User Reviews

The dance scene is what most people take away from this movie and that certainly was a 10 out of 10 moment. I have watched it many times and it is up on Youtube.

The rest of the movie suffers from direction and script and the need to make Mary over act to fit the part. This was a stage play not really suitable for film without a change. The stage productions earlier success was grounded on deliberate stage over acting. So it is not surprising it didn't suit film that well. The film without Pickford would have been irritating, it is Pickford that saves it and makes it watchable.

But we should also remember that at this time studios were still struggling with Sound and this made direction and acting quite difficult.

Mary could have easily taken this onto the stage and had a big hit with it, she was a veteran stage actor.

If anything this movies shows Pickford to be versatile and willing to step out of the box.

Mary Pickford had made 240 films before the advent of sound movies. She was the darling of filmdom until then. But from 1929 to 1933 she made just six films. Although she won the second Oscar as leading actress for "Coquette" in 1929, her last films bombed. "Kiki" is one of those. The plot isn't very good, and Pickford 's role was probably the worst possible thing she could have had. She had a squeaky voice, and in this film she has a French accent and talks, whines, talks, whines, and talks. She quickly becomes tedious and agitating.

Pickford is the classic example - and perhaps the most prominent, of the big name stars of Hollywood whose careers soon ended with talking pictures - mostly due to the sound of their voices. Audiences of her day must certainly have reacted the same way to "Kiki" as most would in modern times. The image of the darling and coquettish actress certainly changed with sound.

Pickford supposedly downplayed the prospect of movies adding sound. It's not hard to imagine that someone with such a squeaky voice could realize that it would soon end her acting career. But, while sound was her undoing in front of the camera, Pickford stayed in Hollywood producing films for another 16 years before calling it quits at age 57.

Reginald Denny is the male lead here. He too had a long run in silent films since 1915, but he was able to transition well with his voice in sound films and he made movies into the mid-1960s. Denny had some lead roles, but most were in a variety of supporting roles.

The production and technical qualities of this United Artists film still show some of the raw techniques of silent films. Pickford was a 1919 co-founder of United Artists, along with Charlie Chaplin, D.W. Griffith, and Douglas Fairbanks who was soon to become her husband.

Except for curiosity of movie buffs who might like to see Pickford in a sound film, this one isn't worth the time.

A total delight! This famous flop for Mary Pickford is VERY funny and totally fun.

Pickford plays a French chorus girl in New York trying to make good and survive. Pickford's French accent may not be as good as Marion Davies' in "Marianne" but she's wonderfully funny in this role. It's a talkie extension of all the great comic parts she played in silent films.

Pickford was a great comic and proves she had what it takes to make it in talkies. KIKI is a terrific comedy and she's better in this than in her other three talkies. KIKI was based on the Norma Talmadge silent film which was based on the Broadway play. Oddly I just read in the Valentino biography that he had seen Lenore Ulric in New York and then Gladys Cooper in London in the stage versions.

The film opens with a LONG panning shot of backstage doings all in time to the song the chorus girls are stomping away to. Pickford gets fired but insinuates her way back into the chorus via the producer (Reginald Denny). On opening night she makes a shambles of the big number starring Margaret Livingston as the vain star. Pickford is hysterically funny.

Not realistic at all but great fun. Co-stars include Joseph Cawthorn, Phil Tead (funny as the butler), Edwin Maxwell, and Fred Walton.

The sets for the apartment are atrociously ugly. Not to be believed! An explosion of Victoriana and Art Deco.

Mary Pickford was definitely one of the greats!

In a woefully inept performance almost completely absent of charm and nuance Mary Pickford embarrasses herself in her second to last feature. Utterly miscast as a Parisian floozy she does everything but stand on her head to try and make us believe the unbelievable. She has one cute dance/clown number although even there she relies on googly eyed exaggeration to get the point across that the audience is to find her adorable. In this instance she isn't.

For a goodly portion of the movie she wears a stupid hat with a feather that seems to form a question mark, she should have looked in a mirror used that as a cue and asked herself why she'd agreed to disgrace herself in this dog of a film. Stay away!

In the 1910s and 20s, Mary Pickford was the biggest actress alive. Her movies were adored and when she and husband Douglas Fairbanks toured the world, they were the toast of every nation--including not just the UK and France but even the Soviet Union. And, although a Canadian, she was given the title 'America's Sweetheart'. Folks loved her in all sorts of films--especially ones where the actress played little girls and teenagers--though she was WAY too old to be playing such parts. It didn't matter...EVERYONE loved her. Because of this, I can only assume that either she thought the public would like her in ANYTHING, so let's make a pile of crap film like "Kiki" or perhaps she simply was trying to commit career suicide. All I know is that I adore most of her films...but think that "Kiki" is among the most annoying films I have ever seen! I wonder how folks back in the day thought of it? Well, considering she only made a few sound films, it possibly could have been that folks finally were tiring of her.

