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Movie poster: Poor Little Peppina (1916)
🎬 Movie

Poor Little Peppina

1916 · 48 min Drama
5.2 / 10 · TMDB

Holding a grudge against Robert Torrens and his wife, who live in Italy, a member of the Mafia kidnaps their infant daughter Lois. Fifteen years later, after having been raised by Italian peasants, Lois, now called Peppina, dresses as a boy and stows away on a ship to America in order to avoid a marriage to a particularly loathsome count. While aboard ship she befriends Hugh Carroll, an assistant district attorney, who arranges first-class transportation for the "boy." In New York, she once again meets her kidnapper, who fled to America after the crime. He forces Peppina to maintain the masculine disguise and to pass counterfeit bills for him, for which she is arrested. Peppina gladly exposes the kidnapper's operation to the authorities, one of whom, Hugh, recognizes her as the "boy" he met on the ship. Then, once the kidnapper has been apprehended, Peppina is reunited with her parents, after which she and Hugh, who has finally discovered that she is female, get married.

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📋 Film Details

Year 1916
Country United States of America
Genre Drama
Director Sidney Olcott
Runtime 48 min.
Rating TMDB: 5.2/10 (6 votes)

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🎬 MovieFinder's Take

The film constructs a classic melodramatic arc, relying on the contrast between an idyllic Italian upbringing and a grim New York underworld. Using the motif of disguise and dual identity, it explores the theme of self-discovery against all odds.

What lingers after the final reel is a sense of virtuous triumph, a reward for the heroine's resilience through a gauntlet of trials. The narrative delivers a satisfying, if predictable, moral victory. — MovieFinder Editorial

Director: Sidney Olcott

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Best Watched

Best enjoyed on a quiet evening, with a warm drink, for fans of early cinema drama.

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