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Above all else, this 1916 feature film feels like it captures people's lives and the mentality of that time, with a nice story that is intended to show the lives of ordinary people - and perhaps the occasional extraordinary things that happen to them. The script for "Hoodoo Ann" was actually written by none other than D W Griffith, the Father of Film, who is most famous for powerful dramas like "Birth of a Nation" and "Intolerance", so I found it good to see some of his other, less-known work for a change. Although Griffith didn't direct "Hoodoo Ann", the star, Mae Marsh, was one of Griffith's regulars, appearing in dozens of early Griffith shorts, and playing important roles in his major films as well. In this light drama/comedy, Mae's role is similar to many of her others, and that of another early Griffith protégé, Mary Pickford. As Hoodoo Ann, Mae first appears as a playful young girl in an orphanage, and then as a young lady a few years later; much like many Pickford roles, but in this case I found Mae's performance much more natural and enjoyable to watch. She handles a few comical scenes very well and without the excessive animation I'd seen in her other performances. As Hoodoo Ann, brought to an orphanage on Friday the 13th, she feels her life is jinxed, and although her fortune changes when she is adopted by a nice couple, her fears return when she accidentally fires a gun and her neighbor mysteriously disappears at the same time: did she kill him or whodunit? While not really a mystery or thriller with any real depths or dramas, I found "Hoodoo Ann" to be a very good and enjoyable light drama, especially for its time. The picture quality is also very good, and lively traditional organ score helps it along nicely, too.

This DVD actually begins with two bonus shorts from earlier years featuring G M Anderson as "Broncho Billy", the screen's first cowboy and Western star. Although they have little in common with "Hoodoo Ann" except their early production years (1913-14) these two 10-minute Broncho Billy `episodes' give us a glimpse of what this early series was like. Anderson made around 50 such short 1-reelers a year for several years, like a regular TV series, and as such, the story moves very quickly and you have to stay alert to catch everything. There's certainly never a dull moment though, and for a better in-depth look at G M Anderson and Broncho Billy, "The Son-of-a-Gun" also on Unknown Video is worth viewing, too.

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