Films that have made me cry

*La Boheme (yes...despite Gish's 20 minute long death scene.  See Nazimova?) 

*City Lights (first time I seen it) 

*The Notebook (I have no clue why, my sister was with me all the way on that though.  I hate chick flicks) 

*Captain January

Yes freakin Captain January brought me to tears!  It also brought the whole house down.  There were grisled old men crying.  Baby Peggy was absolutely adorable, which everyone agreed during "The Kid Reporter".  A silent veteran by age 6, she was quite the legitimate actor by the time she made "Captain January".

Even in the most capable hands the meller could have been nothing but pure poisonous sweetness.  Shirley Temple remade it so I'm guessing that image has already been realized.  The film tells the story of a baby found in her dead mother's arms during a storm by an old lighthouse keeper.  He raises her as his own.  Meddlers meddle.  Old age sets in.  Rich relatives are found.  The usual.

But the chemistry between Baby Peggy and Hobart Bosworth is absolutely adorable.  By the end of it I was certain they would kill him off; and I would be blubbering on the floor.  Mary Pickford had it right when she said silents were an emotional exercise.  By the end I was certain there wasn't much more an audience could take!  Whether the happier ending was tacked on by Hays or not; it was sorely needed.  This isn't a King Vidor film for God sakes!

Baby Peggy is now one of the last remaining silent film stars.  She now goes by her legal name, Diana Serra Cary.  She's written many books, including one on her childhood and one on Jackie Coogan.  She could not have been sweeter and it was a real trip and a treat to meet her.  I eagerly await starting (and finishing) her book...her story was very sad, but ended well.  And that's not even a tacked on ending!

Not many of her films survive.  You can buy Captain January here.