The Italian Barber (1911) Poster

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7/10
Mary Pickford in short film about love and fidelity.
Larry41OnEbay-229 July 2013
I just watched a nitrate print of this film that was wrongly identified as "Yesteryears" with replacement inter-titles and I was able to identify Mary Pickford, Mack Sennett and Donald Crisp. Then I cross referenced the cast using the IMDb (thanks guys) and using a plot description found in another database verify "The Italian Barber" was the title. Below is the plot description I used and now share.

SPOILERS: A barber becomes enamored of the little newsgirl (Mary Pickford) on the corner near his shop. She allows him to escort her home. They become close friends until the barber sees her sister. A complicated problem arises and is eliminated when another young man enters the scene. He (Mack Sennett) becomes interested in the heartbroken and jilted young woman, and his attentions mend her emotional wounds.
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7/10
A Comedy-Drama
boblipton9 December 2013
Joseph Graybill gets engaged to Mary Pickford. However, when her sister, Marion Sunshine, comes home with her vaudeville partner, Mack Sennett, Joseph decides he prefers Marion. Will Mary do something desperate to deal with her broken heart? Although this sounds like a small tragedy, Griffith handles this one with a lighter touch than usual. Graybill plays his role with bigger movement than usual for Griffith. This is supposed to reflect his hot Italian nature. It also helps turn this into a comedy.

Although Griffith is remembered mostly for his melodramas, with almost six hundred movies to his credit, he did a fair number of comedies. Nor is this one devoid of cinematic interest. His handling of the crowd scene at the Barber's ball is dazzling for the era, as is the number of future stars who turn up at the ball.
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6/10
The Italian Barber review
JoeytheBrit19 May 2020
An Italian barber falls for the sister of his beloved. The plot is far-fetched nonsense, but Griffith supplies it with a lightness of touch that ensures it avoids sinking into melodrama or sentimentality. Tony, it has to be said, is something of an arse, while Mack's reaction to the news of his fiance's infidelity doesn't ring true for a minute.
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Acted by poor substitutes for their former excellent company
deickemeyer26 October 2015
Not worthy of the producers. To waste all the good material required to represent a barber, as inconstant to a girl, and she equally as inconstant, is expensive amusement. The story is puerile. The actors, having no opportunity, do nothing, and the audience wearily awaits the finish. Such pictures as this, with Biograph trade-mark, cannot fail to shock those who have looked for the best of all American films from this company. With their old capable actors scattered, and weak plays, acted by poor substitutes for their former excellent company, the Biograph pictures no longer attract the attention they once did. - The Moving Picture World, January 21, 1911
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