- "All unhappiness and world wisdom leave outside. Those without smiles need not enter".
Unity Blake is the most unpopular girl at St. Martha's Orphanage. She is ignored and bullied even by the younger girls. One day, a woman visits and decides to adopt Unity. Her luck has seemingly changed for the better. On the other side of town, a young woman named Stella Maris lies in bed, paralyzed since birth. Her wealthy guardians have prevented Stella from learning of the miseries of reality by keeping her locked away in a room. Stella, however, is content with her life and oblivious to the world outside of her mansion. The two girls don't yet know each other but they'll be brought together by a series of unfortunate events.
Stella Maris is a 1918 drama film starring Mary Pickford and Conway Tearle. Based on a novel by William J. Locke, it was remade in 1925 starring Mary Philbin. Pickford (and Philbin in the remake) play both Unity and Stella.
As it's over a centenary old, it's public domain and therefore available here
. No relation to the 2022 Cormac McCarthy final novel.
Stella Maris contains examples of:
- Abusive Parents: Unity's adopted mother treats her like a servant and constantly yells at her. She beats her unconscious when she comes home without groceries due to a group of boys stealing them. Louise ends up arrested and sentenced to three years.
- Adopt-a-Servant: Unity is adopted by an alcoholic who wants her to act as her maid.
- The Alcoholic: Louise and John were a happy couple until her drinking habit spiraled out of control and her personality began to change.
- Alcoholic Parent: Drunkard Louise Risca's previous servants would always leave her. So she adopted an orphan so that she can clean her house.
- Beauty Inversion: Mary Pickford plays both the adorable Stella and the quote-unquote "ugly duckling" Unity. Stella is Pickford as usual while Unity is a more plain looking version.
- Bowdlerise: Even in the pre-Code era, the film's dark themes were a bit much. The shooting of Louise is often cut.
- Death of a Child: As a part of Stella learning that life isn't all gumdrops and lollipops, she reads in the newspaper about how a starving mother committed Murder-Suicide with her child.
- Driven to Suicide:
- Stella hits a Despair Event Horizon and becomes suicidal after she learns that John has a wife. Her views on the world dissipating are also a large reason for it.
- Unity kills herself after killing Louise.
- Full-Name Basis: Most characters refer to Stella as "Stella Maris".
- Heartwarming Orphan: Despite all that happens to her, Unity stays a sweetheart. Until she shoots Louise, that is, and even then she had good intentions.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Unity's Murder-Suicide is treated this way. She kills Louise so that she can't hurt Stella or John anymore.
- Heroes Love Dogs: Stella has a faithful pet dog that she loves. She's also partial to cute kittens.
- Inconsistent Spelling: John's surname is spelled "Riska" in a newspaper article, but the titles and other text all display it as "Risca".
- The Ingenue: The titular protagonist was crafted into one by her overprotective family. After gaining the use of her legs, her perfect image of the world starts slowly crumbling.
- Inspirationally Disabled: Stella has been paralyzed since birth. Subverted as halfway through the film she regains the ability to walk thanks to surgery.
- Messy Hair: Alcoholic Louise has long, unkempt hair.
- One Head Taller: John is almost exactly a head taller than Stella.
- Parental Incest: John adopts Unity and becomes her guardian, though they don't develop much of a familial bond and she's more like a servant. Unity later falls for him.
- Precocious Crush: It's hard to tell their ages, but Unity can't be much older than 16 max. She has a crush on the older John.
- A Saint Named Mary: Stella's name is intended to be a reference to the Virgin Mary; an archaic title for Mary is "Stella Maris". The titular Stella is The Ingenue.
- Sibling Murder: Referenced. In a newspaper, Stella reads about a man who shot his brother.
- Stellar Name: Stella. On top of how obvious her first name is, her full name is another term for the Polaris star.
