancy Wiggs
  • Vivia Ogden as Miss Tabitha Hazy
  • Gladys Valerie as Maggie Duncan
  • Gareth Hughes as Billy Wiggs
  • Jack McLean as Dick Morgan (credited as Jack MacLean)
  • Maud Hosford as Mrs. 'Phroney Morgan
  • Lawrence Johnson as Tommy
  • May McAvoy as Australy Wiggs

uncredited

  • Anita Brown as Mrs. Schultz
  • Mary Davis as Mrs. Eichorn
  • Lola Hernandez as Asia Wiggs
  • Robert Milasch as Hiram Stubbins
  • Marian Stewart as Baby Wiggs
  • Wanda Valle as Europena Wiggs

Other adaptations

The 1919 film is the second film adaptation of the novel. The first film version was released in 1914, starring Blanche Chapman. The third version was released in 1934 and stars Pauline Lord while the fourth version was released in 1942 and stars Fay Bainter.[4]

The book was also adapted into a radio series which aired from 1935 to 1938.[5]

References
  1. https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/mrs-wiggs-of-the-cabbage-patch-5904
  2. Nunn, William Curtis (1981). Marguerite Clark: America's Darling of Broadway and the Silent Screen. TCU Press. p. VII. ISBN 0-912646-69-1.
  3. Harrison, Louis Reeves (Mar 1, 1919). "Critical Reviews and Comments: Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch". Moving Picture World. New York City: Chalmers Publishing Company. 39 (9): 1242–43. Retrieved 2014-08-07.
  4. Hall, Wade, ed. (2005). The Kentucky Anthology: Two Hundred Years of Writing in the Bluegrass State. The University Press of Kentucky. p. 177. ISBN 0-8131-2376-3.
  5. Dunning, John (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio (Revised ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. p. 462. ISBN 978-0-19-507678-3. Retrieved 2019-12-18. Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch, soap opera.


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