The single biggest problem with "Kiki" is that the film was VERY dated. As a silent picture, it might have worked--mostly because you wouldn't have had to LISTEN to Pickford and her horrendous French accent. To say it was broad and overboard is a great understatement. She is to French accents like Jethro Bodine was to country accents in "The Beverly Hillbillies"--it was THAT strong and over the top. Heck, Pepe le Pew seems far more restrained than she did in the film. And, like in her films where she played children, her Kiki is often petulant and childish--which worked fine in 1918 or 1920. Here, though, she just seems like a....well, IMDb won't let us put the B-word in our reviews! Oddly, she's supposed to be cute...she certainly isn't! Because of these things, it's difficult not to thoroughly hate her or the sound of her voice. Oddly, however, Reginald Owen's character is inexplicably drawn to this demanding, annoying and selfish woman in the film. Why? I have no idea...but can only assume his character was meant to be insane! And, equally insane is the audience in the film that watch her stage performance and adore her histrionics. None of this makes any sense and it seemed that the character is about as one-dimensional and dislikable as any I can recall. Overall, this is a truly horrible film--not just because Pickford was so bad but because it builds up so much ill-will in the viewer! I have long adored her films and would place her films like "My Best Girl", "Suds" and "Daddy Long Legs" among the best silents. But, try as I might, I hated "Kiki" and never want to see this awful film again! Loud, brash, unsubtle and annoying...all adjectives you'd never think to associate with 'America's Sweetheart'!

In spite of its notoriety amongst Mary Pickford fans, "Kiki" is far from the disaster it is reputed to be.

Legend has it that this film was an attempt to sex up the Pickford image, with results so catastrophic that she appeared in only one more film. That "Kiki" was a resounding box office flop is irrefutable. But it proves to be an entertaining, fast moving comedy with a dazzling tour de force from its star.

There is nothing at all embarrassing about Pickford's performance. She may not be at her most subtle, and there is notable absence of pathos, but she gives a credible performance and seems much younger than her 39 years. Her French accent may not be all that authentic, but it is consistent.

And she has clearly not lost her knack for physical comedy. Indeed her entrance - being hurled into a room flat on her posterior - is as memorable as anything in the Pickford body of work.

The supporting cast is not up to much, and the direction flags at the mid point - though Sam Taylor does offer a fine opening backstage sequence. "Kiki" may not be the best comedy of its type, but its very far from a write off.

As we are now removed from the Pickford mystique, its much easier to see her performance for what it is, rather than as a violation of a hallowed image. Its far too late for "Kiki" to find a popular audience, of course, but it is certainly due for a reevaluation.

Having been aware of Mary Pickford only by reputation up to this point, it is kind of a shame that I chose this to be the first film of hers I watched. But to be fair, I didn't watch it for her. Busby Berkeley choreographed a number early on, and that madcap farce ended up being the best thing about this. As for Pickford, let's just say she, along with practically the rest of the film, is a hot mess. Everything about her performance, from the exaggerated gestures to the atrocious French accent, screams trainwreck. As the quote I chose headline with might indicate, the best parts of this, few as they are, happen when she isn't talking. Beyond that, the source quality on YouTube was barely watchable. I don't see myself sitting through this again, but it was fun enough this once.

Mary Pickford's "Kiki" (1931) is not generally considered one of her best films, but I found it thoroughly enjoyable.

An earlier comment here said that this film was Ms. Pickford's attempt to "sex up" her image. Long gone were the billowy curls of her early films, where she played young girls even after she was in her thirties. Here, she sports jazz-age bobbed hair, plays an audacious flirt, and is clearly a woman "on the make" -- though chastely -- for the character played by her costar, Reginald Denny.

I've said that in "Kiki," Ms. Pickford tries to "sex up" her image. Here, she shows us her legs (which were "not bad" for someone only 5 feet tall); she removes her brassiere from beneath her blouse while standing in front of Denny; and in a later scene, she sits in front of his male assistant in her lingerie and unconcernedly puts on her stockings, slowly, one leg at a time.

The film is lively and kinetic, almost a slapstick comedy. Ms. Pickford delivers kicks to various backsides, among them Reginald Denny's and Margaret Livingston's, and gets kicked herself. Twice, Ms. Pickford is seen falling on her rear end. She even tumbles off the stage and into the orchestra pit, landing seat first into a drum -- a stunt her friend Charles Chaplin would use, years later, in "Limelight" (1952). I thought everyone in "Kiki" was extraordinarily game. They were all obviously hoping to make this film hilarious.

