Freckles

Freckles is a 1935 American drama film directed by Edward Killy and William Hamilton from a screenplay written by Dorothy Yost, adapted by Mary Mayes from Gene Stratton-Porter's 1904 novel of the same name. Two earlier adaptations of Stratton-Porter's novel had been produced, the first by Paramount in 1917, and the second in 1928 by FBO, both were also titled Freckles. This 1935 version was released by RKO Radio Pictures (which had been formed by the merger of FBO and KAO) on October 4, and stars Tom Brown, Virginia Weidler, and Carol Stone. Plot Freckles, a young man and orphan, shows up at a lumber camp, where the local schoolteacher, Mary Arden, takes a shine to him and convinces the lumber company's owner, McLean, to hire Freckles as a guard. While working there, Freckles begins a relationship with Mary, while Laurie-Lou Duncan, a precocious young girl also befriends Freckles and helps him learn more about the forest and the plants it contains. Laurie-Lou has a pet bear cub, and one day when the cub is in danger of being injured by a tree about to be felled by the lumberjacks, she attempts to untie it, but the tree begins to fall before she can finish. Seeing her danger, Freckles rushes to her, and pulls her out of the way of the falling tree. The bear cub, Cubby, is injured, but survives his injuries. Laurie-Lou also meets Jack Carter, a felon, who is hiding out in a cabin in the woods with several friends of his, who happen to be bank robbers. Carter gets on Laurie-Lou good side by carving wooden soldiers for her. Wanting him to make a figure she is missing from her set, she hides in his car to follow him to his home, hoping to convince him to make it for her. However, once there, she is held captive by Carter's felon friends. When she doesn't return, Freckles tracks her to Carter's cabin, where he too is captured. However, he surprises his captors by escaping, although he is wounded by a gunshot during his exit. He does not abandon Laurie-Lou, instead returning to the room where she is being held, and barring the door. As the felons attempt to break in, she shows him where a gun and ammo are kept. Unfamiliar with the weapon, he fumbles to load it as the bank robbers get close to gaining entry. Just in time, he loads the weapon, surprising the criminals and holding them at bay. He is becoming weak from loss of blood when Arden arrives with the police, having learned of their location from Laurie-Lee's mother.