Vintage original 8.5 x 10.25 in. US sheet music from the teens orphan-themed silent film comedy/drama, MICKEY, released in 1918 by W.H. Productions Company and directed by F. Richard Jones and James Young.
Published in 1918 by Daniels & Wilson, Inc. (San Francisco), the song is entitled Mickey, with words by Harry Williams and music by Neil Moret. The front cover features a close photographic image of Mabel Normand in the center with two additional full-length images of her on either side, as well as that of her dog. The interior features 2 pages of music. It is in overall fine+ condition.
*"Mickey was the only movie produced by the Mabel Normand Feature Film Company. During filming, Mabel Normand was in very bad mental health. A year earlier she, who at that time was engaged to producer Mack Sennett, discovered that he had an affair with Mae Busch. During a confrontation, Busch threw a vase at Mabel and hit her in the head and seriously injured her; an operation saved her life, but she never fully recovered. Her friend and colleague, Minta Durfee, supported her.
Despite its eventual popularity, Mickey was not widely shown for more than a year. According to Mack Sennett's 1954 autobiography, "King of Comedy," the film was perceived to be a flop and initial response by distributors was resoundingly negative. This attitude perplexed Sennett, because he thought Mickey was the best film his studio had ever produced for Mabel Normand. He believed the script gave Normand tremendous scope and range for her whimsical talents. Nevertheless, Sennett continued to publicize the movie in trade publications to keep it in the minds of the theater owners. After about two years, however, Sennett learned that a small theater in Bayside, Long Island was unexpectedly without any film to screen one night and the proprietor was desperate. Sennett quickly offered him a copy of Mickey. Having no alternative, he eagerly accepted Sennett's suggestion. With only minimal advertising, Mickey attracted an enormous crowd and the audience's response was very favorable. Shortly thereafter, other theaters clamored for prints of the film, too. By the time Mickey had become a box office hit, Mabel Normand was no longer under contract to Sennett, having signed a lucrative five-year deal with Sam Goldwyn.
Mickey was the highest-grossing film of 1918, with a worldwide gross of $8 million and made on a budget of $250,000. It was re-released each year into 1921; during that time, about 40.9 million tickets were sold for the film, which set a record that wasn't broken until 1938. The film was widely celebrated by critics. A review in The Tatler said, "No photoplay yet produced is so filled with adventure, thrills and human emotions as Mickey." A critic in Moving Picture World wrote, "Mickey is a digest of the science of producing motion pictures. It has everything imaginable that might be conceived by the most inventive producer, past or present."
*(source: Wikipedia)
*"Mickey, an orphan who has been brought up in a mining settlement, is sent to New York to live with her aunt."
*(source: IMDb)
SMB