Unfortunately, "Kiki" flopped at the box office, and Ms. Pickford would make only one more film -- "Secrets," another flop. The writing on the wall was now more legible than ever. Maybe the public felt that, at age 39, Ms. Pickford was reaching a little too hard for the youth serum. The era of "America's Sweetheart" was over.

But she left behind a legacy of great performances, and a great public enthusiasm for America's first major female movie star.

Dan Navarro (daneldorado93@yahoo.com)

The transition from silent to talkies was a killer for most silent screen actors and actresses. The more they talked, the more audiences realized their acting abilities were pretty dramatically shallow. Some who had survived learned to say less and display more of a physicality between them and their co-stars.

It's a lesson Mary Pickford should have learned. Right out of the gate, 'America's Sweetheart' became enamored with dialogue. Her first talkie, 1929's "Coquette," taken from a 1927 Broadway play, features her adopting a southern accent. The film is filled with dialogue. But she was awarded an Academy Award Best Actress, where she lobbied the organization's judges for the win. Her next talkie was 1929's "Taming of the Shrew," co-starring her husband, Douglas Fairbanks. Another failure. Next came March 1931 "Kiki," yet another Pickford stage adaptation, this one from an Andre Picard 1918 play. In it, the actress adopts a French accent while the feature film is equally filled with lots of talking.

Pickford plays a chorus girl who has trouble learning her steps. She falls in love with producer Victor Randall (Reginald Denny), who still is in touch with his ex-wife. "Kiki" failed miserably in the theaters, partly because Pickford's loyal fans weren't used to her playing a brash, provocative showgirl who constantly wears tight shorts, who takes off her bra underneath her blouse while standing in front of Victor, and who sits in front of a male theater assistant in only her underwear slowly pulling up long nylon stockings one leg at a time. Her new on-screen persona failed to deliver box-office magic, creating a loss for United Artist studio she and her partners owned.

Today's viewers cite one particular scene where Pickford shines. Early in "Kiki" she gets a chance to display her comical dancing talents. The musical number, choreographed by Busby Berkeley following his Hollywood debut in 1930's "Whoopee!" consists of the 'Goldwyn Girls' and Pickford. The actress' physicality is a pure delight to see, especially her athleticism at the age of 39. She performs several pratfalls and stunts, amusing the on-screen theater audience, but causing much angst to the show's managers and the band's drummer. The 10-minute sketch, which is likened to a Lucy Ball skit, serves as a reminder why Pickford's silent screen movies were so popular. But once the number concludes, she descends back into a dialogue-filled yapper.

"Kiki" was Pickford's second-to-last film. An era was quickly closing in on one of early Hollywood's most influential actresses. For one brief sequence, "Kiki" viewers in 1931 were able to capture the enormous talents of Pickford, a trademark that earned her the nickname "America's Sweetheart."

Iam not a Pickford fan,and i have only seen her sound films.So i came to this with no precoceived notions.I thought that the first half an hour was fairly entertaining particularly the musical number.However when the scene changed to Reginald Dennys flat the film eventually dissolved into a tedious bore.Wildy overacted by Pickford clearly in a failed attempt to give herself a new screen image.Denny must have been chosen as a leading man as he would provide no competition in the acting stakes.After all who would want to fight over his affections.I see that 54 viewers out of 73 have given this film a score of 10.Well all i can say is that you must have been watching a different film.All i will say is if this film is so good why has it remain largely unseen.Even Halliwells description is "long unseen musical".I have given it a rating of 3 because of the first half hour.Otherwise it would have been a single digit!

This is so like Mary Pickford.

Even in one her apparently not so good movies she deposits a number of special moments and some in this movie are totally enjoyable.

The long dance scene is wonderfully choreographed and hilarious, I had to keep watching it over and over.

People often forget that in the earliest talkies actors were hamstrung by the positioning and quality of microphones. It took them a while to work it out and for actors to work out how to free themselves up again.

This is by no means a bad movie. An enjoyable movie with some special moments and also great to see a different Pickford.

Pickford only made one more movie, mostly because external events and pressures were over taking her life. If only Fairbanks could have stayed true to Mary - we may have got a whole bunch of Mary Pickford movies and in a new genre.

Thank God Mary Pickford made 'Secrets' after this, since this interminable early talkie version of the old David Belasco warhorse would have constituted a truly horrible swansong for America's Sweetheart.

After sabotaging a Busby Berkeley production number as a chorus girl elegantly attired in top hat and tails (until she loses her trousers), the 38 year-old Miss Pickford cavorts about (as Variety's reviewer put it) "in various states of undress" with an almost inaudible French accent in the sort of role that even Clara Bow was then outgrowing.