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Amazon.com Mary Pickford won an Academy Award for her performance in Coquette, her first "talking picture." Billed as "a drama of the American South," the movie features Pickford as a classic Southern belle. However, as the film takes place during the Jazz Age of the 1920s, not the antebellum South, Pickford's version of Scarlett O'Hara is a flapper. (The party scenes with dancers wildly doing the "black bottom" are a hoot.) To play socialite Norma Besant, Pickford had her famous golden curls bobbed, and she "flits about from one fella to another like a butterfly." But Pickford's fans would never have permitted her to portray a real Jezebel, so as soon as the plot gets underway, her character quickly falls head over heels in love with just one man. ("Of course, I never wanted to play a role that would ever offend the little girls who love me," declared Pickford in a 1917 Motion Picture Classic interview.) Coquette's story eventually turns quite tragic, pitting daughter against father and giving Pickford the chance to act up a storm. Pickford had experience on stage before appearing in moving pictures, so her progression to sound films was not as awkward as that of some silent-movie performers. Throughout her silent-film career, she made a point of keeping her acting real and free of extravagant gestures. "I always had in mind the fact that I might want to become a real actress, and so never allowed myself to indulge in more gestures than if I had a speaking part." (San Francisco Chronicle, 1913.) Still, Coquette is unmistakably an early talkie and the acting is clearly transitional. At times the actors instinctively pause and pose before speaking their lines, an acting style that would quickly disappear as silent pictures almost immediately went out of favor with audiences. --Laura Mirsky ... Read more Reviews (7) 
I reckon this won't be everyone's cup of tea
Miss Mary Pickford stars in this early talkie, her very first, playing Norma, a young southern belle who falls for a man from the wrong side of the tracks... despite the fact she was in her mid-30s at the time! Her one truelove Michael, a personality-free space cadet, is here played by John Mack Daddy Brown. Norma's interest in him is baffling, unless it's that her character is quite stupid as well (although in a more aggressive way), and like attracts like-- or maybe it's that he's hot, total male model vibe going on there. Anyhow, the chemistry is one-sided, it's all Miss Pickford throwing herself at this fellow, and he's just sorta reciting his lines like a robot with a bad southern accent, but he seems like his mind is somewhere else. Mister Stanley (played by Matt "bring on the pathos" Moore), clearly the better man, is right there in front of her suffering the whole time, the poor guy. If only she were smart enough to see it, which she isn't.
Pickford's character is flirtatious, melodramatic, and prone to swooning and fits of sobbing that are about as pleasant as a colicy baby who won't shut up (the scene where she grips the bedposts and bawls her head off had me both laughing and annoyed at the same time). And she actually won the best actress Oscar for this! When she curls up in her "old mammy's" lap and tells her all about the greatest love the world has ever known, i.e., her's and Mack Daddy's, there's both an absurdity (given Pickford's real age) and a sapphic quality to it (check where their hands are.) Incidentally, the actress who played her "old mammy" was apparently forced to eat lots of food by the studio so she could play these types of roles. Seriously. Every other sentence of dialogue in this great work of art begins or ends with "I reckon", adding to the sense of realism. You won't find any stereotypes of the south here, no sir! I also thought Norma's little brother was quite funny, he's the 1920s equivalent of a tool. Loved his dance moves. Do the Rabbit Ramble!
Creaky but enjoyable melodrama
This movie proved much better than some of the reviews here suggest. However, if you are not a Mary Pickford fan and have no interest in old movies then its definitely one to avoid. I bought this having watched all of Mary's movies on DVD and becoming a big fan of her work. I must admit the prospect of hearing her voice for the first time was rather exciting. The main problem with this movie is technical - 'talkies' had only just arrived and in some scenes you have to make an effort to hear what is being said as performers move out of range of the microphones. Other than that there are things to be enjoyed here - including Mary Pickford's performance. Aside from a few overly dramatic moments she acts well throughout, somewhat theatrical but it suits the part of the artificial flirt she is playing. No one can accuse Pickford of playing it safe for her first talking part - not only does she perform with a Southern accent but there are many dramatic scenes - and she is playing a part unlike any of her others before. As a modern viewer I found some of the plot points and lines of dialogue absurd - but then thats what often makes old movies so enjoyable, and the movie did hold my attention. And the closing shot was a nice touch. If you are a confirmed Pickford fan then I would say check this out. For the casual fan or if you have never seen Pickford before then I would recommend Sparrows, My Best Girl or Stella Maris first.
A CREAKY CURIO.
In a tribute to her acting ability, 36 year-old Pickford plays Norma Besant, a flirtatious twenty-something Southern flapper who falls hard for Michael Jeffery. Dire consequences arise due to her father's intense disdain for the young man...Mary Pickford was an institution during the silent period when she was known as "America's Sweetheart". Pickford tired of her goody-goody personna in pictures and after her mother Charlotte died in 1928, she had her legendary curls bobbed and announced to the fan magazines that she wanted to be "dressed in smart clothes and play the lover". The same year this turkey was made (1929) Pickford and her then-husband Douglas Fairbanks played in a politely well-received - but fairly ludicrous - version of Shakespeare's THE TAMING OF THE SHREW. In 1931, Pickford resurrected an old Norma Talmadge silent vehicle - which co-starred Ronald Colman - entitled KIKI: it was a flop. In 1933, at the milestone age of 40, Mary made her movie swan song performance in SECRETS, a fairly well-acted drama which co-starred 40 year-old Leslie Howard. COQUETTE was based upon an original play by George Abbott and Ann Preston, which was written for Helen Hayes. This photoplay adaptation is a creaky drama that served to introduce the previously silent Pickford to the talkies. Surprisingly, she beat out Jeanne Eagels for the Best Actress AA for 1929 (The ailing heroin-addicted Eagels - she would die later that year - was nominated for her performance as Leslie Crosbie in Maugham's THE LETTER). In all honesty, Pickford had a lovely voice - something which was in short supply among silent stars making their transition into the talkies - but her performance is hardly Oscar-worthy.
Even the best have bad moments
There is no doubt that Mary Pickford is one of America's all time greatest and most beloved actresses. That doesn't mean she was exempted from mistakes, though. This movie is awful all the way through. It's boring, paceless an has the stiffest acting imaginable. Mary was especially nervous in her performance and I don't think that's because it was her first talking film. The problem is that she's playing completely against type. The sweet, lovable, smart and spunky little girl persona that she had perfected is gone and in it's place is the consummate man - controlling flapper. Sorry Mary, it just doesn't work.
Don't judge Pickford by this
Well, each to his own taste, but now that many of Pickford's best silents are out on video, it would be a shame to start with such an atypical role. This was a stage success for Helen Hayes, and probably Pickford copies her fairly well, but it's an ordinary Suth'n melodrama, produced at a typically glacial 1929 pace, and playing a bad girl of good family isn't what Pickford specialized in-- or ought to be remembered for. Check out Suds, Sparrows, My Best Girl, or any of the other silents in which she plays a delightfully spunky and mischievous young girl instead.
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Not their best, but pretty good!